Annapolis, Maryland – The Chesapeake Research Consortium (CRC) has selected Mike Skuja as its next Executive Director. Skuja steps into the role after the retirement of their previous Executive Director, Denice Wardop.
An accomplished ecologist and conservation leader with over two decades of experience bridging science, community, and policy, Skuja brings a collaborative, community-centered vision to the organization’s ongoing mission to foster research, education, and science-based management across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The CRC is guided by a vision of a sustainable and regenerative Chesapeake Bay ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders, a value that aligns with Skuja’s experience with inclusive science and cross-sector partnership. Throughout his career, Skuja has focused on tackling complex environmental challenges through coalition-building and inclusive science. He worked with The Pew Charitable Trusts to manage coastal conservation initiatives across the Chesapeake region and help forge partnerships with federally recognized Tribes in Virginia to advance Indigenous-led conservation—work he continues today as an advisor to the Rappahannock Tribe.
As Executive Director of a Riverkeeper organization, he worked alongside ranchers, communities, and public agencies to address nonpoint source pollution and the pressures of development on a changing watershed as well as deepening river-based environmental education with schools. His background in environmental education extends to teaching conservation, environmental justice, and political ecology at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and the University of California, Berkeley.
“Mike Skuja will bring a depth of experience and energy in environmental science applications and external fund raising to the CRC,” said Dr. Bill Dennison, Chair of CRC’s Board of Trustees.
Skuja holds a Master’s degree in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford and undergraduate degrees in Human-Environment Geography and Zoology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Fluent in Spanish, he lives in Pennsylvania with his family, where he enjoys exploring the region’s rivers and waterways by kayak.
About the CRC
The Chesapeake Research Consortium is a nonprofit association of seven research and education institutions around the Chesapeake Bay region, convening with the goal of using science to inform management. Our current members are Johns Hopkins University, Old Dominion University, Penn State University, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, University System of Maryland, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and Virginia Tech. To learn more about the Chesapeake Research Consortium and its programs, please visit chesapeake.org.
