Mote Marine Laboratory recently hired Cynthia Heil as the director of its new Red Tide Institute, which focuses on studying and testing Florida red tide mitigation and control technologies. The Institute was established in October thanks to a $1 million donation from the Andrew and Judith Economos Charitable Foundation. Heil will join Mote on Jan. 1. She comes to Mote from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine, where she developed an independent research program focused on water quality, harmful algal blooms and ecosystem management.