SENIOR STAFF

Ward Slacum
Executive Director

Ward is responsible for activities within ORP’s core programs in Oyster Restoration, Shell Reclamation, Oyster Aquaculture and Fisheries. Ward has a broad background in marine and estuarine science and has been supporting Bay restoration for the past 20 years through research and cooperative programs with Bay watermen. Prior to joining ORP he was the manager of Versar’s Coastal and Marine Assessment Program. He earned a Master’s degree in Fisheries Science from the University of Maryland MEES Program and a bachelor degree in Environmental Science from the UMD Eastern Shore campus. He was born on the Eastern Shore and lives in Stevensville. In his free time, Ward enjoys being outdoors gardening, boating, fishing, and making furniture in the woodshop.

David King
Director of Field Operations
As the Director of Field Operations, Dave oversees staff and operations at ORP’s shell recycling headquarters in Cambridge, MD.  A Kent Island native, Dave grew up on the Chesapeake Bay. His love of the water led him to the Navy, where he became an awarded sailor. After the Navy he served on the State of Maryland buoy tender and ice breaker. It was during that time he discovered diving, eventually graduating from the Diver’s Academy of the Eastern Seaboard. He then went on to work in the Gulf of Mexico before serving in the Army Active Reserve (honorably discharged) as a watercraft operator. Since 2007 he has managed a successful diving business based out of Annapolis. Dave feels very fortunate to be involved in ORP’s mission to improve the health of his beloved Chesapeake Bay. His free time is spent boating, camping and traveling with his wife Brooke, and daughters Taylor, Piper and Sophie. He considers his family to be dining aficionados — enjoying cuisines with Chesapeake seafood being at the top of the list.

OPERATIONS

Marketing/Partnerships

Finance/Admin

Field Operations