Dr. Pollack is the Larry D. McKinney Endowed Chair for Coastal Conservation and Restoration at the Harte Research Institute and a Professor of Marine Biology in the College of Science at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Dr. Pollack has over 15 years of experience working with stakeholders including Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), Texas General Land Office, and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to provide science to support resource management and conservation efforts and improve sustainability of coastal environments. She is an appointed member on the TPWD Coastal Resources Advisory Committee and the TPWD Oyster Advisory Committee—both which advise the Chairman and the TPWD Commission on issues that cross fishery and geographic boundaries on the coast of Texas. Dr. Pollack helps oversee the Oyster Resource and Recovery Center, a workforce development program that provides free job training to those interested in oyster aquaculture, a new industry in Texas that contributes to sustainable oyster production. She also works directly with stakeholders from local communities as co-lead of the Texas Coast Ecosystem Health Report Card Project—a science-based effort that provides a snapshot of the current condition of a given area and highlights missing information that is critical to decision making—to provide local leaders with data to advocate for resources needed to improve ecosystem health.