Dr. Felicia Coleman, Director of the FSUCML, was recently appointed to the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee by the Department of Commerce, in consultation with the Department of the Interior. She is one of 11 new members appointed to the 30-member committee. The charge of the committee is to advise the Departments of Commerce and the Interior on the development and implementation of a national system of marine protected areas (MPAs). Coleman was instrumental in developing two marine protected areas in the Gulf of Mexico during her tenure on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, the Madison Swanson Marine Reserve and the Steamboat Lumps Marine Reserve.