Mark Capelli - Honorary Member of Emeriti Association

We nominate Mark H. Capelli as an Honorary Member of the Emeriti Association, effective July 1, 2025. Following Section 3 of the Association’s By-Laws, an Honorary Member must be nominated by two regular Association members who summarize the qualifications of the nominee prior to review and approval by a majority vote of the Association’s Board. In what follows, we review our reasons for believing that Mark Capelli meets the criteria for Honorary Membership, namely his long and ongoing associations with, and contributions to, the academic programs of the University of California - Santa Barbara.

Mark Capelli was born, raised, and went to public primary and secondary schools in Ventura, California. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Anglo-American and European Intellectual History at UCSB, then completed two Master’s degrees, including a Master’s of Arts degree in Anglo-American and European Intellectual History at UCSB and a Master’s of Library Science degree at UC-Berkeley. He began a doctoral program in the History Department at UCSB, under the supervision of Professor Richard Oglesby, but left this program after three years to take a position with the California Coastal Commission. In addition to work on formal degrees, Mark completed postgraduate, university-level course work in fields as varied as mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. In short, Mark is a polymath with very broad interests, training, and knowledge across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Mark’s broad training and knowledge have served him well in his positions as a Senior Analyst for the California Coastal Commission for 24 years, then as a Recovery Coordinator for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service for 25 years. These positions required his expertise in the intertwined areas of environmental science, politics, history, policy, and legislation, all underpinned by his familiarity with relevant scientific research, advances, and knowledge. From 1997 until 1985, Mark reviewed and made recommendations to the California Coastal Commission on Coastal Development Permits and led the development of Local Coastal Plans for several central coast cities. From 1985 until 2000 he managed the Local Coastal Programs for the City of Santa Barbara and the County of Santa Barbara, as well as the Long Range Development Plans for UCSB and Santa Barbara City College. As part of this job, he also reviewed and made recommendations regarding amendments and appeals to Local Coastal Plans and Long Range Development Plans, and conducted research and wrote reports or memos related to numerous aspects of coastal development, preservation, and access. His performance in these roles was stellar, as evidenced by several awards, including a California Trout Golden Trout Award (1994), a Planner of the Year Award from the Citizens Planning Committee of Santa Barbara (1994), a California Water Policy VII Conference Award (1997), and a Local Hero Award from the Santa Barbara Independent (1999).

Because of his expertise and activity in environmental policy, management, and science, he served as a lecturer in the UCSB Environmental Studies Program for 10 years (1990 - 2000) and for UCSB Extension for three years (1994 - 1998). The courses he taught in Environmental Studies and Extension addressed Endangered Species Management (e.g., ES 143) and Coastal Processes and Management (e.g., ES 134). For Extension, he also organized a conference on the restoration of the endangered Southern California Steelhead in 1996. His formal professional output during his tenure at the Coastal Commission included several publications and five technical reports. While a faculty member of the UCSB Environmental Studies Program, he made twenty-three invited presentations to various professional, scientific, governmental and community organizations. Regarding outreach and service, he gave public presentations and served on the UCSB Campus Wetlands Committee and on the Goleta Slough Management Committee.

Mark’s job responsibilities for the NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service (2000 - 2025) revolved around research, technical assistance, and planning pertinent to the federal Endangered Species Act, particularly the south-central and southern California steelhead. Mark developed and completed two recovery plans for the threatened South-Central California Coast Steelhead and the endangered Southern California Steelhead, prepared 5-Year status reviews for these two listed species, and updated the Biennial Report to Congress for these two species. The two recovery plans (each ca. 500 pp with appendices) and their associated status reviews are Mark’s magnum opus, representing comprehensive, scholarly documents synthesizing current scientific data, threats analysis, and management prescriptions for surface waters and steelhead from Monterey Bay to the Mexican border, establishing Mark as one of the foremost experts on the status and management of these species. Since the preparation of the two recovery plans (2012 and 2013), Mark has coordinated recovery efforts undertaken by NMFS and its co-managers (California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and provided technical and strategic advice on recovery efforts to other state and local collaborators, as well as various Non-Governmental Organizations. As one of NMFS' four recovery coordinators in California for federally-listed anadromous salmonids, Mark has reviewed and provided input on the administration of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's federally-funded Pacific Coast Salmon Restoration Fund. Mark has served as an internal peer reviewer for scientific papers and reports prepared by NMFS’ staff at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center (Santa Cruz), and served as a liaison between the Science Center and NOAA-NMFS’ West Coast southern (Long Beach) and south-central (Santa Rosa) offices. Given public and government interests in the recovery of these iconic species, Mark regularly gave talks on various aspects of steelhead ecology and NMFS' recovery program to scientific meetings, public agencies, educational institutions, and conservation groups, amounting to over 100, primarily invited, presentations at symposia and conferences, participation in ten scientific and management workshops, and 14 talks to citizens’ groups. He was an invited participant in the Aspen Institute’s Program on Energy, Environment, and the Economy, Dams and Rivers Dialogue, from 2000 to 2002 and served as a juror on the Los Angeles 2005 Planning Studio’s planning efforts for floods after fires in Montecito, sponsored by UC-Berkeley, in 2021. His agency, local legislative representatives, and an NGO recognized his excellent, comprehensive work, as represented by a NOAA Certificate of Recognition and California Trout Golden Trout Award in 2005, a NOAA General Counsel Award in 2010, and, in 2014, a California Senate Certificate of Recognition from State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Congressional Resolution for Outstanding Community Service from Congresswoman Julia Brownley, and a Congressional Resolution for Development of the South-Central California Steelhead Recovery Plan from Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.

Following his 10 year stint as a lecturer in Environmental Studies, Mark continued to participate in events and contribute to academic programs at UCSB and other academic institutions while he worked for NMFS. Mark published three peer-reviewed papers, including a scientific-historical paper (Alagona et al. 2012) and a technical report (Loaiciga et al. 2023) with UCSB colleagues, and independently published another scientific paper (Capelli 2024). He provided advice and guidance for undergraduate research projects at UC-Berkeley and three Master’s theses at California State University - Northridge, California State University - Monterey Bay, and Humboldt State University. Mark guest lectured in courses in UCSB’s Environmental Studies Program and Geography Department, as well as in courses at other institutions (Antioch University, California Polytechnic University - San Luis Obispo). Working with Professor David Chapman, Mark helped curate the marine algae collection at the UCSB Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration and continues to work closely with the UCSB Library to organize and archive the Mark H. Capelli Southern California Steelhead Watershed Archive in Special Collections. In addition, Mark regularly participates in UCSB events and interacts with UCSB faculty across a broad range of disciplines.

We hope you will join us in recognizing Mark H. Capelli’s numerous professional achievements, and past and ongoing contributions to UCSB, by awarding him an Honorary Membership in the UC Santa Barbara Emeriti Association.