Francesca M. Cava Francesca M. Cava currently serves as the Project Manager for the National Geographic Society's Sustainable Seas Expeditions. She is responsible for expedition planning, day-to-day operations, overseeing logistics arrangements for the submersibles, and encouraging new partnerships with other marine institutions. Since 1995 she has also served as a Commissioner of the California Coastal Commission and is actively engaged in a number of projects to find and promote solutions to major coastal problems associated with marine pollution, including advising a start-up effort for an aquarium based on the resources of the Santa Barbara Channel. During her 21-year tenure with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ms. Cava became the first woman promoted to the rank of Captain and served in several command postions aboard NOAA's reserch vessels. From 1992 until 1994 Ms. Cava served as the Director of the National Marine Sanctuary and National Estuarine Research Reserve program, with overall management responsibility for 36 national marine sanctuaries and estuarine reserves. Prior to this appointment, she served as the first sanctuary manager for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Working with many other institutions in the community Ms. Cava was responsible for founding the Los Marineros, a bilingual marine education program for high risk children which has since become a major part of the science curriculum for the 5th grade in the Santa Barbara school system. From 1989 until 1992 Ms. Cava was Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1991 she was named to lead the Agency's response to the environmental disasters that accompanied the Gulf war. She initiated several UN sponsored programs associated with the war, including a major oceanic research expedition designed to study the impact of the oil spills that accompanied the military action in Kuwait. A qualified diver, Ms. Cava participated in numerous research missions to examine the health of the coral reef community in the Arabian Gulf. As a result of her efforts during the Gulf war, Ms. Cava received the Department of Commerce's second highest award for exemplary public service. Ms. Cava received her B.S. degree in Mathematics from the University of Alaska and an M.P.A. degree from Harvard University.