Sea Champion Picked for Ocean, Air Agency

[n2doc]

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist with a passion for improving public understanding of science, has been tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to run the government agency responsible for understanding and conserving two vital components of the planet — the oceans and atmosphere (a choice first reported by Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post).

If confirmed, Dr. Lubchenco would be the first female administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (and under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere). She has also spoken up frequently about the need to restrict emissions of carbon dioxide, both to limit climate disruption and protect sea life. Below, you can read Dr. Lubchenco’s responses to a set of questions I posed earlier in the year on marine conservation. She is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as is John P. Holdren, who Mr. Obama is expected to name on Saturday as his choice for presidential science adviser. (They both also received MacArthur Foundation “genius” grants.)

Dr. Lubchenco also founded the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, a 10-year-old effort aimed at turning talented young scientists into effective communicators with the media and policymakers.

I’ve sought her out many times in recent years when pondering developments in marine science and threats to Earth’s veneer of life, including my story last February on a new study showing the worldwide imprint of human activities on marine life. I only fit in one short quote from her. Here’s a longer set of questions and answers:
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/sea-champion-picked-for-ocean-air-agency/

[TZ]

1. Amazing

Obama is choosing actual scientists to run scientific organizations. Who knew scientists could actually do..ya know..sciency stuff.;-)

[semillama]

2. It's stuff like this that I keep coming back to when I read all the screaming fits about Warren here

Another poster here had a great statement: "A pastor is not a policy." When Obama picks people who will have an actual effect on government policy, he seems to be doing wonderfully. But it's like that joke about the guy muttering to himself at the bar: "you run a bank, they don't call you Bob the Banker; you participate in your son's little league, they don't call you Bob the Coach; but you fuck one goat..."