Florida A&M University (FAMU) President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., is the newest member of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative (JOCI) Leadership Council, a bipartisan group of senior leaders who work with local, state, and regional leaders to develop actions toward meaningful ocean policy reform.
Robinson, whose work as a scientist and on the environment impressed the group, participated in his first Leadership Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The 20-member Leadership Council is co-chaired by former EPA administrator and ex-New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and former California Congressman Norman Mineta and includes former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
The group’s Ocean Action Agenda details ocean and coastal policy actions that should be taken by the Trump Administration and Congress. JOCI leaders assert that taking these actions will allow present and future generations of Americans to benefit from the jobs, food, health, recreation, and overall well-being America’s oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes provide.
Robinson’s work as an academic and a scientist addresses the fate of the waterways. He is the director and principal investigator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems (CCME).
The CCME is a partnership among six universities committed to making major impacts on coastal and marine ecosystems and communities by educating underrepresented minorities in NOAA relevant science and policy.
Robinson is also a member of the U.S. Congress authorized STEM Education Advisory Panel which was established “to provide advice and recommendations to the Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (CoSTEM),” among other responsibilities.
During the Obama administration, Robinson was an assistant secretary of Commerce for Conservation and Management at NOAA.
