David Schwartz

Board Chair / Education Director
[email protected]
​David Schwartz is the former Chair of Geology, Oceanography, and Environmental Science at Cabrillo College, where he taught for 35 years and helped shape the college’s environmental science programs. He holds a B.S. in Geology from Ohio State University and an M.S. in Marine Geology from San Jose State University and Moss Landing Marine Labs, where he studied estuarine evolution and the geologic history of Elkhorn Slough.

David’s passion for the ocean began in his youth along the Atlantic coast and was fueled by early exposure to pollution issues and environmental activism. That passion has carried through a lifelong commitment to marine conservation and education.

A lifelong environmental advocate, David has organized over 50 local and global coastal cleanups since 1998. Since 2012, he has played an essential role in sustaining and guiding Clean Oceans International, providing leadership, scientific insight, and unwavering dedication to the organization's mission to reduce marine plastic pollution.

Patricia Lieberg-Clark

Board Treasurer / Environmental Plastic Assessment Program Coordinator
[email protected]
​​Patti’s passion for the ocean began in childhood and led her to study marine science at Orange Coast College and UC Santa Cruz, where she completed a thesis on marine mammal pollution ecology. She went on to co-coordinate NOAA’s Marine Mammal Stranding Network at UCSC’s Long Marine Lab for six years. Patti also had long-term teaching and field assistant roles for ocean and life science courses at Cabrillo College. She later earned a Master’s in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where she focused on blue carbon ecosystems and plastic pollution research.

Her offshore sailing expeditions—from Mexico’s Gulf of California to the Panama Canal—revealed the scale of plastic pollution in even the most remote waters, deepening her commitment to ocean health.

Patti has been actively involved with Clean Oceans International since 2012, contributing significantly to educational programs, fieldwork, and community outreach. She currently coordinates COI’s Environmental Plastic Assessment Program (EPAP) and has served on the Board of Directors since 2018. Patti continues to support COI’s mission through leadership, science, and advocacy. She enjoys hiking, kayaking, sailing, wildlife biology, geology, and coffee.

Eliot Headley

Board Secretary
[email protected]
Eliot Headley holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Biology from UC Santa Cruz and a Master’s in Climate Science and Policy from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His graduate work focused on science communication and climate education for outdoor industry professionals.

He has developed climate literacy training programs for state agencies, nonprofits, and private industry to improve understanding and communication of climate and environmental impacts. As Project Manager at Lloyd EcoDistrict, Eliot has led equity-focused community resilience efforts, including local food production, pollinator corridors, and urban greenspace initiatives. He also teaches general science courses—including Global Climate Change—at Portland Community College.

Eliot serves on the Board of Directors for Clean Oceans International, where he supports marine plastic pollution research and education. As an ORISE Fellow with the USDA Climate Hubs, he advances climate communication by synthesizing research on adaptation and mitigation strategies relevant to the Forest Service’s mission.

Skip Rochefort

​Board Member
​Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering in the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University
​[email protected]
http://cbee.oregonstate.edu/people/skip-rochefort

Skip Rochefort has degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts (B.S., 1976), Northwestern University (M.S. 1978) and the University of California, San Diego (Ph.D., 1986). He was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Ecole the Physique et Chimie (ESPCI) in Paris, France in 1986-87 where he worked in the laboratory of Pierre-Gilles deGennes (1991 Nobel Prize in Physics). From 1988 – 1990 he was a Research Assistant at UC Santa Barbara where he worked in the laboratory of Dale Pearson and Alan Heeger (1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry).

He has held several industrial research positions (Dow Chemical, Kodak, AT&T Bell Labs), and since 1993 he has been on the faculty at Oregon State University. He has been a University Honors College Faculty member since 1995 and a UHC Eminent Professor since 2012. He has been recognized for his teaching and advising activities by ASEE, AIChE, the College of Engineering, and Oregon State University. In 2012 he was selected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. His research interest for the last 45 years has been in all areas of polymer science, polymer physics, rheology, and polymer processing. He established the CBEE Polymer Research Laboratory in 1993 with complete capabilities for molecular, thermal, rheological, and surface characterization of polymers. He has been involved in plastics recycling for more than 25 years, been involved with the plastics to fuel technology for 15 years, and in Spring 2018 established the OSU Plastics to Fuel research effort with undergraduate students in CBEE. He is on the Advisory Board of Clean Oceans International (Santa Cruz, CA) and for the last several years has had collaborative research with Scott Farling and Capt. Andy Schroeder, founders of the Ocean Plastics Recovery Project (Kodiak, AK). 

Dr. Lucas D. Ellis

Board Member
​Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering in the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University
​[email protected]
https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/people/lucas-ellis  

Lucas Ellis has degrees from the California Polytechnic State University (B.S., 2007), Dartmouth College (M.S. 2011), and the University of Colorado – Boulder (Ph.D., 2018). He was a Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory from 2019-2021 where he worked to develop new technologies to recycle and upcycle plastics working with Dr. Gregg Beckham.   

He held an industrial research position at a cellulosic ethanol start-up, Mascoma Corporation, from 2011-2013, working in the field of pretreatment technology at both the bench and pilot scales. He joined Oregon State University as a Callahan Faculty Scholar in December 2021, with a research focus on developing new catalysts to valorize waste plastics through chemical recycling.
 
During his research career, Dr. Ellis has received a series of awards and fellowships, including the Mascoma Award of Excellence, the American Institute of Chemists Graduate Student Faculty Leadership Award, the USDA Pre-doctoral Award, the Director’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, and NREL’s Director’s Award & Key-Contributor Awards. Additionally, Dr. Ellis has published peer-reviewed publications in journals such as ACS Catalysis, Nature Catalysis, and Science, in addition to authoring 1 full patent and three provisional patents. 

Barbara Termaat

​Board Member
[email protected]
Barb Termaat has dedicated her career to connecting learners with expert-based knowledge in STEM fields. A lifelong environmentalist, Barb joined her first environmental group at age 10 during the first Earth Day in Detroit. She holds a Master’s in Math and Science Education from Harvard and a BS in Oceanography from the University of Michigan College of Engineering.

Barb has worked as a STEM master teacher in Germany and California and later led teams at technology companies before and after her teaching career. For over 12 years, she led curriculum development and strategy for the Cisco Networking Academy, a global technology education program. Following this, she served as the director of a STEM education nonprofit in northern Michigan for 4.5 years, where she collaborated with regional partners and foundations to create impactful initiatives. Two of her favorite projects include developing STEM Kits for all 21 regional libraries—later expanded to after-school programs, preschools, and community organizations—and designing the STEM Career Investigator tool, which connects individuals to pathways for local STEM-related careers.

Now retired, Barb has returned to her environmental roots. She connected with the COI team at a coastal cleanup in 2023 and quickly became a dedicated volunteer. Inspired by her weekly "Trash Walks" from her Santa Cruz home to the Monterey Bay coastline, COI asked Barb to track her collection data to inspire others to take action. Barb joined the COI Board in January 2025, bringing her expertise in education, sustainability, and community outreach.