In August 2011, Jess D. Weaver, Regional Executive in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southeast Area Office, sent the following email message to announce the selection of Dick Poore as the new Director of the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.

I would like to announce a change in leadership at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC), effective August 24, 2011.

Jack Kindinger has decided to step aside as the Center Director and return to his former position as an oceanographer working in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Jack has been the St. Pete Center Director since October of 2009 and was the lead for geology programs in the former Florida Integrated Science Center for several years. Jack wants to get back to active research, get to the field more, and leave the management world to someone else. I would like to thank Jack for his leadership of the SPCMSC and wish him well as he starts on this next phase of his career. I appreciate his insights and contributions to the Southeast Area.

I have asked Richard (Dick) Poore to be the new Center Director, and he has graciously agreed to take on the responsibility. Dick has been a Research Geologist since 1974 and is currently the Chief for the Northern Gulf of Mexico Climate and Environmental History Project and the Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies Project. His previous management assignments include Deputy Chief of the Office of Regional Geology (1981-84), Chief of the Branch of Paleontology and Stratigraphy (1984-89), Chief Scientist for the Global Change and Climate History Team (1995-97), and National Science Foundation Marine Geology and Geophysics Program Manager (2000-03). His scientific and management experience will be a great addition to the Southeast Area. I look forward to working with Dick as the Center Director and appreciate his willingness to take on the position.