NOAA chief's challenge: Make science useful

Denver Post: "Science is back." That is the message of Jane Lubchenco, the new head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. After years in which scientific findings were edited or downgraded by the Bush administration, Lubchenco says science will now play a bigger role. "Science has relevance to decision-makers," Lubchenco said in an interview with The Post. "And scientists have an obligation to show what they know."

To that end, Lubchenco, 61, a Denver native and Colorado College graduate, said NOAA will look for ways to channel science to both policymakers and program managers while continuing the agency's role in basic research. "Good government depends upon good science," she said.

…One goal for NOAA, she said, is creating a National Climate Service, based on the model of the agency's National Weather Service.

…Similarly, Lubchenco said that NOAA has an important role in helping manage coastal areas and oceans. Among the kinds of data and studies NOAA could produce are ones on fishery populations, land-generated pollutants flowing into estuaries, and water quality measures.

In addition to the traditional fishing, shipping and tourism, oceans will increasingly be used for things such as wind- and wave-energy farms and aquaculture, she said. "We need to know how all these uses interact with one another, what the cumulative impact is in the system," Lubchenco said….

NOAA photograph of Jane Lubchenco