Dr. Carolyn A. Thoroughgood, dean of the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies, and Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain, director of UD’s Center for the Study of Marine Policy, are among the nation’s top ocean and coastal science experts named to the Science Advisory Panel of the new presidentially appointed U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.
The panel, mandated by the Oceans Act of 2000, will provide expert scientific counsel and assistance to the commission in its development of recommendations for a comprehensive national ocean policy.
Thoroughgood is dean of the College of Marine Studies and director of the UD Sea Grant College Program. She also serves as acting president of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, a Washington, DC-based association of U.S. oceanographic research institutions, universities, laboratories, and aquaria that seeks to advance knowledge and learning in the science of oceanography. She is an active member of several professional societies and organizations and serves on numerous university councils and committees.
Cicin-Sain directs the Center for the Study of Marine Policy in the UD College of Marine Studies. She is editor-in-chief of the international journal Ocean & Coastal Management and has been a pioneer in forging cross-national collaboration in marine policy. She also has served as an adviser on numerous boards of the National Research Council, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and other agencies.
Addressing Thoroughgood as “one of the nation’s experts in nutritional biochemistry” and Cicin-Sain as “one of the nation’s experts in marine policy and governance issues,” Retired Navy Adm. James D. Watkins, chair of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, noted that their “expertise will be an integral resource in the development of the commission’s recommendations for a comprehensive national ocean policy.”
The panel’s duties will include reviewing the scientific validity of all materials submitted to the commission in order to ensure the commission meets its mandated charge to “give equal consideration to environmental, technical feasibility, economic and scientific factors.” The panel also will provide advice, guidance, and scientific information as requested by the commission.
Members of the panel were chosen by the commission in consultation with the National Academy of Sciences and announced at a commission meeting held in New Orleans earlier this year.
Currently, the commission is conducting a comprehensive examination of the nation’s marine affairs and assessing numerous challenging issues ranging from the stewardship of fisheries and marine life to the relationship among federal, state, and local governments and the private sector in carrying out ocean and coastal activities. The commission’s findings and recommendations will be presented in a final report to Congress and President George W. Bush in the spring of 2003.