Science Panel
The Science Panel's expertise and advice are critical to the Puget Sound Partnerships efforts to develop a comprehensive plan to restore Puget Sound. The following nine members, appointed by the Leadership Council, were chosen from the top scientists in Washington State.
For questions about the Science Panel, contact Tammy Owings, Special Assistant, 360.464.1229
Learn more about Science Panel Meetings | Download Science Documents
Chair: Jan Newton, University of Washington (UW)
Term: 4 years 11/10/11
As principal oceanographer at UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory, Newton provides oversight of an observational and modeling study of hypoxia in Hood Canal. Newton also is an assistant professor at UW’s School of Oceanography, where she works with faculty and students to develop and conduct research on biological oceanography of Pacific Northwest coastal and inland waters.
Vice-chair: Joseph Gaydos, SeaDoc Society
Term: 4 years 11/10/2013
Gaydos is the Chief Scientist for the SeaDoc society, a marine ecosystem health program of the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center. Over the past eight years, he has actively participated in the collection and dissemination of scientific data on marine wildlife ecosystems focusing on the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin. He is a trained biologist and veterinarian with an advanced degree specializing in the health and diseases of wildlife populations.
Vacant
Term: 4 years 11/10/11
Timothy Quinn, Washington Department of Widlife (WDFW)
Term: 4 years 11/10/14
Chief scientist of the WDFW’s habitat program since 1999, Quinn also is a member of
The Evergreen State College’s adjunct faculty, where he teaches in the Master’s in Environmental Studies program. Quinn recently served on the Science Working Group that came up with scientific underpinnings and a technical framework for the development of the Puget Sound Partnership.
Robert Johnston, U.S. Navy
Term: 4 years 11/10/2013
A senior scientist with the Navy’s Marine Environmental Support Office, Johnston specializes in providing technical assistance to marine pollution and ecological risk assessment issues for Navy activities, including investigating the risk of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) released from sunken ships and evaluating the risk of constructing artificial reefs with former warships.
William Labiosa, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Term: 4 years 11/10/2013
Labiosa has worked as a Research Physical Scientist with USGS since 2001, specializing in watershed/ecosystems management decision analysis and decision support. He has extensive ecological experience and knowledge of Puget Sound serving as the project manager and PI for the Puget Sound Ecosystem Portfolio Model project – a model-based evaluation of ecosystem services and metrics of human well-being as influenced by land use change and regional-scale coastal anthropogenic modifications. Prior to working for USGS, he worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water in Washington, D.C.
Tom Leschine, University of Washington (UW)
Term: 4 years 11/10/2013
Since 2003 Leschine has served as the director of the UW School of Marine Affairs. A marine policy specialist trained in mathematical logic, he made the transition to marine affairs through a post-doctoral appointment at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He specializes in policy analysis and marine environmental decision-making and is widely known for work on the application of risk and decision analysis and other analytic techniques to environmental problem solving. His topical interests include oil spill prevention and response, the long-term management of long-lived environmental hazards, and coastal and estuarine environmental restoration.
John Stark, Washington State University (WSU)
Term: 4 years 11/10/14
Stark is a professor/scientist in the Department of Entomology at WSU’s Puyallup Research and Extension Center. His research interests include ecotoxicology of pesticides and other toxicants in aquatic and agricultural ecosystems, as well as developing risk assessment for aquatic organisms inhabiting rivers and streams in the Pacific Northwest.
Usha Varanasi, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Term: 4 years 11/10/11
Science and research director of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center since 1994, Varanasi also is an affiliate professor of chemistry at the University of Washington. Recently, Varanasi represented NOAA as a special science adviser to the Puget Sound Partnership, providing direction and resources to develop “Sound Science.”
Katharine Wellman, Northern Economics, Inc.
Term: 4 years 11/10/14
Wellman has 20 years of experience as a social scientist in the marine estuarine environment. Currently a marine environmental economist with Northern Economics, Inc., Wellman has also held positions at NOAA and Battelle Memorial Institute.
Wayne Landis
Term: 4 years 11/10/14
Since 1989, Wayne Landis has been the Director of the Institute of Environmental Toxicology, part of the Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University. He has extensive experience in environmental toxicology, population modeling and regional scale environmental risk assessment. Recent projects include calculating the risk due to whirling disease to trout in the American Southwest, the calculation of risk due to invasive species in Puget Sound and the Chesapeake Bay, the application of risk assessment to forestry management and the development of a risk based decision framework for the mercury contaminated South River, Virginia.
Joel Baker, Representing the Puget Sound Institute
Term: non-voting Ex Officio member
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. Baker holds the Port of Tacoma Chair in Environmental Science at UW Tacoma, is the Science Director of the Center for Urban Waters, and is the Executive Director of the Puget Sound Institute.