Staff

Amy Collins,
Executive Director

Director of Animal Care / Open

Animal Care Coordinator / Open

Sea Rogers Williams, V.M.D.,
Science Director & Attending Veterinarian

Sea Rogers Williams is an aquatic and companion animal veterinarian who lives on Martha’s Vineyard with his life partner, Bridget Dunnigan, MS, DVM, who is also an aquatically trained veterinarian. They live with their three dogs, two cats, and five birds where they enjoy hiking, kayaking, and international travel to explore the world’s avifauna. They own and operate the Vineyard Veterinary Clinic in Edgartown.  Currently employed by the National Marine Life Center, Dr. Williams started his aquatic training during vet school at the University of Pennsylvania by attending AquaVet® and AquaMed® courses and participating in the Aquatics club. After a few years in companion animal and mixed animal practice Dr. Williams added more formal training, completing a clinical internship at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Upon moving to the Vineyard he realized that there was no on-island veterinary stranding program. Roger and Bridget have been the primary responders to over a hundred marine mammal and sea turtle strandings as volunteer veterinarians working under the Stranding Agreement of the New England Aquarium. In 2002 they accepted a split position as veterinary medical officers for NOAA Fisheries and as the veterinarians for the Woods Hole Science Aquarium. They responded as government veterinarians to strandings, marine animal transports, and provided the veterinary care for the aquarium’s collection of seals, fish, and invertebrates. They helped re-establish a sea turtle rehabilitation program at the aquarium in coordination with the New England Aquarium. In 2007 they left the aquarium and Dr. Williams accepted the position of director of science, and in 2008 as the attending clinical veterinarian, for the National Marine Life Center.

Dr. Williams has a long established interest in infectious disease, particularly parasitic interactions, occurrence, and disease. Dr. Williams has published scientific articles in the fields of fish ophthalmology, marine mammal hematology, sea turtle pathology, infectious disease, and parasitology.

Leah Vandermeer,
Parasite Lab Research Coordinator

Leah received her Bachelors of Science degree in Marine Biology from Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, ME. During this time she spent a summer interning at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole studying lobster behavior. After graduation Leah worked seasonally as the assistant manager of the Zone C lobster hatchery in Stonington, ME. Here she gained hands on experience raising and releasing larval lobsters to replenish areas of diminished population. From there she spent the next 8 years working at Smithers Viscient, an environmental toxicology company. Here she was a biologist 1 and lab manager. She gained valuable experience in microscopy work and used some of the same programs that are used here in the parasite lab. Leah came to NMLC in the fall of 2017 as the parasite lab research coordinator. Here she identifies parasites from our patients as well as marine mammals all over the country as part of our parasite grant through NOAA.