EPA Says Goodbye to Lisa Jackson
Dear friends of women in science,
The EPA has announced, and The New York Times has reported in an article by John M. Broder, that Lisa P Jackson will step down from her position directing the EPA. Lisa had arrived with great hopes of moving forward the war against global warming and opening up environmental issues to dialog with minority communities. She has faced frustration with the first but made progress with the second. Also, although the Obama administration clearly places economic progress much higher in priority than environmental progress, Jackson has had notable acheivements in protecting the environment as well.
The first African American administrator of EPA, Lisa Jackson was a summa cum laude graduate of Tulane University and earned a Masters in Environmental Engineering from Princeton University. She began her work at EPA in 1987 and was associated with their New York office for much of her career. She was deeply involved in the Deepwater spill cleanup. Her decision on endangerment from CO2 in 2009 has set the stage for what the EPA hopes will be decisive action later to prevent further global warming. Her administration held the line on strong clean air standards despite industry pressures.
As a woman scientist who values career-family balance, I would like to emphasize that she is married and has two sons, while accomplishing all of these goals for the US and world environment. She has done an outstanding job, and her wise counsel will be missed.
How much did you know about Lisa Jackson?
cheers,
Laura
Hi Sibyl,
I just read Tracy Kidder's Beak of the Finch, and it offers a good and readable view of people who ask ecological questions approaching them via massive data analysis and modeling. So I agree with Laura, although I too am not an ecologist.
Mimi
Hi Sibyl,
I think today's ecologists like Lisa Jackson use a LOT of math, do modeling of events and input data to predict what will happen in future years/cycles. I am not an ecologist, though, and would welcome comments from those who know better.
cheers,
Laura
Hi Laura,
How much math does an ecologist like Lisa really use? I am skeptical, maybe because I had a not-so-great ecology class that was very descriptive and tree-huggy, not much like my other science classes.
cheers,
Sibyl
Hi Laura,
Thanks, I always need examples of black women who might use math in their jobs and she's a great example, even though she's stepping down. I think it has been hard for her but she has done a good job. I'm proud of her and glad she agreed to take the job.
Jacqui
I belong to Sierra Club, etc so I had heard a lot about her. It's great that Obama appointed her, as a black woman, to head the agency. So often, NIMBY projects end up in minority communities, degrading their living conditions due to the lack of political clout. Having the director be a black woman really added to their perceived worth somehow, imagine that!
LRM
