Distinguished Conservation Scholars
2007
Charles Peterson, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina-Chapel
Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina
Cindy Lee Van Dover, Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, North Carolina
John Van Dyke, University of Hawaii Law School, Manoa, Hawaii
Selina Heppell, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University,
Corvallis, Oregon
Jon Day, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia
2006
Jon Day, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, QLD 4810,
Australia
Steve Roady, Earthjustice Inc., Washington, DC
Wallace "J" Nichols, California Academy of Sciences/Ocean Revolution
Inc., Davenport, CA
Alan Friedlander, Oceanic Institute, Waimanalo, Hawaii
2005
Daniel Pauly, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Julia Parrish, School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle
Pat Halpin, Geospatial Analysis Laboratory, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham
Karen Bjorndal, Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtlle Research, University of Florida, Gainesville
Jim Wilen, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis
2004
Dr. Ellen Pikitch, Pew Institute for Ocean Science, “Saving the most valuable fish on earth: Science, policy and consumer outreach”
Dr. William Montevecchi, Memorial University of Newfoundland, “Assaying marine ecosystems: Signals from seabirds”
Dr. Andy Rosenberg, University of New Hampshire, “New directions for ocean policy: Ecosystem-based management and all that”
2003
Dr. Loo Botsford, UC Davis, "Dealing with uncertainty in marine conservation: Reduction, robustness, and resistance"
Dr. Ransom A. Myers, Dalhousie University, "How many fish were in the oceans before industrial exploitation?"
Dr. Alison Rieser, University of Maine, "Scientific uncertainty and
the 'Best Available Science' standard in marine conservation law"
and "The sea turtle's trials: Law, science, and politics for the real
Ancient Mariner"
2002
Dr. James Estes, University of California, Santa Cruz, "Predators
and the balance of nature"
and "New Dimensions to complexity in kelp forest ecosystems"
Dr. Steve Palumbi, Harvard University, "The science and potential
of fully protected reserves: ways to save marine ecosystems"
and "Using genetics in marine conservation and reserve design"
Ms. Vikki Spruill, SEAWEB, "Communicating science to the public"
Dr. Marc Miller, University of Washington, "Leisure, tourism, and the coast"
2001 Distinguished Conservation Scholars
July 9: Dr. Carl Safina, National Audubon Society, "Song for the Blue Ocean"
July 16: Dr. Felicia Coleman, Florida State University, "Marine Protected Areas"
July 23: Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain, University of Delaware, "Coastal management"
July 30: Dr. Andrew N. Cohen, San Francisco Estuary Institute "Marine Invasive Species"
2000 Distinguished Conservation Scholars
Dr. Peter J. Auster (National Undersea Research Center, University of Connecticut, Groton, Connecticut and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary)
Peter Auster serves as Science Director for the National Undersea Research Center for the North Atlantic and Great Lakes (NURC-NA&GL), University of Connecticut at Groton, as well as Research Director for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. He is a 1999 Pew Marine Conservation Fellow. The focus of Peter Auster's research is habitat ecology of fishes and fishing gear impacts with the aim of saving New England's coastal ocean fisheries. His current research involves development of rapid ecological assessment methods for scientific habitat classification and evaluation in deeper outer continental shelf systems with respect to overexploitation of demersal fish populations. Development of more sustainable fisheries management measures derived from biodiversity data which will be collected using cost-effective underwater video techniques for mapping and monitoring effects of fishing on the seafloor is another aspect of his research. Dr. Auster's lecture was entitled "Fish, Fishing and Marine Conservation."
Dr. Jeremy B.C. Jackson (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California)
Jeremy Jackson serves as the William and Mary B. Ritter Memorial Professor of Oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. His research involves ecology and evolution of marine invertebrates as well as human impacts on tropical marine communities with focus on the following areas: 1) tropical paleogeology and macroevolution, 2) speciation and extinction, 3) ecology and paleoecology of coral reefs, and 4) conservation of tropical coastal ecosystems. He is a co-editor of Evolution and Environment in Tropical America (University of Chicago Press). He also serves as Senior Scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), where he is involved in the Panama Paleontology Project (PPP), a multi-scientist cooperative project, the aim of which is to provide information concerning the geological history of the rise and closure of the Panamanian Isthmus, and its ecological and evolutionaly consequences over the last 10 million years. Dr. Jackson's lecture was entitled "What was Natural in the Coastal Ocean?"
Dr. Kai N. Lee (Center for Environmental Studies, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts)
Kai Lee serves as John J. Gibson Professor of Environmental Studies at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts. His research interests include: sustainable development, eco-regional conservation, role of learning in environmental policy and governance, environmental NGOs, and interaction of technology, business, and environment. He is a senior fellow, World Wildlife Fund (US). He is the author of Compass and Gyroscope: Integrating Science and Politics for the Environment (Island Press). Before going to Williams College, Lee taught political science and environmental studies at the University of Washington. He has also taught at Kyoto University (Japan), Stanford, and Berkeley. He has served on a number of national committees including the National Academy of Sciences: the Environmental Studies Board, the Committee on Environmental Research, and the Committee on Protection and Management of Pacific Northwest Anadromous Salmonids, among others. Dr. Kai's lecture was entitled "Thinking about Sustainability Transition."
Dr. Susan Peterson (Partner, Teal Ltd. and Vice President Watershed Systems LLC, Rochester, Massachusetts)
Susan Peterson is an anthropologist (Ph.D. - University of Hawaii), farmer (150 acres of New England soil), and tireless in her endeavors to provide for a sustainable environment. She served at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for 10 years, specializing in ocean policy, and several years at Boston University in the same role. Most of her work was quantifying and qualifying commercial and recreational fishing effort so that the cultural, social and economic motivations for fishing could be incorporated into fishery management decisions. In the mid-1980s, she left academia for industry and started Ecological Engineering Associates (EEA) which uses natural systems for wastewater treatment for private, industrial and municipal customers. She retired from EEA in 1998 to work as a partner in the family consulting business Teal Ltd which she operates with her husband, John Teal. She is also a co-founder (1999) of Watershed Systems LLC (New Bedford) with four other partners. The company provides water and wastewater management systems, financing and operations for suburban and rural communities. Dr. Peterson's areas of expertise include: wastewater treatment technology and policy; municipal and private finance for infrastructure, fisheries management (international and domestic); fisheries and aquaculture development and marketing; coastal zone management (international and domestic); ocean pollution effects on human health, coastal communities and industry; fishing communities, industry structure and infrastructure, fish pricing and markets, decision making. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Wildlands Trust of Southeastern MA and the New Bedford Aquarium Corporation. She is also involved with and serves on committees of numerous regional and national conservation organizations. Dr. Peterson's lecture was entitled "Wastewater Treatment: Microbiology, Economics and Community Development."
Dr. John M. Teal (Scientist Emeritus, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Partner, Teal Ltd., Rochester, Massachusetts)
1999 Distinguished Conservation ScholarsJohn Teal's professional career began in the early 1950's with his Ph.D. thesis on the trophic relationships in a tiny cold spring in Massachusetts. After getting his degree, he joined the University of Georgia Marine Institute at Sapelo Island where he studied salt marshes. After four years, he went to the new oceanography center at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. He joined Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1961 and has been Scientist Emeritus there since 1995. In addition to research on coastal wetlands, he has worked on effects of hydrostatic pressure on deep sea animals, physiology of large, warm blooded fishes, bird migration over the oceans, oil pollution, wastewater treatment, and restoration ecology. He is currently involved with constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment and with marsh restoration in fresh, brackish and salt wetlands. For the last six years, he has worked on a salt marsh restoration project in Delaware Bay that encompasses 32 square miles. He has served on National Academy of Science committees, editorial boards of scientific journals, published in the scientific literature, written popular articles and books, and served on local committees. He has also served on the board of the Conservation Law Foundation of New England since 1978 and been vice chair since 1980 and serves as an advisor to local land trusts. Dr. Teal's lecture was entitled "A Large Salt Marsh Restoration in Delware Bay."
Dr. Richard Barber (Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, North Carolina)
Richard Barber serves as Harvey W. Smith Professor of Biological Oceanography at Duke University Marine Laboratory, where he conducts research in carbon cycling by ocean processes which has implications for climate regulation. He investigates the interrelationship of large-scale thermal dynamics and ocean basin productivity, emphasizing (1) how biological and physical processes contribute to the exchange of carbon dioxide between the ocean and the atmosphere and (2) how the "biological pump" transfers carbon into the deep sea. With current field work being carried out on cruises in the Southern Ocean, his research group is focusing on the role of physical conditions in regulating primary production and phytoplankton performance. He is also investigating the role of a single micronutrient, iron, in the regulation of primary production in Antarctic waters as well as the equatorial Pacific, where a high nutrient/low chlorophyll character persists despite physical and chemical conditions which otherwise favor high productivity. At Duke, he currently also serves as the Acting Director of the Duke/University of North Carolina Oceanographic Consortium. Between 1987 and 1990 he served as Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. He has also served as chair on a variety of both national and international panels. Dr. Barber's lecture was entitled "How Will Oceanic Ecosystems Respond to the Climate of the 21st Century?"
Mr. John McQuaid (Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana)
John McQuaid is a special projects reporter for The Times-Picayune, concentrating on science, politics, and the environment. He has worked in New Orleans and Latin America for The Times-Picayune, and been based in Washington since 1992. He was the lead reporter on "Oceans of Trouble," a series on global fisheries issues that won a Pulitzer Prize for public service in 1997, and on "Home Wreckers," a series about the threat posed by the Formosan termite that was a 1999 Pulitzer finalist in national reporting. His work has also won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mr. McQuaid's lectures were entitled 1) "Holes in Our Nets: Conflicts over Shrimping and Conservation in the Gulf of Mexico" and 2) "Science and Spin: How Science Gets Distorted in the Media and What to Do about It."
Dr. Peter Moyle (University of California at Davis, Davis, California)
Peter Moyle serves as Professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include: 1) the Putah-Cache Bioregion Project; 2) ecology of native and introduced fishes in lower Putah Creek; 3) conservation strategies for aquatic ecosystems in California; 4) ecology and conservation of fishes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary; 5) conservation of anadromous fishes of California; 6) community ecology of Sierra Nevada stream fishes; 7) ecology and impacts of invasive fish and frogs in aquatic systems; and 8) the revision of his 1976 book, "Inland Fishes of California." Dr. Moyle's lectures were entitled 1) "Salmon, Steelhead, Sturgeon and Smelt: Conservation of California's Threatened Anadromous Fishes" and 2) "Conservation Strategies for Protecting Aquatic Biodiversity."
Dr. Hans Paerl (Institue of Marine Sciences, UNC--Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Hans Paerl serves as William R. Kenan Professor at the University of North Carolina's Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, where he studies the nutrient production dynamics of aquatic microbes at the base of the estuarine and coastal food webs, focusing on environmental controls of algal (planktonic and benthic) production, community structure, and assessment of the causes and consequences of human-induced eutrophication of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal oceans. His major research projects underway include investigations of: 1) sources of excess nitrogen to the Neuse River basin, estuary, and nearshore waters; 2) the genetic potential and physiological controls of nitrogen fixation in two temperate, N-limited estuaries; 3) impacts of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on phytoplankton dynamics and eutrophication; and 4) phytoplankton ecophysiological responses to changing N input dynamics in the Neuse River. Other projects include collaborative studies of the sources of "new" N responsible for new production and eutrophication in the Neuse River Estuary; the formation, function, and microbiology of modern day stromatolites; the physical-chemical dynamics of cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea; and Antarctic lake ice microbial consortia. He heads the Institute of Marine Sciences' Microbial Ecology/Nutrient Cycling Laboratory and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering. Dr. Paerl's lecture was entitled "Linking the Landscape to the Coastal Zone."
Dr. David Wilcove (Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, DC)
David Wilcove is a senior ecologist at the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, DC, where he develops science-based strategies to protect endangered species. He is the author of "The Condor's Shadow: The Loss and Recovery of Wildlife in America" (1999), as well as numerous technical and popular articles in the fields of conservation biology, ornithology, and endangered species protection. He has served on the boards of directors of the Society for Conservation Biology, RARE Center for Tropical Conservation, American Bird Conservancy, and Natural Areas Association, as well as the editorial boards of Conservation Biology, Ecological Applications, and New England Naturalist. In 1990, he was one of ten scientists awarded a Pew Scholarship in Conservation and the Environment. Previously he worked for The Wilderness Society and The Nature Conservancy. He received a Ph.D. in biology from Princeton University and a B.S. from Yale University. Dr. Wilcove's lectures were entitled 1) "The Science and Politics of the Endangered Species Act" and 2) "The Role of NGOs in Conservation."
1998 Distinguished Conservation Scholars
Dr. Tundi Agardy (Conservation International, Washington, DC)
Tundi Agardy is Senior Director with Conservation International in Washington, DC. She is in charge of designing and implementing a worldwide marine and coastal conservation program dealing with all major threats to marine biodiversity. Before that she served as Senior Scientist at World Wildlife Fund and was Vice-Chair of the Commission on Ecology at the World Conservation Union (IUCN). She was selected by TIME magazine (1994) as one of the top 50 most promising leaders in America. Tundi received her Ph.D. at University of Rhode Island and conducted her dissertation research on the population dynamics of leatherback sea turtles. She also held a Marine Policy Fellowship at Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institution where she worked on international marine conservation issues. She recently published a book, "Marine Protected areas and Ocean Conservation" which provides a balanced perspective on both science and policy. Dr. Agardy's lecture was entitled "Marine Protected Areas and Their Utility in Combatting Biodiversity Loss."
Dr. James Carlton (Williams College-Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut)
Jim Carlton is the Director of the Maritime Studies Program, Williams College-Mystic Seaport and Professor of Marine Sciences at Williams. Jim is a marine ecologist/biogeographer and is the world's foremost expert on invasions and extinctions in marine systems. Jim was recently awarded a Pew Fellowship in Environment and Conservation and has served as Co-Chair of the Committee on Biological Diversity in Marine Systems for the National Academy of Sciences. He also chairs the Working Group on Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms for the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and is a member of the US delegation to the Marine Environmental Protection Committee of the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO). Jim is Editor-in-Chief of a new journal, Biological Invasions and serves as marine ecology editor for Conservation Biology. Jim received his Ph.D. in Ecology at University of California, Davis. Dr. Carlton's lecture was entitled "Biological Invasions in the Sea: The Impacts of Exotic Speicesi n the Coastal Zone."
Dr. Paul Dayton (Scripps Institution for Oceanography, LaJolla, California)
Paul Dayton is a professor at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Dayton has received a number of awards, including the Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment in 1995. A marine ecologist, Dayton's interestss include intertidal ecology, kelp forests, temperate and artic ecology. His present interests include marine conservation and policy issues. He is a member of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, the National Research Council Committee on Fisheries, the International Council for Exploration of the Sea working group on fishing impacts and the Steering Committee for Solving Bycatch: Consideration for today and tomorrow. His publications include an important 1995 paper on "The Environmental Effects of Marine Fishing." Dr. Dayton's lecture was entitled "Reduced Expectations: The Impacts of Fishing on Coastal Habitats."
Dr. Elliott Norse (Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Redmond, Washington)
 Elliott Norse is founded the Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI) in 1996 and currently serves as its president. Elliott received his Ph.D. in Marine Ecology at the University of Southern California and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Iowa. He then spent 12 years in Washington DC acquiring practical experience in linking science to policy. Elliott held a variety of positions including: Marine Biologist with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Staff Ecologist of the President's Council on Environmental Quality, Public Policy Director of the Ecological Society of America, Senior Ecologist of The Wilderness Society and Chief Scientist of the Center for Marine Conservation. His 90+ publications include three influential books: Conserving Biological Diversity in Our National Forests, Ancient Forests of the Pacific Northwest and Global Marine Biological Diversity: A Strategy for Building Conservation into Decision Making. Elliott was given an Evergreen Award in 1996 and was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Conservation and Environment in 1997. Dr. Norse's lecture was entitled "Marine Biodiversity Crisis in Consevation Biology."
Dr. James Wilson (University of Maine, Orono, Maine)
Jim Wilson is Associate Director and Professor in the School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine. Jim received his Ph.D. in economics at University of Wisconsin. His principal research focus is on ecological-economic approaches to the management of common property fisheries and environmental resources. He also works in the area of market structure and policy especially markets associated with fisheries and environmental areas. Jim is currently working with the lobster industry and the State setting up innovative experimental local self-governing districts within the fishery. His teaching and research interests are in institutional economics, simulation modeling and bio-economics. Dr. Wilson's lecture was entitled "New Approaches to Governance of the Maine Lobster Fishery."
1997 Distinguished Conservation Scholars
Dr. J. Baird Callicott (University of North Texas)
J. Baird Callicott is Professor of Philosophy and Religion Studies at the University of North Texas. He designed and implemented the world's first college course in environmental ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1971. Since then, his work has been at the forefront of the field. He is author of In Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays in Environmental Philosophy (SUNY, 1989), Earth's Insights: A Multicultural Survey of Ecological Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback (California, 1994), Beyond the Land Ethic: More Essays in Environmental Philosophy, and more than 100 book chapters, journal articles, encyclopedia entries and book reviews. Dr. Callicott's lecture was entitled "Conservation Values and Ethics."
Dr. Norman L. Christensen, Jr. (Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, Durham, North Carolina)
Norman L. Christensen, Jr. is Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and an ecologist. He served as chair of the Department of Botany from 1990 to 1991 at which point he was appointed dean of Duke's new School of the Environment. Christensen has served in an advisory capacity to the USDA Forest Service, National Science Foundation and NASA. He chaired the National Park Service's Fire Management Program Review Panel in 1986 and the Greater Yellowstone Postfire Ecological Assessment Panel in 1988-1989. In recognition of these contributions, he received the 1991 A. Starker Leopold Award. In 1997, Christensen was appointed by President Clinton to a three-year term on the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Dr. Christensen's lecture was entitled "Ecosystem Management--Linking Biology and Policy."
Mr. John Russell Clark (Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida)
John Russell Clark has devoted his career to research and conservation of coastal zone resources. After graduating from the University of Washington in 1949, he served as assistant director of the Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory in the 1960s, as director of the Narragansett Marine Laboratory (1970-1971) and as senior associate with the Conservation Foundation through 1981. He then became an international consultant in coastal resources conservation and is affiliated with several institutions, including the Mote Marine Laboratory and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, both in Florida. Clark currently conducts research in international coastal zone management, sustainable development planning, environmental impact assessment, environmental auditing, design and management of marine reserves and parks, coastal biodiversity maintenance, fishery habitat conservation and community-based conservation. Dr. Clark's lecture was entitled "Coastal Management for the New Century."
Dr. Martin Hall (Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, San Diego, California)
Martin Hall is a quantitative marine ecologist. He has worked on seaweed communities and kelp populations of the Patagonian coastal zone, estimation of abundance and mapping of rookeries of Magellanic penguins, population dynamics and management of clam populations in the Puget Sound, dolphins in the eastern Pacific, including statistical problems in the estimation of incidental mortality in the tuna fishery and its impact on the populations. More recently, he is concentrating on the assessment of the ecological impacts of fishing operations with an emphasis on discard and bycatch issues. He has been managing the Tuna-Dolphin Program of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission since 1984 and is stationed in San Diego. Dr. Hall's lecture was entitled "The Interaction of Biology and Policy in Solving the Tuna-Dolphin Problem."
Dr. Jane Lubchenco (Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon)
Jane Lubchenco is a Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University. Her interests range from the evolutionary ecology of individuals, populations and communities in marine systems to conservation biology and climate change. Her varied projects include ecological causes and consequences of global change and promoting increased public understanding of science. Among her extensive publications is The Sustainable Biosphere Initiative: An Ecological Research Agenda (1991), which provided a focal document for ecologists interested in conservation. President Clinton announced his intention to nominate Dr. Lubchenco to the National Science Board and advisory board to the National Science Foundation. She is currently president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Lubchenco's lecture was entitled "Rethinking Environmental Issues: Science, Policy and Public Understanding."