Dr. Jack Szczepanski serves as a subject matter expert on freshwater, marine, and coastal ecology. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island, where he researched shark and ray-feeding ecology. He also holds an M.S. from Saint Joseph’s University where he studied squid biomechanics and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Cook College of Rutgers University. His professional background includes broad experience in the development of watershed management and implementation plans, fish population surveys and salvages, offshore wind resource characterization studies, wildlife surveys, water quality monitoring programs, aquatic invasive species, and harmful algal bloom management, and wetlands restoration. Jack is also a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Program Certified Green Infrastructure Professional and has collaborated with design teams on the implementation of various stormwater BMPs and Green Infrastructure projects. Professional experience ranges from private industry consulting to working for the federal government in the USFWS. 

Dr. Szczepanski has an extensive amount of instructional experience with a diverse array of students. Past assignments have included elementary environmental science lessons in Philadelphia, 8th-grade earth science in central NJ, and leading instruction in many college-level Biology lecture courses and labs for ecology and human anatomy and physiology. Dr. Szczepanski has also coordinated a marine ecology program at a private boarding school including a field course in coral reef ecology in the USVI.

 Dr. Szcepanski has an affinity for horseshoe crabs, squid, and stingrays and enjoys surfing, gardening, and bowhunting in what little spare time he can find.