Co-chair Announcement
We are thrilled to share some exciting news: Dr. Erin Hackett has joined the MPOWIR leadership team as our new co-chair! She will be joining MPOWIR’s leadership team that includes co-chair, Dr. Mona Behl, and Program Coordinator, Sarah Clem.
Dr. Hackett is a Professor of Marine Science at Coastal Carolina University. She brings a wealth of experience to this role as she has been a dedicated member of the MPOWIR community for years, starting as a participant and serving as a Steering Committee member, Mentor Group Leader, and Pattullo Senior Scientist. Her deep commitment to the program’s mission and her firsthand understanding of what MPOWIR means to its participants’ make her an exceptional addition to our leadership. Please read more about her career path and connection to MPOWIR below.
We also want to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Colleen Mouw for her outstanding contributions as co-chair since 2014. Colleen’s leadership, vision, and dedication have been invaluable to MPOWIR, and we are so grateful for everything she has given to this community. We look forward to Colleen’s continued involvement as a member of the MPOWIR community.
We are excited about this next chapter and look forward to all that we will accomplish together with Dr. Hackett’s leadership.
Erin E. Hackett received a B.S. degree in physics from Roanoke College, Salem, VA, USA, in 2000 and an M.S. in civil engineering (2007) and Ph.D. in earth and planetary sciences (2010) from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Marine Science and co-director of the Environmental Fluids Laboratory at Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, USA. Previously, she served as a Scientist with the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Bethesda, MD, and as a Systems Engineer with The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD. Her research focuses on experimental fluid mechanics applied to coastal ocean and lower atmospheric dynamics, including meteorology, boundary layers, ocean surface waves, and turbulence, as well as electromagnetic wave propagation in the marine environment and ground-based radar remote sensing.
Hackett has been actively involved with MPOWIR since 2008, when she participated as one of the inaugural mentees at the first Pattullo Conference and as a member of one of the program’s earliest mentoring groups. Since then, her role has grown alongside the organization. She has served as a co-leader for three mentoring groups (2017–2020; 2022–present), a member of the MPOWIR Steering Committee (2019–2021), and a senior leader at both the 2019 Pattullo Conference and the 2024 MPOWIR virtual conference. In 2025, she also co-authored a feature article in Oceanography on the benefits of mentoring to mentors with several MPOWIR senior leaders and members of the MPOWIR leadership team.
As she steps into the role of co-chair, Hackett is committed to continuing and strengthening the mission of MPOWIR during an important and challenging time for the organization. The impact of MPOWIR on the ocean sciences community clearly demonstrates the need for organizations that support development of a strong and well-rounded workforce that reflects the broader demographics of our society. Mentoring solely within home institutions is often not enough to meet the needs of every researcher and can limit exposure to new ideas and approaches. Hackett looks forward to helping the organization explore new funding opportunities, strengthen long-term sustainability, and support new initiatives that build on the strong foundation established over the past two decades. She is excited to work with the leadership team and the broader MPOWIR community to continue expanding the program’s impact and supporting the next generation of ocean scientists.
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