News 2015: UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology welcomes NOAA Administrator

Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan and SMAST faculty discuss the resiliency challenge and role of marine science and technology

‌Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, visited the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) in New Bedford yesterday for a conversation on Meeting the Resiliency Challenge—The Role of Marine Science and Technology.

Joining the conversation were Jonathan F. Mitchell, Mayor of the city of New Bedford; John K. Bullard, NOAA Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Region; William A. Karp, NOAA Science and Research Director, Northeast Fisheries Science Center; and David Pierce, Director, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries; and SMAST professors Kevin Stokesbury, Mark Altabet, Wendell Brown, ‌Changsheng Chen, and Gavin Fay.

In addition to discussing coastal and ocean science, habitat-forecasting technology, marine resource management and resiliency, as well as key challenges facing fisheries, the group strategized ways in which NOAA and SMAST can further collaborate to improve scientific information as well as the relevance of implementing ecosystem-based management plans to improve marine fisheries management and policy. 

 “The conditions of the ocean are changing. Fish are moving to different places, lobsters are migrating at different times. It’s a compound challenge,” said Dr. Sullivan.

Dr. Sullivan was one of six women selected to join the NASA astronaut corps in 1978, and holds the distinction of being the first American woman to walk in space. She served on the National Science Board (2004-2010), and as an oceanographer in the U.S. Navy Reserve from (1998-2006).

She previously served as the inaugural Director of the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy in the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at Ohio State University, and as President and CEO of the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio – one of the nation’s leading science museums.

In addition to her appointment as NOAA Administrator and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Dr. Sullivan also serves as the United States Co-chair of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Dr. Sullivan holds a doctorate in geology from Dalhousie University in Canada.