Erik Stabenau, PhD

Erik Stabenau, Ph.D., joined The Everglades Foundation in 2025 as Senior Restoration Scientist. His role entails evaluating and shaping restoration planning efforts, supervising and mentoring core technical members of the Science team, and providing support as needed in the Foundation’s other programmatic and support areas, including Policy and Communications.

Previously, Erik held progressive roles over the course of 20 years with the National Park Service. Most recently, he served as Restoration Services Branch Chief at Everglades National Park, where he led Everglades restoration projects at Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas National Parks, in addition to Big Cypress National Preserve.

Prior to that, he held the role of Oceanographer and Coastal Ocean Modeler at Everglades National Park, where he developed solutions to environmental challenges related to limited freshwater availability. Erik began his career in 2005 as a Supervisory Hydrologist at Everglades National Park, where he managed a team of hydrologists that maintained the monitoring network and hydrologic databases within Everglades, Dry Tortugas, and Biscayne National Parks.

Periodically throughout his career, he took on additional administrative assignments. He served as Supervisory Program Specialist, assisting Biscayne National Park’s superintendent and staff with personnel management and employee relations programs. He also completed an assignment as Senior Advisor and Legislative Liaison within the National Park Service, Department of Interior, in Washington, D.C.

Erik was named a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate by the National Academies of Sciences, earned a doctoral degree in Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Sciences, and received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He resides in Miami, FL.