Bio

John Fear is the deputy director of North Carolina Sea Grant and the Water Resources Research Institute.  He focuses on developing and executing the research portfolios for both of these multi-campus centers of the University of North Carolina system with a special emphasis on creating new student opportunities and utilizing local community knowledge within the research process.  Fear’s other duties include working with extension and outreach experts to ensure research results are available to a multitude of people including resource managers, restoration practitioners, recreational and commercial fisherpeople, aquaculturists, water utilities, community leaders, and educators to name a few.  He assists with all aspects of overall program management including strategic planning, budgeting, staff oversight, reporting, and grant works.

Previously, Fear worked as the research coordinator for the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve program within the N.C. Division of Coastal Management.  Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute of Marine Sciences.

A native of New Bern, NC, Fear holds a doctorate in environmental sciences and engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Public Health, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry also from Carolina.  In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, family time and tinkering with anything mechanical.