Staff
Robert F. Murphy, President & Executive Director
Bob Murphy serves as Director for Ecosystem Solutions, Inc. overseeing
all aspects of the organization, including development, proposal writing,
scientific research and analysis, field studies, and technical oversight.
Bob currently heads ESI's marine resources projects which include development
of novel methods for large-scale submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) restoration,
assessment of biological responses to restoration practices, and oyster
reef design.
Prior to ESI, Bob was Sr. Project Coordinator with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, a regional non-profit, where he specialized in habitat restoration, with particular emphases on submerged vegetation and oyster reef habitats. As a member of the senior staff at the Alliance, Bob served as scientific liaison to the Chesapeake Bay Program and other regional organizations.
Bob holds a master's degree in fish ecology from the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland (Dr. David Secor, advisor) where his research focused on the fish assemblage structure of the coastal bays of Maryland. His continued scientific interests include the interactions of habitat and population dynamics in marine and estuarine systems.
Leslie Orzetti, Senior Staff Scientist
Leslie Orzetti attended the University of Dayton where she earned both a B.S. and a M.S in Biology in 1994 and 1996, respectively. Her Master's research was entitled, "Clump orientation and reorganization of Zebra Mussels - Dreissena polymorpha - in response to nozzle head velocities in a laboratory flume", was earned under the supervision of Albert J. Burky, Ph.D, and funded by the Army Corps of Engineers. After a tenure with the Department of Defense and researching stream organisms in Hawaii, Leslie earned a Ph.D. from George Mason University in 2004. Her dissertation was entitled, "Stream Community Structure: An Analysis of Riparian Forest Buffers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed."
Current research interests include further pursuing her dissertation work looking at the effects of restoration activities on stream and estuarine health, as well as developing and testing new and innovative restoration techniques for oyster reefs and shoreline stabilization.
She has made numerous presentations at regional and national conferences, and has been co-author on several publications.
Wesley R. Johnson, Staff Scientist (Microbial Ecologist)
Wes Johnson earned a B.S. in Marine Science from Jacksonville University in 1995 
and operated a native wetland plant nursery in Upper Marlboro, MD where he studied plant reproductive ecology and community structure in Maryland marshes. He developed an interest in biogeochemical cycling in marshes went on to study microbial populations and processes in estuarine systems at the University of South Carolina. Wes was awarded a NERR Graduate Research Fellowship and completed his dissertation, Ecologic factors influencing salt marsh bacterial community structures, in 2005 under the guidance of Dr. Madilyn Fletcher.
Before joining ESI in 2010, Wes spent three years as a postdoctoral scholar at the Medical University of South Carolina and the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, SC studying microbial communities associated with corals and marine mammals, pathogenic marine bacteria, environmental genomics, and microbial interactions with Dr. Pam Morris. Wes has authored several publications on his work and has also presented at national and international conferences.
His current research interests are primarily in microbial interactions with plant and animal hosts, particularly with respect to reproductive ecology and health maintenance. He also maintains a strong interest in the efficacy and impacts of different restoration techniques on introduced and native biota as well as on ecosystem structure and function.