 |
Nancy Foster | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | 27 June 2000 (age 59) |
| Other names | Nancy Foster Geraci |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Oceanographer |
| Awards |  Department of Commerce Gold Medal |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | On the Spionidae (Polychaeta) of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea (1969) |
Nancy Marie Foster was the director of the National Ocean Service. She is known for her work in protecting marine environments, linking conservation groups and fisherman, and expanding research in marine environments.
Nancy Foster was born in Electra, Texas, received her undergraduate degree from Texas Woman's College, and went on to earn a master's degree in marine biology from Texas Christian University. [1] [2] She earned her Ph.D. in marine biology from George Washington University in 1969. [1] [2] [3] A Smithsonian associate in the late 1960s while at George Washington, she conducted a portion of her dissertation research with Meredith Leam Jones [2] [4] and Marian H. Pettibone at the Smithsonian Institution. [2] She wrote several papers on polychaetes at George Washington. [2]
Foster worked at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service [1] In 1969, while still associated with the Smithsonian Institution [2] she became chair of the biology department at Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross, a position she held into the 1970s. [1] [5] [6] Her students included Cynthia Ahearn. [2]
Foster joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1977, working in its Research and Development Office. [1] [5] She was the director of the Office of Protected Resources in NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from 1986 until 1993, [1] subsequently advancing to the position of deputy assistant administrator of the NMFS by 1997. [1] While at the NMFS, she established NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Office in Annapolis, Maryland, and NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation. [1]
After leaving the NMFS, Foster was the director of NOAA's National Ocean Service from 1997 until her death in 2000. [1] [5] [7] As director, she led a reorganization of the NMFS and to make it into a more efficient, responsive, and scientifically rigorous agency and also created the NOAA Habitat Restoration Center and the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank. [2]
Foster is known for her work in the protection of fish habitats and coastal environments, [5] and spoke to the United States Congress about research conducted in [United States National Marine Sanctuaries. [8]
Foster died of a brain tumor at her home in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 27, 2000, at the age of 59. [1] [5] Upon her death Senator Fritz Hollings published a tribute in the Congressional Record to honor Foster's contributions to marine science. [9]
In 1993, Foster received a Department of Commerce Gold Medal. [1] [5] In 1997, Foster was the first recipient of the Dr. Nancy Foster Award for Habitat Conservation, given to her in recognition of her work in establishing the Office of Habitat Conservation. [1] In 1999, she received a Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service. [1] [10]
In 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) honored Foster by creating a scholarship program in her name for women and members of minority groups. [11] The Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program was signed into law on November 13, 2000. [12] [13] In the spring of 2000, [1] NOAA's Dr. Nancy Foster Florida Keys Environmental Center was named in Foster's honor [1] and funded through the U.S. Department of Commerce, [14] and she received the Fred M. Packard Award in 2000 to recognize her work in establishing marine protected areas. [15]
NOAAS Nancy Foster (R 352), a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel, was commissioned on May 10, 2004. [16] The Nancy Foster was originally built as a Navy yard torpedo test craft, Agate Pass (YTT 12), at McDermott Shipyards in Amelia, Louisiana, and launched in September 1990. [17] In 2001, the Navy transferred the vessel to NOAA, outfitted to conduct coastal research along the United States East and Gulf Coasts and in the Caribbean. [16]
While a Smithsonian associate in the 1960s, Foster met and married Roger Cressey. [2] They later divorced. Foster's later marriage to Jerry Cramer also ended in divorce. [1] She married Joseph R. Geraci in May 2000. [1]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploration, and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the US exclusive economic zone. The agency is part of the United States Department of Commerce and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats in the United States. The mission of the agency is "working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people."
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The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the stewardship of U.S. national marine resources. It conserves and manages fisheries to promote sustainability and prevent lost economic potential associated with overfishing, declining species, and degraded habitats.
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The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) is a World Heritage listed U.S. National Monument encompassing 583,000 square miles (1,510,000 km2) of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was created in June 2006 with 140,000 square miles (360,000 km2) and expanded in August 2016 by moving its border to the limit of the exclusive economic zone, making it one of the world's largest protected areas. It is internationally known for its cultural and natural values as follows:
The area has deep cosmological and traditional significance for living Native Hawaiian culture, as an ancestral environment, as an embodiment of the Hawaiian concept of kinship between people and the natural world, and as the place where it is believed that life originates and to where the spirits return after death. On two of the islands, Nihoa and Mokumanamana, there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement and use. Much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons.
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Jeanette Davis is a marine microbiologist, Policy Analyst for NOAA and children's book author.
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