[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13610]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DR. DONALD F. BOESCH

 Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to take this 
opportunity to thank Dr. Donald F. Boesch, who is stepping down as 
president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental 
Science, UMCES, a position he has held for the past 27 years.
  Since 1990, Dr. Boesch has led an institution with an excellent 
reputation for Chesapeake Bay science to global prominence in coastal 
watershed science and its application, building highly capable research 
facilities at each of the UMCES's four laboratories. Since 2008, he has 
also served as vice chancellor for environmental sustainability for the 
University System of Maryland.
  During Dr. Boesch's tenure, UMCES went through remarkable 
transformations. Research grants more than tripled and significantly 
diversified with multiple agency and private and philanthropic 
sponsors. This allowed UMCES scientists to expand their research into 
new and emerging topics critical to understanding Maryland's 
environment. He also initiated the Integration and Application Network, 
which is responsible for the annual ``report card'' on the Chesapeake 
Bay, to inspire and produce timely syntheses on critical environmental 
issues and identify practical and effective solutions to the bay's 
problems.
  Thanks to Don's unstinting passion and dedication to environmental 
issues, UMCES has had a profoundly positive impact on improving the 
health of Maryland's environment, playing a major role in the 
university's mission to enhance the quality of life in Maryland and our 
region. UMCES has become recognized as the State's foremost research 
authority on environmental matters that are critical to Maryland and 
the Nation, from enhancing the health of the Chesapeake Bay to 
restoring our State's oyster population.
  Don Boesch has been an extremely effective leader of people. He 
worked with the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the 
University of Maryland, Baltimore to form a novel research partnership, 
the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, located on 
Baltimore's Inner Harbor. He spearheaded the effort to design and 
construct the state-of-the-art research vessel Rachel Carson to help 
understand and monitor the Chesapeake Bay and coastal Atlantic Ocean. 
He led UMCES, a longtime partner in graduate education and classroom 
instruction with the University of Maryland, to receive accreditation 
to award joint graduate degrees in environmental science.
  Don has been involved in research on the Chesapeake Bay for more than 
35 years, becoming one of the Nation's most widely recognized and 
respected experts in applying science to public policies for the 
protection, sustainable use, and restoration of coastal ecosystems. He 
has been an official adviser to Federal agencies, the Chesapeake Bay 
Program, and five Maryland Governors. He is a member of the Governor's 
Chesapeake Bay Cabinet. He has also served as chair of the Ocean 
Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences and member of the 
National Academies Committee on America's Climate Choices. In 2007, he 
won the ``Award for Lifetime Leadership in Ecosystem Restoration, 
National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration.'' In 2010, President 
Barack Obama appointed Don to the National Commission on the BP 
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. In 2015, he earned 
the ``Admiral of the Chesapeake Award,'' which was presented to him by 
the Governor.
  Don's interest in coastal watershed science probably came naturally; 
he was born and raised in New Orleans, and he received his B.S. in 
biology from Tulane University in 1967. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in 
oceanography from the College of William & Mary in 1971. He was awarded 
a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship to study in Australia and then 
spent 8 years on the faculty at the Virginia Institute of Marine 
Science. From 1980 to 1990, he served as the first executive director 
of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and worked as a 
professor of Marine Science at Louisiana State University. He returns 
to the gulf coast frequently to lead task forces and scientific panels 
on gulf ecosystem protection and restoration.
  Dr. Donald F. Boesch has had an exemplary career at the intersection 
of science and public policy. He has been incredibly helpful to me and 
the rest of the Maryland congressional delegation; we have all valued 
his wise counsel. I am comforted by the fact that, while Don is 
stepping down as president of UMCES on September 17, he will join the 
faculty and focus his energies on completing several research 
publications. I ask my Senate colleagues to join me in congratulating 
Don on this milestone event and thanking him for his extraordinary 
contributions to understanding and protecting our environment.

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