Dr. Larry D. McKinney

Dr. Larry D. McKinney, director of Coastal Fisheries and senior director of Aquatic Resources for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), has been named executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. He will assume his new duties in July.

McKinney earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 1976 and is a recognized authority on the habitats of amphipod crustaceans in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. In his position at TPWD, McKinney was responsible for a broad range of natural resource and environmental issues including the assessment and securing of freshwater inflows to estuaries and in-stream flows for rivers and reservoirs; wetland conservation and restoration; endangered species conservation; and, other issues related to the ecological health of Texas aquatic ecosystems.  He also served as the Texas representative on the Gulf of Mexico Regional Marine Research Board and the western panel of the Aquatic Species Taskforce.

Robert Furgason, who served as executive director of the Harte Research Institute from 2004 through 2007, retired in March.