For immediate release

Contact: Scott Baker at 910-962-2492 or msbaker@ncsu.edu

“The South Atlantic Sea Grant programs are excited to work with Ryan McMullen as our latest reef fish fellow,” says Scott Baker, fisheries specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant. “Ryan has a lot of enthusiasm for angler outreach and has jumped right into the fellowship plan of work.”

McMullen is the fourth South Atlantic Reef Fish Extension and Communication Fellow to serve with Sea Grant programs in the Southeast and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The fellowship is a collaborative effort between the Sea Grant programs in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

McMullen liaisons among fishers, scientists, and managers on the nuanced issues of reef fish management. He communicates with community stakeholders about advances in fishery management research, particularly related to red snapper, greater amberjack, and other snapper-grouper reef fish.

“The Sea Grant Reef Fish Extension and Communication Fellowship has been instrumental in strengthening the Council’s ability to consistently share information and collaborate with fishing communities,” says Christina Curtis, a social scientist on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. “I’m excited to see how Ryan enhances awareness of best fishing practices and reef fish science throughout the region.”

Funding for this unique fellowship is part of a multi-region, multi-state reef fish extension and outreach programming effort to support sustainable fisheries through communication. The program’s goals are to translate the science coming from counts of great red snapper and greater amberjack and provide information on this work’s process, discoveries, and implications.

McMullen received his B.S. in Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami, with a double minor in Biology and Ecosystem Science and Policy. He also came with research experiences in fisheries from his NOAA Hollings research internship and his work with the University of Miami Shark Research and Conservation Lab and the Bluefin Tuna Larval Ecology Lab. 

“I am thrilled to have joined Sea Grant and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council as the final Reef Fish Extension and Communication Fellow and am excited to apply my background in science communication to explore emerging trends in our offshore fisheries,” says McMullen. “Having led research in the South Atlantic for most of my early career, I appreciate the region’s unique relationship with its marine natural resources and look forward to deepening this understanding through my work with the region’s distinct fishing communities.”

Read more about the fellowship.