Gabrielle McGrath is a Portfolio Manager, Spill Response Specialist for the Ocean Science team at RPS, A Tetra Tech Company. She leads and provides subject matter expertise on all response services projects, developing government and industry contingency plans for both the oil and gas and offshore renewables industries. She also acts as Portfolio and Project Manager for a large portfolio of numerical modeling projects in Ocean Science’s International Projects Group, serving clients in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America.
Prior to joining Tetra Tech, Gabrielle served for 26 years on Active Duty in the United States Coast Guard retiring in 2018. During her Coast Guard career, she responded to hundreds of oil spills and hazardous material releases all over the United States, including the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the large sunken shipwreck response off of San Francisco Bay, the SS JACOB LUCKENBACH. Ms. McGrath was a qualified Pollution Responder, Federal On-Scene Coordinator’s Representative, Hazardous Materials Technician, Harbor Safety Officer, and Contingency Planning Specialist. She also developed and participated in hundreds of oil spill response and hazardous materials release exercises, ranging from tabletop and equipment deployment drills to full-scale exercises. She is certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a Master Exercise Planner. An expert 23-year Incident Command System instructor, Ms. McGrath is certified as a Type 1 Planning Section Chief, Type 1 Operations Section Chief, and Type 3 Incident Commander. Ms. McGrath also gained extensive experience in incident response planning during her time in the Coast Guard. She chaired three different Area Committees and led the development of full-scale revisions to the three Area Contingency Plans in those areas. Ms. McGrath was extensively involved in the maritime security response and planning efforts following the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001. She acted as the Operations Section Chief in the port of San Francisco Bay immediately following the attacks to protect the maritime transportation system. She led all maritime security planning efforts for the port of Boston and developed the first-ever Area Maritime Security Plan for the region. She also led the 18-month planning effort for the Coast Guard waterside security operations required for the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
Gabrielle earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Biological and Physical Oceanography from the United States Coast Guard Academy and her Masters of Science in Physical Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.