Sightings | Alumni News
Sylvia Earle, Emily Lindow
Receive Alumni Awards
 A
scientist and a government policy adviser, both specializing
in oceans and marine life, have been selected to receive alumni
awards from the Nicholas School.
Sylvia A. Earle G’56 PhD’66 Hon’93
has been given the Ralston Distinguished Alumni Award. A pioneering
marine biologist and underwater explorer, Earle is an explorer-in-residence
at the National Geographic Society and CEO of Deep Ocean Exploration
and Research.
Emily R. Lindow MEM’01 received
the inaugural Rising Star Award for young alumni. She is a
senior policy adviser to Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez,
responsible for monitoring National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) issues, including living marine resources,
climate change, earth observations, and coastal management.
After receiving her PhD at Duke, working with botany professor
Harold Humm on seaweed systematics, Earle held positions at
University of California at Berkeley and Harvard University
before coming to the attention of President Jimmy Carter,
who tapped her to serve on the President’s Advisory Committee
on Oceans and Atmosphere. In 1990, she became the first woman
to serve as chief scientist at NOAA.
Earle is equally concerned with the technology that makes
underwater research possible, and in 1992, she founded Deep
Ocean Exploration and Research, a company that provides consulting
and engineering services for underwater explorers at government
and research organizations.
She has been recognized by the Library of Congress as a Living
Legend and was named by Time magazine as a “hero for the planet”
in 1998. Earle serves on the Marine Lab Advisory Board.
 Lindow,
a graduate of the Coastal Environmental Management program,
has worked in government since her graduation, first as a
Knauss Legislative Fellow on Capitol Hill and subsequently
as a congressional affairs specialist in NOAA’s Office of
Legislative Affairs and as a senior policy adviser to the
NOAA Under Secretary.
In her current position, she serves as the Department of
Commerce’s lead adviser on NOAA, which comprises approximately
60 percent of the department’s budget. In addition to tracking
critical NOAA issues for the Secretary, she is responsible
for providing policy analysis and recommendations to the Secretary
and Deputy Secretary, and serves as a Department representative
on multiple White House working groups and task forces.
Lindow cites the multifaceted education she received at
the Nicholas School as a factor in her rise in the government.
“It was the perfect education to prepare me for what I’m doing
now,” she says. “Understanding the science, economics, and
legal aspects of these issues is critical to making sound
public policy decisions.”
The awards will be given at a ceremony at the annual student
banquet on April 8.
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