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Warner Chabot brings three decades of experience in environmental policy, fundraising, and management to amplify and extend the positive impact of the San Francisco Estuary Institute on the health of California’s aquatic ecosystems.
For Immediate Release Contact: SFEI 510 746-7334
or Isaac Kos-Read 510 292-5715
Richmond, CA – October 20, 2014 – The board of directors of the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) has selected former California League of Conservation Voters CEO Warner Chabot as its new executive director, effective today. The board made the decision after an extensive nationwide search for the right leader to build on SFEI’s two decades of successful work as the go-to institution for independent science and technology to inform environmental policy in the San Francisco Bay-Delta region. The selection brings Mr. Chabot together with a team of 50 award-winning experts in the fields of environmental chemistry, aquatic ecology, ecosystem design, and environmental technology.
Jim Fiedler, SFEI’s board chair, announced: “This selection is about expanding the topical and geographic range of SFEI to help address the present and emerging ecological problems facing the Bay watershed, Delta and other aquatic environments. Our Clean Water, Resilient Landscapes and Environmental Informatics programs are already helping the San Francisco Bay and Delta to be cleaner and healthier while ensuring our region remains at the cutting edge of natural resource management. Warner’s vision and experience will help our team scale our programs to the state and national level with his experience as a communicator, manager, and innovator.”
Mr. Chabot began his career in the flourishing Bay Area environmental movement of the 1970s, working at the intersection of energy, land use, and marine policy. Building on this practical, regional perspective, he has empowered communities to help shape coastal and marine environmental legislation and programs including the California Coastal Act, the first-ever system of National Marine Sanctuaries, and California’s network of Marine Protected Areas.
“My passion is developing innovative, science-based solutions to address today’s complex environmental challenges. I believe the greatest strength of SFEI is its capacity to empower civic, elected, regulatory, business and NGO community leaders with independent science in service of a more environmentally sustainable future,” remarked Mr. Chabot. “California has a great diversity of serious challenges. But it also has the talent to provide national, even international, leadership on these issues. Joining SFEI allows me to serve an accomplished team of science leaders. I believe that we can accelerate delivery and expand the availability of credible scientific information. This will inform and empower the public and policy makers as they tackle our most critical water, climate, land-use, and natural resource issues.”
Prior to assuming this new position, Warner was most recently the CEO of a consulting firm providing strategic planning and policy consulting services to private, public, and non-profit groups on local, state and national environmental policy, communications, and budget issues.
About SFEI: SFEI produces independent science for the public and natural resource decision-makers to foster healthy aquatic ecosystems.. SFEI’s mission and vision were honed over two decades of successful work as an independent NGO focused on the San Francisco Bay and projects throughout California. SFEI was formed in 1992 with a primary purpose to support the implementation of the U.S. Clean Water Act. In 2006, the Aquatic Science Center (ASC), a Joint Powers Authority, was founded by the State Water Resources Control Board via the California Water Quality Improvement Act.
In 2010, the two organizations’ boards merged to optimize effectiveness and provide scalable solutions. SFEI has a broadly representative board of directors that includes scientists, dischargers, regulators, and NGOs. With a $10-million annual budget, SFEI has built a team of more than 50 award-winning scientists conducting research across three programs – Clean Water, Resilient Landscapes, and Environmental Informatics – all funded by a mixture of fees and grants. Find out more atwww.sfei.org.
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