Our People

Dr. Marina Brock
Assistant Professor, Emergency Management Department
Coordinator, Emergency and Risk Management Concentration and Minor

Dr. Marina Brock is an Assistant Professor in the Emergency Management Department at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, bringing 17 years of higher education experience and over 25 years of service as an Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Specialist with the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment. Her interdisciplinary expertise spans EHS, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), Public Health, Environmental Science, and Emergency Management.

Dr. Brock is the lead faculty coordinator for the Academy’s newly established Emergency and Risk Management Concentration and Minor, which integrates applied and theoretical perspectives on risk identification, hazard control, and enterprise risk management. Through this work, she helps prepare students across disciplines to anticipate, assess, and respond to complex and interconnected risks within public and private sector systems.

Her academic and professional work focuses on advancing local and regional government initiatives by promoting the development and implementation of Safety and Risk Management Systems. She provides assessments, training, compliance guidance, and strategic planning support to public sector facilities, with a strong emphasis on system-based solutions for sustainable risk reduction and operational resilience.

Dr. Brock holds a B.A. in Environmental Economics from Simmons University, an M.S. in Occupational Health and Safety Engineering from Columbia Southern University, and a Ph.D. in Emergency and Protective Services from Capitol Technology University. Her research focuses on identifying operational gaps and barriers to the implementation of Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) competency, and she is committed to evolving and evaluating strategies that enhance safety culture and enterprise-wide risk management frameworks.

She has authored and co-authored several articles, lectured widely across New England, and served as a mentor to both students and professionals. Her contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Excellence Award and the Massachusetts Governor’s Award for Toxics Use Reduction. Her innovative prevention and mitigation initiatives have served as national models for public agencies.

A recognized leader in cross-sector collaboration, Dr. Brock was nominated for the Harvard Kennedy School’s Innovations in Government Award and appointed Member and eventually Chair of the EPA Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) in 2016. In this role, she represented U.S. local government interests in environmental and safety policy matters under the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) as part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Dr. Brock continues to engage students in applied research, promoting the development of critical skills in safety systems, risk communication, and integrated enterprise risk management, fostering the next generation of risk-aware, solution-oriented professionals.

• Bachelors in Marine Environmental Science from the United States Coast Guard Academy, 2012
• Masters in Homeland Security from Northeastern University
• Professor Sam Coonan is a full-time faculty member in Massachusetts Maritime Academy's Emergency Management Department and a commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.
• Her first tour was as the Law Enforcement Officer on the USCGC DEPENDABLE out of Cape May, NJ where the ship conducted primarily counter-drug and maritime law enforcement missions. For her Response Ashore tour she was stationed at Sector Sault Sainte Marie, MI. While at Sector Sault Ste. Marie, her primary duties included Federal On-scene Coordinator (R), Search and Rescue Operations Planner, and Tactical Law Enforcement Coordination Planning.
• While working on her Masters degree, Professor Coonan taught Physics/Chemistry and coached Basketball/Lacrosse at the high school level. She also worked on several private contracts for FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard via the American Bureau of Shipping Group.  In her free time she enjoys hanging out with her two dogs, Maximus and Ace.