Leadership
The people driving ISRS's mission to build community, facilitate communication, and promote innovation in shellfish restoration worldwide.
Board of Directors
Dorothy L. Leonard
Board Chair
Ocean Equities, LLC
Dorothy L. Leonard is one of the founding figures of the modern shellfish restoration movement. An internationally recognized expert in shellfish aquaculture and restoration, she spent 20 years at the National Ocean Service and National Marine Fisheries Service before serving as Maryland's Director of Fisheries, where she developed the state's Oyster Restoration Program for Chesapeake Bay. She is co-author of Best Management Practices for Shellfish Restoration and chaired the International Conference on Shellfish Restoration for 28 years. Dorothy leads ISRS as Board Chair through her firm, Ocean Equities, LLC.
Mark Luckenbach
Board Member
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary
Mark Luckenbach is a benthic ecologist and shellfish restoration pioneer with four decades at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), College of William & Mary. He joined VIMS in 1985 and served as Director of the Eastern Shore Laboratory from 1992 until 2013 and his recent retirement as Associate Dean of Research and Advisory Services from 2013–2025. His research has focused on the ecology and restoration of native oyster reefs in Chesapeake Bay and along Virginia's Eastern Shore, and he played a foundational role in establishing the tributary-scale oyster reef restoration approach that became a model for the region. He co-authored Oyster Reef Habitat Restoration: A Synopsis and Synthesis of Approaches.
Simon Branigan
Board Member
Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, Victoria, Australia
Simon Branigan is the Manager of Landscape, Restoration and Biodiversity at the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority in Victoria, Australia, and one of the leading architects of Australia's continental-scale shellfish reef restoration movement. He has more than 25 years of hands-on experience restoring coastal and marine ecosystems. Through his work with The Nature Conservancy Australia, Simon delivered the first restored shellfish reefs in Port Phillip Bay in 2017 and went on to co-lead the national Reef Builder program, which restored 40 hectares of shellfish reefs across 13 locations between 2021 and 2023. The program was internationally recognised as a United Nations World Restoration Flagship for its scale, innovation and impact. Simon is also co-author of the global Restoration Guidelines for Shellfish Reefs.
Katie Mosher
Board Member
Billion Oyster Project, New York Harbor
Katie Mosher is Senior Director of Programs at the Billion Oyster Project in New York Harbor, where she oversees a team of nearly 30 specialists and project managers working on permitting, reef fabrication, oyster production, monitoring, and research. She transitioned from a career in commercial art and photography before entering restoration work in the mid-2000s, piloting urban oyster restoration in New York Harbor in 2007. She has since led major reef installations, including a six-acre reef near the Mario Cuomo Bridge, a one-acre project in Jamaica Bay, and five acres of reef habitat in the Bronx River.
Tristan Hugh-Jones
Board Member
Loch Ryan Oyster Fishery Company, Scotland / Rossmore Oysters, Ireland
Tristan Hugh-Jones is a Director of the Loch Ryan Oyster Fishery Company in Stranraer, Scotland, and co-manages Rossmore Oysters, his family's native oyster breeding operation in Cork Harbour, Ireland. Since joining the Wallace family's centuries-old Loch Ryan fishery in 1996, he has worked to restore its native oyster (Ostrea edulis) beds, and has led selective breeding of Bonamia-resistant oyster stock at Rossmore. He serves on the board of NORA (Native Oyster Restoration Alliance), and is a Council member of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain.
Beth Walton
Board Member
Oyster South
Beth Walton is Executive Director of Oyster South, a nonprofit she co-founded in 2016 to support the emerging off-bottom oyster farming industry across the U.S. Gulf and South Atlantic coasts. Before founding the organization, she worked in oyster hatcheries and oyster-industry marketing in Alabama following the 2010 BP oil spill, building on earlier hands-on aquaculture experience running a small shellfish farm on Cape Cod. Under her leadership, Oyster South connects farmers, scientists, restaurants, and distributors, and hosts an annual symposium rotating between Gulf and Atlantic coast locations.
Conference Leadership
Betsy Peabody
Conference Chair, ICSR 2026
Founder & Director Emeritus, Puget Sound Restoration Fund
Betsy Peabody is the founder of Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF), which she established in 1997 and led as Executive Director for more than 25 years before transitioning to Director Emeritus in 2024. Under her leadership, PSRF became one of the most respected marine habitat restoration organizations in the Pacific Northwest, pioneering Olympia oyster, pinto abalone, and bull kelp restoration, and spearheading innovative strategies to restore shellfish growing areas. She was President of the Pacific Shellfish Institute from 2007 to 2022, was a member of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification in 2012, and collaborated with NOAA in 2013 to establish the Kenneth K. Chew Center for Shellfish Research and Restoration, which PSRF continues to operate. Currently, she chairs the Marine Resources Advisory Council (as Governor Ferguson's designee), and serves as Conference Chair of ICSR 2026. Betsy holds a degree in English from Stanford University and has devoted her career to making shellfish restoration tangible, relevant, and relatable to diverse audiences.
Julieta Martinelli
Program Committee Chair, ICSR 2026
Olympia Oyster Lead, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Julieta Martinelli is the Olympia Oyster Lead at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, where she oversees statewide research and restoration efforts for Washington's only native oyster species. Her PhD from Macquarie University examined community change through the fossil record and living assemblages in the southern Great Barrier Reef, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Chile studying long-term ecological dynamics in mollusks and bivalves under human pressure. At the University of Washington she conducted research spanning Pacific oysters, Olympia oysters, microplastics, and invasive pests before joining WDFW. She is Chair of the Program Committee for ICSR 2026, spearheading the conference's scientific programming alongside a team of leading shellfish researchers from across the globe.
Staff
Aaron Kornbluth
Interim Executive Director
akorn environmental
Environmental consultant and technologist specializing in marine conservation data systems. Aaron provides strategic and operational support for ISRS programs and manages the organization's digital infrastructure and communications. Through his firm, akorn environmental, he works at the intersection of technology and environmental practice to support conservation organizations and restoration initiatives.
Lisa Paton
Financial Manager
ISRS
Lisa Paton is one of the essential — if often unsung — forces that keeps this organization running. A dedicated volunteer, Lisa played an indispensable role in making ICSR 2024 a success, managing conference finances, providing AV and technical support, and stepping in wherever she was needed to ensure operations ran smoothly from start to finish. Her contributions to ISRS span financial oversight, logistical problem-solving, and the kind of calm, reliable, behind-the-scenes dedication that organizations like ours depend on but too rarely recognize publicly. ISRS is fortunate to have her.
Get Involved
ISRS is a member-driven organization. To learn more about volunteer leadership opportunities, committee participation, or supporting our work, reach out at info@shellfish-society.org.