Mark Farley officially joined the Oregon Sea Grant FCL Lab and Visitor Center team, accepting the position of project and technology development manager for the Lab development process. Mark had been working as part of the exhibit development team here at the visitor center as a contractor to Oregon Sea Grant, and was part of the grant writing team responsible for bringing in the NSF award.

Mark came to us from Pathworks, Inc., where he served as VP and operations manager in the development of interactive media, custom software, and marketing campaigns for public and private clientele.

“The work Oregon Sea Grant is supporting through their Free-Choice Learning Initiative here at the Hatfield Marine Science Center Visitor Center, and the creation of the free-choice learning research lab is some of the most exciting and professionally satisfying work I’ve ever participated in. The real delight is getting to work with such an exceptional team of creative people.

My first task is to get the project milestones anchored, and start working on the technology development plan. No small task considering how many unique technology tools we will be developing for the lab, not to mention the three new exhibits which will serve as focus point for our research. We’ve got some remarkable industry partners, the support of OSU’s Free-Choice Learning program in the College of Education, and OSU’s Office research to ensure we fulfill the vision of creating the first national free-choice learning research facility. Exciting times ahead!”

Exciting indeed.  Welcome aboard Mark!