SFSU Public Affairs Press Release Published by the Public Affairs Office at San Francisco State University, Diag Center.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA-- August 26, 1998 -- San Francisco State University has hired its first development officer for the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, as plans advance for a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Center's facilities for research on coastal and oceanic ecosystems. The Center, located on the east side of the Tiburon peninsula, is the marine and estuarine research and teaching arm of the university.

The new development officer, Traci Eckels, comes to the new post from her position as development director for the YWCA of Seattle. She has also served as director of special development projects for the University of California's Boalt Hall School of Law in Berkeley, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley.

"We are extremely pleased and fortunate to have Traci join us," said Center director, Alissa Arp, professor of biology at San Francisco State. "I'm sure her great track record will continue here and help us increase the pace of renovating the Center."

Eckels will be responsible for increasing the level of community support for the Center, including highlighting its critical scientific and educational work and building relationships with people and institutions that support the Center's mission.

Arp said, "We believe that a large number of people and organizations would be excited and supportive if they knew more about what we are doing. Traci will help us reach those people."

Picture by David Mandel

Eckels grew up in Davis, California, and lived in the Bay Area for ten years before taking her position in Seattle in 1994.

Faculty scientists, graduate students, undergraduates, and staff scientists at the Romberg Tiburon Center carry out basic and applied research on a range of topics important to understanding and protecting the marine environment. Recent research includes studies to restore lost salt marshes and to control an invasive weed in the California delta, as well as efforts to trace the distribution of nutrients and marine life in coastal waters. San Francisco State offers undergraduate and graduate courses at the Center.

San Francisco State University is a highly diverse community of 27,000 students and 3,500 faculty and staff. It is one of the largest of the nationally recognized 23-campus California State University System. Founded in 1899, the University is approaching its 100th year of service to San Francisco, the Bay Area, and beyond.

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