Dr. Gilbert is currently an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Charleston Southern University, and an Adjunct Professor of Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel. Dr. Gilbert is a 30-year veteran of law enforcement in which he started his career with the Warren County (NY) Sheriff’s Office, serving 3 years as a Seasonal Special-Patrol Officer. He then served 22 years with the New York State Police and was a First Responder during the 9/11 attacks in lower Manhattan in 2001, while he was employed as New York State Police Trooper from 1997 – 2003.
From 2003 – 2018, Dr. Gilbert was assigned to the New York State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Counter-Terrorism Office, working in a variety of investigative and intelligence functions as an Investigator and from 2012 – 2018, he was assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, as a Task Force Officer, actively investigating national and international domestic and international terrorism cases. One of his cases was briefed to the U.S. Attorney General and the FBI’s Assistant Director. Dr. Gilbert has also served 2 years as a New York State Correctional Officer at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and at Taconic Correctional Facility.
Currently, Dr. Gilbert is a Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, serving as the Senior Reserve Officer at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center, located in Dam Neck, VA. He has been deployed to numerous areas around the country over his 19 years of military service, often assisting those in great need impacted by hurricanes, and other environmental disasters, most recently, a 60-day deployment from October 19th – December 17th, 2024, serving the great state of North Carolina after the Hurricane HELENE devastation. He has also served in law enforcement, intelligence, Joint Military/Combatant Command, and emergency management billets during his U.S. Coast Guard reserves career.
His academic accomplishes include being a 2018 graduate of Nova Southeastern University, with a PhD in Criminal Justice/Organizational Leadership; a master’s in Strategic Intelligence from National Intelligence University and a master’s in Leadership and Administration from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Dr. Gilbert and his wife have three children and two dogs. He is an avid sports fan of the New York Yankees and New York Giants. Dr. Gilbert is an active member of Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, SC.
Learn about our local water neighbors, our resident dolphins, and how we can all become marine stewards in their conservation.
Lauren Rust is the founder and executive director of the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network, a local nonprofit whose mission is to protect local marine mammals through science, education and conservation. Lauren is a marine biologist with a focus on dolphin biology. She’s a College of Charleston graduate and has worked with marine mammals around the world for almost 20 years at places like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Charleston and The Marine Mammal Center in California before relocating back to Charleston and founding LMMN.
Lauren’s goals are to bring a greater awareness and appreciation of Charleston’s true locals, our resident dolphins.
