(Washington, DC) — The Environmental Law Institute congratulates Jane Lubchenco on her nomination to the post of Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), one of the nation’s most important environmental resource management and research organizations. As a faculty member at Oregon State University since 1978, Dr. Lubchenco is an environmental scientist and marine ecologist who is actively engaged in teaching, research, synthesis and communication of scientific knowledge. Her nomination to head NOAA recognizes more than three decades of leadership and scholarship in her field. In 2004, ELI presented her with its Annual Award, making her the first scientist to receive such an honor.
“I can’t imagine a better choice to lead NOAA,” says ELI President Leslie Carothers. “ELI honored her in 2004 as one of the world’s most effective advocates for its two great commons, the oceans and the atmosphere. She makes the connections between science and policy in a way that non-scientists can understand and act on.” ELI Ocean Program director Kathryn Mengerink adds, “We are thrilled to learn that Dr. Lubchenco will lead NOAA. Her life’s work demonstrates her dedication to maintaining the long-term health of ocean ecosystems. Her nomination comes at a key time when existing and new ocean uses are expanding at a phenomenal rate.”
Dr. Lubchenco is a Founding Principal of COMPASS, the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea, a collaboration among academic scientists, communication and media specialists that communicates academic marine conservation science to policy makers, the media, managers and the public. She has conducted extensive research on the coastal ecology of the Pacific coast, including researching the growing dead zone near Oregon’s coast. Her work has focused on ecosystem approaches to managing the marine environment in order to maintain the services upon which humans depend. As a crusader for a new “social contract” between science and society—one that directs science toward the greatest challenges of the future—she is leading a profound transformation of scientists’ relationship to public policy at a time of critical need.