Dr. Christopher Fuller is the Chief Operations Officer for Research, Applied Technology, Education, Services, Inc. (RATES), a 501(c)3 nonprofit with offices in Edinburg, Texas, and Potsdam, New York. He has more than 25 years of experience in environmental studies ranging from laboratory to full-field scale investigations on topics spanning environmental contaminant fate and effects, application of surrogate sensing technologies, and development of large-scale environmental observatories.
He obtained his doctorate in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station with a dissertation that focused on marine oil spill toxicology. While earning his doctoral degree he was employed by the Texas Engineering Experiment Station as Research Associate in Corpus Christi, TX where be managed the Shoreline Environmental Research Facility (SERF). After completing his degree, he worked as Research Faculty at Clarkson University-Potsdam, NY and as Commercial Oceanographer at Fugro-GEOS. Since 2019, as RATES Chief Operations Officer, he has served as the lead technical investigator on: Texas General Land Office Coastal Management Program Projects of Special Merit including High Frequency Radar for Texas Bays (CMP26) and Ports and Lower Laguna Madre Hydrodynamic Characterization (CMP27); Texas Commission on Environmental Quality-Non-Point Source Program- Watershed Protection Plan Developments for the Lower Rio Grande Valley North and Central Watersheds; and co-developed Water Column Exposure Modeling Tool to estimate water column exposures to oil and oil spill response agents as an aid for Natural Resource Damage Assessments.
As a GCOOS Principal Investigator, Dr. Fuller is dedicated to the development of new opportunities and collaborations to sustain and expand monitoring programs along the Gulf coast to meet the data needs for coastal resiliency initiatives of state and federal agencies.
Project Title
- “Galveston Bay and Sabine Lake High Frequency Radar Networks: Repair Funds”
