Obama has selected Oregon State University marine scientist Jane Lubchenco to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Lubchenco, a conservationist who has devoted much of her career to encouraging scientists to become more engaged in public policy debates, is also a vocal proponent of curbing greenhouse gases linked to global warming. ... The appointment marks a shift for NOAA, which oversees marine issues as well as much of government’s climate work. Lubchenco has criticized the agency in the past for not doing enough to curb overfishing.
A Harvard-educated environmental scientist and marine ecologist, Lubchenco has been at Oregon State University for 30 years, where she is Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology.
She has served as president of the International Council for Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Ecological Society of America. She has been a presidential appointee to the National Science Board, which advises the president and Congress and oversees the National Science Foundation. And she’s won more awards than any one mantel could hold, including, according to The Oregonian, “a MacArthur Fellowship, a Pew Fellowship, eight honorary degrees, the 2002 Heinz Award in the Environment, the 2003 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest, and the 2004 Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Institute of Biological Sciences.”
Lubchenco founded the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea (COMPASS), an effort to bring together academics, scientists, and media types to communicate about marine conservation science. She also founded the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, which selects 20 academic environmental scientists each year for training and networking in the interest of improving the communication of science to policymakers and the public, and she continues to chair program’s advisory board.
She was a participant in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, co-chairing the business and industry subset.
Lubchenco also co-chaired Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Advisory Group on Global Warming, which in 2005 released recommendations for how the state could reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions.
As the Deep Sea News blog puts it, “Obama Appoints Totally Awesome Marine Biologist to Head NOAA!”
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Comments
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Sam Wells Posted 10:19 am
18 Dec 2008
When the pendulum swings, it often swings too far. My only hope is that Magnuson and other laws force her to act in a more reasonable fashion with respect to NMFS fishery issues.
Onward through the fog
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Delay And Deny Posted 12:52 pm
18 Dec 2008
Oh, what's this? Managing change? Adaptation!
I like this scientist!
Gobama!
http://lucile.science.oregonstate.edu/lubchenco/Pages/Pub ...
2006 Chapin, F.S., III, M. Hoel, S.R. Carpenter, J. Lubchenco, B. Walker, T.V. Callighan, C. Folke, S. Levin, K.-G. Maler, C. Nilsson, S. Barrett, F. Berkes, A.-S. Crepin, K. Danell, T. Rosswall, D. Starrett, T. Xepapadeas, and S.A. Zimov. Building Resilience and Adaptation to Manage Arctic Change. Royal Colloquium, Ambio: 4(35): 198-202.
"This is the essence of science...you ask an impertinent question and you're on your way to a pertinent answer." -- Fox Mulder, S1E4, "Conduit"
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Jon Rynn Posted 12:57 pm
18 Dec 2008
Sammie, I don't think anglers are going to be hurt by this, maybe after a few years there will actually be something to fish, sustainably.
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Bob Wallace Posted 1:13 pm
18 Dec 2008
Gives a safe place for the little guys to grow up. And then fishermen get to catch the big ones when they venture out of the reserves.
It's a side effect that I'm hoping to see emerge from wave and tidal energy "ranches". Areas where it won't be possible to drag the bottom clean and fish can grow undisturbed.
BTW, catch and release. That is just pure evil in my book.
I've got no problem with killing things to eat, but to hurt stuff for fun? Just wrong.
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Pangolin Posted 3:03 pm
18 Dec 2008
The synthetic lost nets and tons of broken line that keeps fishing years after the original owners have returned to the shore isn't helping fish stocks.
Another real nasty that almost nobody wants to talk about is that the killing of turtles and plastic pollution is turning the oceans to jellyfish heaven. All of those extra jellies are probably hell on the fry.
If it don't rot, row or sail get it out of the water.
Put the Carbon Back
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randino Posted 2:22 am
19 Dec 2008
Today, I am a happy camper.
Randy Cunningham
Cleveland, OH
Randy Cunningham
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Sam Wells Posted 4:19 am
21 Dec 2008
In practice, the Magnuson Act of 1976 was supposed to create sustainable fisheries but has been a disaster, and over-fishing by the commercial fishing industry with large factory ships has resulted in worse and worse conditions for the recreational fishermen. Nowadays, the value of recreational boats and gear is 10 times that of the commercial fishery, yet their quota keeps getting chopped because of the failure to properly regulate commercial fishing.
Perhaps I shouldn't be so quick to prejudge an appointee such as Jane. I just don't see Congress or the NOAA bringing any equity or clarity to the table - just more bureaucratic red tape and more draconian regulations, and many things that clearly do not work such as the Vessel Monitoring System. I can go offshore and get one or two tuna by rule, but a factory trawler can go out there and catch 50 or 100 tons ... it is sickening. -sammie
Onward through the fog
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