Dr Mark Guishard Appointed COO At BIOS

The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences [BIOS] has appointed Dr. Mark Guishard as its Chief Operating Officer [COO] with Dr. Guishard noting he is “thrilled to be returning to BIOS in a leadership role.”

A spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, a unit of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University, today announced the appointment of Dr. Mark Guishard as its Chief Operating Officer [COO]. Dr. Guishard, who has worked with BIOS scientists and staff in various capacities for over two decades, joined the organization’s leadership team this week, filling a vacancy created by former COO William Welton’s departure last year.”

“Mark’s return to BIOS is exciting, given his extensive experience, familiarity with our activities, and the respect he holds in the Bermuda community. His presence will be invaluable as we integrate with ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory. I am looking forward to working with Mark during this pivotal transition,” said BIOS CEO and President, Bill Curry.

“I’m thrilled to be returning to BIOS in a leadership role. The prospect of supporting crucial research, education, and outreach activities at BIOS is even more exciting as we work with ASU. The integration is proving mutually beneficial, and it opens up new opportunities for the Bermuda community,” Dr Guishard said.

The spokesperson said, “A former BIOS trustee, Dr. Guishard first came to BIOS as a Bermuda Program intern in the 1990s and later worked as an adjunct faculty member. He has also overseen local stakeholder engagements for BIOS as Director of Corporate and Community Relations. From 2013 to 2020, Dr. Guishard served as Program Manager of BIOS’s Risk Prediction Initiative [RPI], which facilitates natural catastrophe research relevant to the risk transfer industry and helps translate this research into useable, actionable results for RPI member companies.

“Prior to his appointment as COO, Dr. Guishard was Chief Administrative Officer at the Bermuda Airport Authority [BAA]. While there, he served as Principal Investigator of a two-part report, ‘Climate Change and Bermuda,’ published by BIOS in 2022 and 2023.

“In producing a report focused on the threats of climate change and its impact on Bermuda’s human communities and natural ecosystems, Dr. Guishard tapped two decades of experience in atmospheric sciences, including research into Atlantic hurricanes and subtropical storms. He joined the Bermuda Weather Service [BWS] as a forecaster in 1997 and was the agency’s director from 2006 to 2012.

“Dr. Guishard has served on intergovernmental committees related to the warning and mitigation of natural hazards and is a regional point of contact for disaster risk reduction for the United Nations World Meteorological Organization [WMO].

“He has also represented the WMO and Bermuda on the UN regional coordination group on tsunamis and other coastal hazards and has been a “cat” [catastrophe risk analysis] modeler for a Bermuda-based reinsurance company. He was elected in 2016 as a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society in the United Kingdom, an organization of professionals and scientists dedicated to the understanding of weather and climate.

“With a dissertation focused on the meteorology of subtropical storms, hurricanes, and extra-tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin, Dr. Guishard received his Ph.D. in Meteorology from Penn State University. He previously earned Bachelor’s and Master of Science degrees from the University of East Anglia.”

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