New NSF Office of Polar Programs Staff

The Office of Polar Programs (OPP) is pleased to announce two new staff members.

Dr. William Ambrose has been selected as a Permanent Federal Program Director in the Office of Polar Programs (OPP) in the Antarctic Sciences Section and will serve as the Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Program Director. Dr. Ambrose earned his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Marine Sciences. He comes to NSF from Coastal Carolina University where he was the Vice-Dean of the School of the Coastal Environment and a Professor of Marine Science. Dr. Ambrose served as an IPA Program Director in OPP from 2015-2017 where he worked on multiple cross-GEO initiatives. Dr. Ambrose brings over 40 years of interdisciplinary research experience to NSF with a focus on polar marine benthic ecology and organismal biology.

Ms. Gina Selig is OPP’s new 2023 Knauss Marine Policy Fellow. Ms. Selig earned her BS in Marine Science at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo in 2020 and is completing her MS in Biological Oceanography from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa. Her thesis focuses on the distribution and community structure of deep-sea demersal fishes across archipelagos in the central Pacific and was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Ms. Selig has always had a fascination and passion for extreme environments. Throughout her scientific career, she sailed on multiple expeditions in the Pacific Ocean supporting deep-sea exploration and research as well as hydrographic surveying in remote parts of Southwest Alaska. She also has a passion for outreach and education and has worked with educators at The Marine Mammal Center: Ke Kai Ola and participated in live ship-to-shore connections with classrooms as an Ocean Science Intern aboard the E/V Nautilus.

Terri Edillon
Communications Specialist
NSF Office of Polar Programs
Office: 703.292.7521
www.nsf.gov | www.usap.gov
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