December 21, 2005 Heinz Center Establishes New Coastal Initiative, Dr. James Baker to Chair Steering Committee
The Heinz Center is building upon its distinguished history of forward-thinking approaches to marine issues by focusing future SOCW program efforts on a new initiative, The Nation’s Coasts: A Vision for the Future.
Uniquely positioned as a nonpartisan, nonprofit agent, The Heinz Center is convening a national symposium and regional workshops with participants from all sectors of society. Combining concerns for people and their livelihoods, with the health of the environment on which communities ultimately depend, is paramount.
Our goal is to identify lasting solutions - integrated approaches to coastal management that consider the balance required to protect the needs of individuals, businesses, and governments while also protecting the entire ecosystem.
Dr. James Baker chairs the steering committee. His distinguished career most recently included serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Academy of Natural Sciences. As such he oversaw a staff of 250 scientists, educators, fund-raisers, designers, technicians, communicators and others to carry out the mission of the Academy, which is to raise its stature as a national and international leader in environmental science and education. Before joining the Academy, Dr. Baker served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans & Atmosphere and Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1993-2001, making him NOAA's longest serving administrator. From 1983-1993 he was President of Joint Oceanographic Institutions Inc. Previously he also served as Dean of the University of Washington's College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences, a college which he helped found. Dr. Baker is the author of Planet Earth: The View from Space, and has written more than 100 articles on climate, oceanography, space technology, natural resource management and sustainable development. Additionally he has been chief Scientist or participant in 11 oceanographic expeditions to the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and to Antarctic and Alaskan waters. Dr. Baker received a BS in Physics from Stanford University and his PhD. from Cornell in experimental physics.
To learn more about the Heinz Center’s new coastal initiative, please click here.