DISL Reorganized
Dr. George F. Crozier

The Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) structure had not been seriously altered in almost a quarter of a century. It is unlikely that an organizational chart suitable for 25 people can effectively work for 125. Consequently, the first actions of the new director have been aimed at creating a more efficient, but hopefully equally productive, organization. There is also a transparent effort to provide effective transition for several programs that will see retiring leadership over the next couple of years.

Certainly the most significant transition is the gradual shift of Dr. John Dindo to a position of Institutional Advancement over the next year. This is due, only in part, to the loss of Public Relations Director Lisa Young and our reduced capability to replace her at this time. John is the best salesman the lab has ever had and is quite comfortable in assuming this new expanded responsibility. Discovery Hall Programs, as they have been known for 35 years, is being expanded into a Directorate for Education and Outreach, headed by Dr. Tina Miller-Way. Tina held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Lab several years ago and has since taught at the University of Mobile and had most recently returned as part of our Northern Gulf Institute consortium. She will currently serve as Assistant Director but will assume full responsibility in 2010.

The Business Office proper has been expanded to a directorate of Administrative Services, still headed by Georgia Mallon, but she is planning to retire within the year, and David England is recognized as the Assistant Director. The office responsibilities have expanded to include Scheduling as well as Information Technology, in addition to Accounting and Auxiliaries management.

The Technical Support Group has been moved to University Programs (UP) and expanded to include Data Management. UP is the overwhelming user population of technical support.

Mike Dardeau is moving to lead the combining of Vessel and Plant Operations into a new Operations Directorate. These two units operate in much the same manner and Plant Ops frequently provides support to Vessel Ops. Mike will also be responsible for facilitating the transition of the Technical Support Group.