Todd Jacobs

Deputy Superintendent of Operations
Todd Jacobs is the Deputy Superintendent of Operations and Administration of the Channel Islands
National Marine Sanctuary. He has worked for the National Ocean Service (NOS) of NOAA since 1989,
when he was hired as the Research and Education Coordinator for the Channel Islands National Marine
Sanctuary. He has held positions of progressively increasing responsibility in NOAA's National
Marine Sanctuary Program, including serving as the founding Superintendent of the Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary and as Northwest Regional Representative of the National Marine Sanctuary
Program, where he was NOAA's point person on the Proposed Northwest Straits National Marine
Sanctuary, in Washington's Puget Sound. His operational background includes facilitating and
conducting research projects using research vessels, manned submersibles, aircraft and unmanned
aircraft systems.
He has been actively involved with the NOAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Program since its inception in 2004. His area of focus is marine monitoring with UAS in NOAA. This
includes biological surveys, oil spills & emergency response, marine debris/lost fishing gear as
well as enforcement & surveillance of fisheries and marine protected areas. He has worked
extensively with Department of Defense and civilian federal agencies including US Coast Guard, US
Navy, US Air Force, NASA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service. He has been
involved in more than 20 UAS missions.
Todd was also active in NOAA's scientific diving program.
He was raised locally and has been scuba diving and surfing at the Channel Islands since the late
1970s. Prior to his work with NOAA, Todd worked for the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History,
private environmental consulting firms, and for both UCSB and USC, where he worked as a research
diver in the kelp beds offshore of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. Todd holds a BA in social
science with emphasis in environment from San Diego State University and an MBA from the University
of Washington. He has also received advanced training in dispute resolution and negotiation.
Contact Information
Phone: 805-893-6417
Mobile: 805-455-1981
email: Todd.Jacobs@noaa.gov
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