Maps

Dean of the School of the Coast and Environment

Biography

Christopher F. D'Elia earned his A.B. in Biology from Middlebury College, his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Georgia, and did postdoctoral work at UCLA and at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Prior to joining Louisiana State University in July 2009 as Professor and Dean of the School of the Coast and Environment, he was Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for Research and Graduate Studies and Professor of Environmental Science & Policy and Marine Science at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. There he also directed the International Ocean Institute-USA and the Center for Science and Policy Applications for the Coastal Environment and served from 2007-2008 as Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
He has also held professorships in Biological Science and Public Administration and Policy and was Vice President for Research & SUNY Research Foundation Operations Manager at the University at Albany, SUNY.
From 1977-1999, he was a Professor at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. He served as Director of the Maryland Sea Grant College Program of the University System of Maryland from 1989-1999. He has held appointments as the Ruth Patrick Distinguished Scholar in Aquatic Science at the Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia), as the Director of the Biological Oceanography Program at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. and as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. Dr. D’Elia has held numerous research grants and has authored or coauthored over sixty scientific publications on the nutrient dynamics of estuaries and coral reefs, and on science policy. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has served on numerous advisory panels to the National Science Foundation and other federal, state and private funding agencies.
Dr. D’Elia is a former President of the Estuarine Research Federation and former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. He has chaired the Mid-Atlantic Regional Marine Research Board and the Public Affairs Committees of the Ecological Society of America and of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. He has served twice as President, and as Co-Chair of the External Relations Committee, of the Sea Grant Association. He has been a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay Program and has been Co-Chair of the Legislative Committee of the Commission on Food, Environment and Renewable Resources and Co-Chair of the Board on Oceans and Atmosphere of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC), and a member of the Executive Committee of the NASULGC Council on Research Policy and Graduate Education. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Hudson River Foundation since 1998 and also served as Chairman of the Executive Board of the Science Center of Pinellas County until April, 2009. He is serving a 3-year term as a member of the U.S. National Committee for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO representing the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation.