Federal Advisory Role for School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Dean Enhanced

Submitted by Carla Browning
Phone: (907) 474-7778
08/13/02

Long-time University of Alaska Fairbanks Professor of Marine Sciences Vera Alexander has been named special assistant for fisheries and ocean science policy. Provost Paul Reichardt appointed Alexander to the post in recognition of her national expertise in helping to shape federal policy and procedures relating to ocean science and technology.

Alexander is dean of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, a position she has held since 1989 and will continue to hold until a national search for a new SFOS dean is completed. Alexander served as director of UAF’s Institute of Marine Science from 1980 through 1993. Alexander joined UAF in 1962 after earning her bachelor of arts and master of science degrees from the University of Wisconsin. She received her doctoral degree from UAF in 1965, joined the UAF faculty, and was named professor of marine science in 1974.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Alexander has focused her research efforts on the biology of ice-covered seas and the study of arctic and subarctic fresh waters. She is the first woman to receive a doctoral degree from UA, and one of UA’s first two recipients of a Ph.D. in marine science.

Alexander is one of three presidential appointees on the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and has served as a commissioner since 1995. Established under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the commission oversees U.S. activities related to existing laws and international conventions, and makes recommendations for the protection and conservation of the nation’s marine mammals.

In 1992, she was appointed by the U.S. Department of State to serve as a delegate to the North Pacific Marine Science Organization - PICES. As a PICES delegate, and current vice president of the organization, Alexander represents U.S. policies on the governing council and promotes national objectives on issues relating to marine research in the North Pacific Ocean. She also serves on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Science Advisory Board, having just been reappointed for a three-year term. The NOAA SAB is the only Federal Advisory Committee with responsibility to advise the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.

With the search for a new SFOS dean underway, Alexander will now focus more of her energy on federal policies affecting UAF’s School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, which maintains sites throughout Alaska. The arctic marine system is recognized as a major factor in global climate and climate variations. Students and researchers with SFOS are involved with a variety of studies in waters off Alaska’s coast, which is the longest coastline of any U.S. state.

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Contact: School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Dean Vera Alexander, (907) 474-7531, or UAF Public Information Officer Carla Browning (907) 474-7581.