News 2012: SMAST Dean Steven Lohrenz takes on national ocean science leadership post

News 2012: SMAST Dean Steven Lohrenz takes on national ocean science leadership post
SMAST Dean Steven Lohrenz takes on national ocean science leadership post

Lohrenz elected by peers to Consortium for Ocean Leadership's Board of Trustees

Dr. Steven Lohrenz, dean of the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, was elected last week by his peers to a national ocean science leadership position.

As one of just 14 members of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership's Board of Trustees, Lohrenz will take a lead role in bringing together public and private partners and the scientific community to shape national and international oceans policy.

Ocean Leadership is a nonprofit organization that represents 103 of the leading public and private ocean research education institutions, aquaria and industry with the mission to advance research, education and sound ocean policy. Representatives of those 103 institutions vote for members of the Board of Trustees.

"I'm grateful to my colleagues across the country for making me a Trustee," said Lohrenz. "I'm looking forward to working with them to effectively communicate the central role of our oceans in societal well-being, and to advocate for continued support to improve our understanding of the oceans."

Also voted to the board were representatives from the University of New Hampshire, the University of Maryland, and Stanford University.

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More about Steven Lohrenz
Dr. Steven Lohrenz of Marion has led SMAST's 120 faculty, staff and students since January 2011. An expert on marine productivity and ecology with a focus on using advanced optics to understand the effect of CO2 on oceans, he previously chaired the University of Southern Mississippi's Department of Marine Science at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center.

While serving as Chair, Lohrenz was involved in the recovery following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and also served on the University Oil Spill Response Team and a statewide Mississippi oil spill response committee during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2009.

Lohrenz received his Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography in 1985 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program.

More about the Consortium for Ocean Leadership
Ocean Leadership is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that represents 103 of the leading public and private ocean research education institutions, aquaria and industry with the mission to advance research, education and sound ocean policy. The organization also coordinates ocean research and education programs in areas of scientific ocean drilling, ocean observing, ocean exploration and ocean partnerships. Learn more at http://www.oceanleadership.org.

More about SMAST
The School for Marine Science and Technology is the marine campus of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. With two locations in Fairhaven and New Bedford, America's premier fishing port, scientists at SMAST have expertise in ocean modeling and monitoring, fisheries science and management, coastal systems science, ocean acoustics, biogeochemistry, remote sensing, and ocean engineering. SMAST grants the MS and PhD degrees in seven interdisciplinary fields through the University of Massachusetts School of Marine Sciences (UMass SMS). Learn more at http://www.smast.umassd.edu.