Hill Heat: Next NOAA Chief: Dr. Jane Lubchenco http://www.hillheat.com/articles/2008/12/19/next-noaa-chief-dr-jane-lubchenco en-us 40 Science Policy Legislation Action Next NOAA Chief: Dr. Jane Lubchenco <p>President-elect Barack Obama has <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/12/18/lubchenco_will_helm_national_o.html">reportedly selected</a> Dr. <a href="http://lucile.science.oregonstate.edu/?q=node/view/131">Jane Lubchenco</a>, &#8220;an environmental scientist and marine ecologist who is actively engaged in teaching, research, synthesis and communication of scientific knowledge,&#8221; as the next director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.</p> <p>Lubchenco, like Obama&#8217;s science adviser <a href="http://www.hillheat.com/articles/2008/12/18/obama-selects-john-holdren-as-science-adviser">John Holdren</a>, is a MacArthur Fellowship winner and was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.</p> <p>In 1998, Lubchenco founded the <a href="http://leopoldleadership.org/content/about/history.jsp">Aldo Leopold Leadership Program</a> at the Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment, the &#8220;first formal effort in North America to train mid-career academic environmental scientists to communicate effectively to non-scientific audiences.&#8221;</p> <p>In an <a href="http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/sea-champion-picked-for-ocean-air-agency/">interview with the New York Times</a>, Lubchenco strongly advocated holistic efforts to limit human impacts on marine ecosystems:</p> <blockquote>Networks of no-take marine reserves, for example, can protect habitat, biodiversity, the <span class="caps">BOFFS</span> (big old fat female fish) that provide the bulk of the reproductive potential for future generations, and they can provide insurance against mis-management and environmental change. Networks of no-take areas may well provide the most resilience to climate change by protecting as much genetic and biological diversity as possible and allowing adaptation to occur.</blockquote> Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:42:00 -0500 urn:uuid:64d6dd03-a438-453d-9f02-8ebb4c574cf6 Brad Johnson http://www.hillheat.com/articles/2008/12/19/next-noaa-chief-dr-jane-lubchenco Science Policy Action NOAA Obama Lubchenco