Jane Lubchenco

Lubchenco served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 2009 to 2013. She was nominated by President-Elect Barack Obama as a part of his new "Science Team" in December 2008, confirmed by the Senate on March 19, 2009, and sworn in on March 20, 2009. To introduce her to his Senate colleagues for her confirmation hearing, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) called Lubchenco 'the bionic woman of good science.'.[16] She served as Administrator for nearly four years until her resignation on February 27, 2013.

NOAA is the nation's top science agency for climate, weather, and oceans. As head of NOAA, Lubchenco oversaw a staff of 12,800 employees, a budget of ca $5 billion, and ensured NOAA carried out its mission "To understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.".[17] Lubchenco is both the first woman and the first marine ecologist to occupy the post. During her tenure at NOAA, she helped guide the nation through disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and some of the most severe weather on record.[18] She also oversaw the formulation of NOAA's first scientific integrity policy, the implementation of Congress' instructions to end overfishing in U.S. waters by having management plans for every fishery, the restructuring of the program responsible for building the next generation of weather satellites, and assisted with the creation of the first National Ocean Policy for the United States.

NOAA's ability to provide services and stewardship depends on having credible scientific information and good scientists. Lubchenco helped to strengthen science in the agency in a number of ways. First, the position of Chief Scientist, previously vacant for 16 years, was reinstated, although the Senate did not act to confirm the President's nominee at this time. Second, NOAA doubled the number of senior scientist positions, and created a scientific Council of Fellows. Third, under her leadership, NOAA created its first Scientific Integrity Policy. The Scientific Integrity Policy allows NOAA scientists to speak freely to the media and public, and forbids the manipulation, suppression, distortion and misuse of science in the agency.[19] Early in President Obama's administration, he charged agencies with establishing strong scientific integrity policies that would 'return science to its rightful place' in government.[20] NOAA's Scientific Integrity Policy has been called the "Platinum Standard" for agency policies in protecting the rights of scientists to communicate freely and in ensuring policy makers will not suppress or modify scientific findings. In addition, a first-ever all-agency-scientist workshop was held to identify scientific priorities and ways to strengthen science at the agency.[21] This workshop helped form the foundation of NOAA's Next Generation Strategic Plan, which assesses the highest priority opportunities for NOAA to contribute to the advancement of society.[22]

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana unexpectedly exploded, causing oil to freely flow into the Gulf of Mexico for the next 87 days. NOAA was one of the lead agencies responsible for responding to the oil spill. Lubchenco led NOAA's response and coordination with 13 other agencies. NOAA provided data from satellites, planes, ships and buoys, and on-the-ground scientists to help track the oil and forecast where it would go; local weather forecasts to inform responders; scientific advice to the U.S. Coast Guard who is in charge of an oil spill in U.S. waters; kept seafood safe by closing fisheries in U.S. waters when oil was present or expected to be present; developed protocols with other agencies to reopen closed areas; protected endangered species such as turtles; and evaluated the impact of the spill on the natural resources of the Gulf and the public's access to them. Lubchenco was frequently interviewed by the media as a federal science expert, and helped disseminate the working knowledge of the response to the public.[23] NOAA scientists and their academic partners continue to analyze and monitor the effects of the spill on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem[24][25]

Lubchenco helped craft the United States' National Ocean Policy, a document that provides a science-based blueprint for managing the U.S.'s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes to help mitigate conflicts between different ocean users (fishermen, shippers, natural resource managers, etc.) and ensure an overarching focus on good stewardship. She actively participated in the President's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and attended all of the six regional meetings across the country to gather stakeholder input. Recommendations of this Task Force were adopted by President Obama as the nation's first formal policy on oceans on July 19, 2010.[26][27] While environmental groups, federal and state lawmakers, and federal agency officials applauded the policy, some lawmakers and members of industry felt that it would provide too much regulation. Despite some opposition, on April 16, 2013, the Obama administration laid out an implementation plan for the National Ocean Policy to put into practice the recommendations laid out in the policy.[28][29][30]

In 2006, Congress re-authorized the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the regulatory law for the U.S. fisheries in federal waters. Sustainable fisheries are critical for ensuring sustainable coastal economies and livelihoods. Under the MSA, NOAA was directed to end overfishing by 2010 by having a management plan for each federally managed fishery. Lubchenco led NOAA's efforts to develop MSA management plans, which specify annual catch limits and accountability measures for each fishery. As of July 2011, in collaboration with the Fishery Management Councils in each region, NOAA completed this task. Lubchenco's support for limiting fishing in coastal communities led to some Congressmen calling for her resignation.[14, 16] Creating catch limits is often controversial, but thanks to these plans and their enforcement, overfishing is ending in U.S. waters and many depleted fisheries are recovering. According to NOAA, 2012 had the lowest number of stocks on the overfishing list and 32 stocks have been rebuilt since 2000, most within the last few years, creating more sustainable fishing opportunities and healthy ecosystems.[31] In an email to NOAA employees, Lubchenco listed "ending over-fishing, rebuilding depleted stocks, and returning fishing to profitability" as a major accomplishment of NOAA during her tenure."[32]

Under Lubchenco's leadership, NOAA also pursued use of 'catch shares' as a viable fishery management tool for appropriate fisheries. Although catch shares have been used since 1990 in the U.S., scientific evidence about their merits suggests that the wider use of catch shares may benefit many other fisheries, making them once again profitable and sustainable. Science magazine quoted Lubchenco on catch shares, saying:

Recent scientific analyses show us that fisheries managed with catch share programs perform better than fisheries managed with traditional tools. Even in the first years after implementation, catch share fisheries are stable, and even increase their productivity ... I see catch shares as the best way for many fisheries to both meet the Magnuson mandates and have healthy, profitable fisheries that are sustainable.[33]

In 2010, after extensive consultation with regional fishery management councils, NOAA adopted its National Catch Share Policy, which encourages the use of catch shares where appropriate. Although critics asserted that NOAA imposed catch shares on fisheries, the policy makes it clear that they are not required, nor are they appropriate for every fishery. NOAA's Catch Share Policy remains controversial, with critics asserting it cuts jobs for fishermen and takes away money from small coastal economies.[34] However, many coastal economies are beginning to embrace this type of fisheries management and, with the help of NOAA, are implementing a catch share-based system.[35] During the four years Lubchenco was at NOAA, the number of catch share programs grew from 5 to 15. In most of those programs, profitability is up, innovation by fishermen has increased and discards are down.

During Lubchenco's tenure, NOAA's law enforcement program came under fire. After hearing from fishermen and members of Congress about problems, she requested a review of the program from the Department of Commerce Inspector General. The problems identified by the review were addressed when Lubchenco initiated a top-to-bottom overhaul of the program, including improvements to policy for assessing penalties, limited use of civil funds, updates to its National and Division Enforcement Priorities with stakeholder input, and a plan to create enforcement positions that better ensure compliance. As these changes were being implemented, additional past problems came to light15, triggering additional reforms.

Lubchenco also pushed for greater attention to recreational fishing.[36][37] She created a new position at NOAA to oversee and represent saltwater fishing interests, called for a Saltwater Recreational Fishing Summit,[38] met with recreational fishing groups frequently, and increased data collection about recreational fisheries to provide a better basis for management. Despite significant progress, many recreational fishing organizations continue to express distrust and unhappiness with Lubchenco in particular and NOAA in general.

On the international front, Lubchenco increased the number of efforts aimed at addressing overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing on the high seas. She teamed up with the Commissioner of Fisheries for the European Union, Maria Damanaki to initiate a more serious effort to address illegal fishing and level the playing field for law-abiding fishermen.[39][40] Lubchenco worked to see international treaties on IUU fishing approved and strengthened the use of science and precaution in making decisions by regional fishery management organizations.[41][42]

Providing data, services and products related to forecasting a changing climate is a main priority for NOAA scientists. Lubchenco strengthened these efforts. One of her initial goals was to establish the National Climate Service, which would have re-organized NOAA to better provide climate services and products to the public13. However, congressional opposition prevented the budget-neutral re-organization from moving forward. Nonetheless, responding to increasing demands for climate services, under Lubchenco's leadership, NOAA initiated a number of steps. Climate.gov was created in 2012 as a "one-stop shop" for climate information. In 2011 NOAA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Western Governors' Association to provide western states with a range of climate services, for example information about impending drought.[43][44] She said, "Creating a new generation of climate services to promote public understanding, support mitigation and adaptation efforts, enable smart planning, and promote regional climate partnerships"[32] were some of the things she was most proud of during her tenure.

During her time, NOAA also led federal agency efforts to develop the most ambitious National Climate Assessment ever conducted.

From 2009-2013, the nation experienced some of the most extreme weather on record. NOAA delivered life-saving forecasts for 770 tornadoes, 70 Atlantic hurricanes/tropical storms, 6 major floods, 3 tsunamis, historic drought, prolonged heat waves, record snowfall/blizzard.[45] Dr. Lubchenco has said that "bizarre, crazy weather" came to define her term as NOAA Administrator.[18][46]

In 2011, NOAA's National Weather Service, the source of all official weather warnings and the main weather forecasting body in the country, decided it could no longer gauge its performance by the accuracy and timeliness of its forecast – it needed to also understand how effective these were at getting people to respond. Under the lead of Dr. Lubchenco, NOAA launched the "Weather-Ready Nation" initiative in the summer of 2011 to help build resilience and improve on-the-ground response to extreme weather and water events. In March 2011, NOAA initiated the nation's most ambitious upgrading of its weather radar network, converting all of its 160 radar sites to dual polarization technology, which vastly improves the accuracy and timeliness of forecasts related to weather and water activity.[47]

In late October 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the United States, devastating communities across the eastern seaboard and west to Michigan and Wisconsin. NOAA technology and scientists helped to accurately predict the path of the storm, allowing on-the-ground warnings to be issued in time to save lives.[48]

On March 11, 2011, the large Tohoku earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan, which was the precursor to the devastating Fukushima earthquake one month later. NOAA was involved in predicting where radioactive material and marine debris would go, how the currents would carry the material, and helping coastal states and communities prepare for dealing with the debris when it arrived.