Phil Renaud
OTZ Project manager
Captain Philip G. Renaud, USN (Ret), is the Program Manager of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Twilight Zone (OTZ) and the Healy Wave Energy Converter (HWEC) projects. The OTZ project is a TED “Audacious Project” to rapidly explore, discover, and understand the twilight zone and to share knowledge in ways that supports sustainable use of marine resources and a healthy ocean and planet. The HWEC project’s objective is to deploy and evaluate a full-scale prototype wave energy converter device, invented by Mr. James Healy, which is designed for reliability, safety, and economical power production for islands and coastal communities. From 2004-2018, Renaud served as the Executive Director of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, an American public benefit organization where he developed the Foundation into a world-class scientific organization dedicated to conservation of the marine environment, particularly coral reef ecosystems. He initiated and led the ambitious Global Reef Expedition program, a five-year circumnavigation of the globe to map and survey coral reefs of the world in an effort to reverse the decline in coral reef health.
CAPT Renaud’s career in oceanography began at the Naval Academy where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Oceanography in 1979. His naval career took him to all corners of the earth. During his distinguished 25-year career in the Navy, he served as the oceanographer for an aircraft carrier (USS Theodore Roosevelt), was the lead oceanographer for the Commander, Second Fleet, and his naval career culminated as the Commanding Officer of the Naval Oceanographic Office. Renaud has earned Masters Degrees in Oceanography, Meteorology, Strategic Studies, and Business Administration. He is married with two daughters and is an avid scuba diver, underwater photographer, sailor and skier.