Oregon Public Broadcasting

President-elect Barack Obama has asked Oregon State University professor, Jane Lubchenco to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Her colleagues in Corvallis confirmed she's accepted the job.

If confirmed, the award-winning marine biologist would be the first woman ever to lead NOAA. But she would not be the first NOAA administrator from OSU.

Before John Byrne served as Oregon State president, he rose from a job in ocean sciences at OSU to leading NOAA for the Reagan Administration. Byrne says Lubchenco is a great choice.

John Byrne: “There’s no doubt in my mind she’ll be a great administrator. She has the right inclinations with regard to sustainability, preservation of the environment, and so on. She’s smart, she has lots of contacts throughout the world. I think she’s probably a lot more prepared than I was at the time I went back.”

Byrne says Lubchenco’s biggest challenge may be adjusting to the winner-take-all attitude of Washington, D.C. But he says her appointment should elevate Oregon, and OSU, nationally.

Lubchenco has been particularly active on climate change in the last few years, co-chairing a state advisory committee on the issue.

Global warming is a stated focus of the Obama Administration.