Dr. Dana Okano

Dana Okano, PhD, AICP, is a contractor working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management as a Coral Management Liaison and a Coastal Specialist for CNMI.  She also serves as the Pacific region Land-Based Sources of Pollution Coordinator for NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.  In these roles, Dr. Okano provides technical assistance to CNMI's natural resource agencies on a range of coastal management issues including conservation planning, reducing land-based sources of pollution, climate change adaptation, ocean policy, using science to inform management, project planning and implementation, program evaluation, and grants management.  Dana also manages approximately $1.5M in NOAA grant funds to CNMI every year, and oversees the implementation of the CNMI's Coastal Zone Management and Coral Reef Initiative programs.  Dr. Okano has a PhD from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Natural Resources and Environmental Management, and is AICP certified by the American Planning Association.

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Last modified: 8/18/2016