Crista Bank, Fisheries Manager, oversees efforts to build on improving relations with the fishing industry and surrounding communities. This includes directing outreach engagement, developing fisheries research programs, and identifying potential workforce opportunities for fishing industry involvement. She has spent the last four years laying the groundwork for these strategies as a Fisheries Liaison on the Vineyard Wind 1 project. Crista is a fisheries biologist who spent 12 years working at the School for Marine Science and Technology where she spent considerable time offshore on commercial fishing vessels working on collaborative research projects. Prior to that, Crista sailed on traditional sailing vessels crossing the Indian and South Atlantic Ocean and earned her 100-ton Captain’s license while sailing on the Schooner Ernestina, the only surviving 19th century Gloucester-built fishing schooner. She started her career teaching marine science at outdoor experiential education programs in New England, Southern California, and the Florida Keys.Crista holds a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology and a master’s degree in Fisheries Oceanography from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. She resides in New Bedford, Massachusetts with her husband and three children and enjoys being out on the water as much as she can.