Dr. Terrie Klinger named new Director of SMEA
Dr. Terrie Klinger, Stan and Alta Barer Professor of Sustainability Science, was named by Dean Lisa Graumlich on July 7, 2014 to be the new Director of the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs effective September 1, 2014, for a term of five years. This appointment is subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents. The current Director, Dr. Thomas Leschine, will step down from his 11-year tenure as Director on August 31, and will enjoy a one-year, well-deserved sabbatical focused on Arctic energy research before returning in 2015 to full-time teaching.
Dr. Klinger is an applied marine ecologist with a long and impressive record of research, teaching, and service at SMEA and beyond. She is well known for her ability to bridge the divide between ecologicial theory and field study and the practical needs of environmental management to facilitate the best use of ocean ecosystems. Her research interests include ocean acidification and ocean change, and in 2011 Dr. Klinger was the PI on an NSF IGERT grant to establish the Program on Ocean Change, an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program operated by the College of the Environment. She served on the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification, helped establish the Ocean Acidification Experimental Laboratory at Friday Harbor Laboratory, and in 2013 was named the co-Director of the new Washington Ocean Acidiciation Center at the College of the Environment.
Dr. Klinger is also admired for her dedication to students’ learning and success and for her tireless service inside and outside of the University, for which she was recognized with the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 2007 and the University of Washington Outstanding Public Service Award in 2010. She was also featured in the June 2014 UW alumni magazine, Columns, for its faculty profile.
Both Drs. Leschine and Klinger are wished the best in their new roles come September 2014. The School was and will continue to be in good hands with both of these outstanding faculty leaders.