Douglas Zemeckis

Douglas Zemeckis (County Agent III - Assistant Professor) started in September 2017 as the Marine Extension Agent for Ocean, Monmouth, and Atlantic Counties at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.  Doug's primary responsibilities include educational programming and applied research related to the needs of the clientele in commercial fisheries, aquaculture, and related coastal resource management.

Doug previously earned a B.S. in Marine Sciences from Rutgers University in 2009 and also worked at the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory as an undergraduate research assistant. He completed his graduate school work at the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he earned a Ph.D. in Marine Science and Technology in 2016 and focused on conducting collaborative research with New England's fishing industry on multiple groundfish species (cod, haddock, cusk, halibut).

Doug also completed postdoctoral researcher positions at SMAST and the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University, where he started ongoing research projects related to New Jersey's artificial reefs and black sea bass discard mortality.

In addition to serving as the treasurer for the East Coast Shellfish Grower's Association on a pro-tem basis, Doug also serves as the Keystone District Director (N.J., N.Y., Penn., Conn.) of the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists (AIFRB) and on the New Jersey Aquaculture Advisory Council.

Doug can be reached via email at zemeckis@njaes.rutgers.edu.