University of Washington Tacoma Professor Joel Baker has been selected to chair the Puget Sound Partnership’s Science Panel.
Newly appointed to UW Tacoma’s Port of Tacoma Chair in Environmental Science, Baker is one of nine members of the Science Panel, which will provide independent, scientific advice as the Partnership develops a comprehensive plan to clean up and protect Puget Sound.
For more than 20 years, Baker has led water and air quality assessments in a variety of complex ecosystems, including the Great Lakes, the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay.
Jan Newton, a principal oceanographer at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory, will serve as the Science Panel’s vice chair. Newton is the lead investigator for the Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program’s integrated assessment and modeling study. A biological oceanographer, she has more than 20 years of experience researching Pacific Northwest coastal and inland waters, including effects from climate and human activity.
Newton is also an affiliate professor at UW’s School of Oceanography and teaches ecosystem dynamics at the Friday Harbor Laboratories.
For more information, visit psp.wa.gov.