Bryan DeAngelis

Marine Habitat Scientist
Marine
[email protected]

Bryan is a Marine Habitat Scientist for The Nature Conservancy’s California Division.  In that role, Bryan provides leadership and scientific guidance to advance the Conservancy’s coastal conservation, restoration, and fisheries work. Along with providing science and technical leadership to the California team, Bryan spends much of his time working across North America’s coastal states providing scientific and programmatic leadership focused primarily on measuring and valuing coastal habitat and fisheries work to best scale outcomes to meet societies demands.  Bryan also works closely with the Conservancy’s USGR staff and has developed and manages two separate large-scale cooperative agreement with NOAA’s Office of Habitat, including a recent $55M institutional award with NOAA. 

Prior to joining the Conservancy in 2013, Bryan worked for NOAA’s Restoration Center developing, managing, and implementing a wide variety of fisheries and habitat projects.  In the early 2000’s Bryan was the Director of the St. Croix, USVI Aquarium and Marine Education Center. After that, Bryan initiated the first-ever shark research program in the USVI’s.  His shark research has focused on nearshore coastal bays and estuaries, and their role as essential nursery habitat for juvenile sharks.  Bryan received his B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and his M.S. in Fisheries Science from the University of Rhode Island. 

What Bryan is working on now:

Most recently, Bryan has been advancing the Conservancy’s habitat and fisheries goals by leading an effort with federal, state and academic partners to advance the science and applicability of estimating and applying the augmented production of fish and invertebrates from coastal habitats, and then translating this science to inform actual fisheries and resource management reform.  In the last few years he has also been working closely with the Southern US Division and Gulf of Mexico Program to develop and implement the fisheries strategies and projects, including helping the Florida program implement an ecosystem-based oyster fisheries management and conservation plans. He also serves as a science and technical lead to the Gulfcorps Program, an exciting program that hires young adults, many from underserved communities, to implement habitat restoration projects being conducted as part of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill restoration.


Select products

2022 | Marine | Planning | Economics | Science | Publications & Reports

The Business of Restoration: Examining the oyster reef restoration industry in the U.S. with recommendations for how conservation organizations can increase efficiencies and decrease costs to scale restoration efforts

Elliot Hall, Bryan DeAngelis

Oyster reefs are one of the most imperiled habitats on earth. However, current rates of restoration are too slow. We must radically increase the pace, scale, and impact of restoration to recover the abundance, resilience and benefits of these invaluable coastal ecosystems. Fortunately, incredible transformations…


2022 | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Restoring shellfish reefs: Global guidelines for practitioners and scientists

James A. Fitzsimons, Simon Branigan, Chris L. Gillies, Robert D. Brumbaugh, Jun Cheng, Bryan M. DeAngelis, Laura Geselbracht, Boze Hancock, Andrew Jeffs, Tein McDonald, Ian M.McLeod, Bernadette Pogoda, Seth J. Theuerkauf, Marine Thomas, Stephanie Westby, Philine S.E. zu Ermgassen

Widespread global declines in shellfish reefs have led to growing interest in their restoration and protection. With restoration projects now occurring on four continents and in at least seven countries, this project developed global restoration guidelines for these ecosystems, developed based on experience over the…


2022 | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

The benefits of bivalve reef restoration: A global synthesis of underrepresented species

Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen, Ruth H. Thurstan, Jorge Corrales, Heidi Alleway, Alvar Carranza, Norbert Dankers, Bryan DeAngelis, Boze Hancock, Flora Kent, Ian McLeod, Bernadette Pogoda, Qing Liu, William G. Sanderson

Bivalve habitat restoration is growing in geographic extent and scale globally. Stakeholders and funders are increasingly drawn to shellfish restoration for the many ecosystem services these habitats provide. Ecosystem services, however, remain largely unquantified or even undescribed for the majority of species targeted for restoration.…


2022 | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Estimating and Applying Fish and Invertebrate Density and Production Enhancement from Seagrass, Salt Marsh Edge, and Oyster Reef Nursery Habitats in the Gulf of Mexico

Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen, Bryan DeAngelis, , Jonathan R. Gair, Sophus zu Ermgassen, Ronald Baker, Andre Daniels, Timothy C. MacDonald, Kara Meckley, Sean Powers, Marta Ribera, Lawrence P. Rozas & Jonathan H. Grabowski

Seagrasses, oyster reefs, and salt marshes are critical coastal habitats that support high densities of juvenile fish and invertebrates. Yet which species are enhanced through these nursery habitats, and to what degree, remains largely unquantified. Quantitative estimates of production enhancement within specific embayments can be…


2022 | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Social Factors Key to Landscape-Scale Coastal Restoration: Lessons Learned from Three U.S. Case Studies

Bryan M. DeAngelis, Ariana E. Sutton-Grier, Allison Colden, Katie K. Arkema, Christopher J. Baillie, Richard O. Bennett, Jeff Benoit, Seth Blitch, Anthony Chatwin, Alyssa Dausman, Rachel K. Gittman, Holly S. Greening, Jessica R. Henkel, Rachel Houge, Ron Howard, A. Randall Hughes, Jeremy Lowe, StevenB. Scyphers, Edward T. Sherwood, Stephanie Westby, Jonathan H. Grabowski

This study examined three case studies involving large-scale and long-term restoration efforts including the seagrass restoration effort in Tampa Bay, Florida, the oyster restoration effort in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia, and the tidal marsh restoration effort in San Francisco Bay, California.The studyfocused…


2022 | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Restoration Guidelines for Shellfish Reefs

J. Fitzsimons, S. Branigan, R.D. Brumbaugh , T. McDonald, and zu Ermgassen, P.S.E. (eds), Bryan M. DeAngelis, chapter author

The purpose of this guide is to provide guidance in decision-making for establishing shellfish reef restoration projects and examples of different approaches undertaken byexperienced practitioners in a variety of geographic, environmental and social settings. This publication is intended to provide foundational information to serve as…