Denise J. Reed is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in coastal marsh sustainability and the role of human activities in modifying coastal systems with over 30 years of experience studying coastal issues in the United States and abroad. Dr. Reed has served as s a Distinguished Research Professor in the University of New Orleans’ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and spent five years as Chief Scientists at The Water Institute of the Gulf. She has served on numerous boards and panels addressing the effects of human alterations on coastal environments and the role of science in guiding restoration, including the NRC Committee on Sustainable Water and Environmental Management in the California Bay-Delta, and has been a member of the USACE Environmental Advisory Board and the NOAA Science Advisory Board. Dr. Reed received her B.S. degree in Geography from Sidney Sussex College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from University of Cambridge.