Judy Haner
Marine and Freshwater Programs Director, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Judy Haner Marine and freshwater program director of The Nature Conservancy in Alabama. © Ami Vitale
Areas of Expertise
Coastal and marine conservation, coastal habitat restoration, coastal resource management
Biography
Judy Haner is the marine and freshwater programs director for The Nature Conservancy in Alabama, where she oversees marine, estuarine and freshwater restoration, coastal ecology, regional conservation efforts and linking communities with resources.
She joined TNC in 2010, just months before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now a key member of the Gulf of Mexico program, Judy has spent countless hours focused on post-spill recovery and long-term restoration efforts in Mobile Bay and the larger Gulf region. She helped conceptualize and initiate the “100-1000: Restore Coastal Alabama” project to build 100 miles of oyster reefs (essential to shoreline protection and wildlife habitat) and enhance 1,000 acres of coastal marsh and seagrass. With public and private funding, TNC and its partners installed the first quarter mile of reef in early 2011 with the help of public agencies, private partners and more than 500 volunteers from across the country.
Judy has worked for 20 years with agencies from Puerto Rico to Florida to Alaska, linking watershed activities with estuarine health to implement long-term coastal, estuarine and marine restoration. From managing the 375,000 acre Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, to developing restoration plans and leading outreach efforts for Everglades Restoration, Judy has secured more than $11 M in competitive grants to implement coastal planning and restoration projects that link science and management with on-the-ground actions and communities.
Judy received a master’s degree from the College of William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where she worked on crustacean population dynamics and studied the impacts of water quality on molting blue crabs. She has a dual major B.S. in biology and chemistry from Lynchburg College in Virginia and has previous experience in watershed management, habitat and hydrologic restoration, and management planning.
When not at work, Judy is usually on her boat with her husband and two dogs, fishing, diving, and swimming along the Gulf coast.