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San Francisco (April 7, 2015) – The San Francisco Estuary Institute has hired two senior scientists to dramatically expand its efforts related to sea level rise, climate change and the health of the San Francisco Bay and Delta ecosystem. Dr. Letitia Grenier and Jeremy Lowe join the Institute’s Resilient Landscapes Program, which empowers California and Bay Area communities to implement projects that adapt to climate change and improve the health of California’s natural resources.
“Letitia Grenier and Jeremy Lowe are both superstars in the California science community. Adding them to our team demonstrates the Estuary Institute’s leading role on climate adaptation science,” said Warner Chabot, Executive Director of the San Francisco Estuary Institute.
Grenier has been hired to co-lead the Resilient Landscapes Program, a role in which she will serve as the science lead and principal author for two major reports to be released this year about San Francisco Bay and Delta. For the 2015 update to the Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals, a California Coastal Conservancy project, Grenier is heading a team of over 200 environmental scientists, managers, and regulators to establish 100 year goals to restore San Francisco Bay’s ecosystems. The report will be released this summer. Grenier will likewise be the principal author for the State of the Estuary report to be released in September. This report will provide a science-based assessment of the health and trends of San Francisco Bay and Delta’s environmental vital signs.
Grenier, who holds a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of California at Berkeley and has 20 years of experience in conservation biology, previously worked at SFEI from 2004-2012. During that time, she investigated the bioaccumulation of pollutants in estuary food webs, the condition of California’s wetlands, and other aspects of Bay ecosystem health.
Lowe is a coastal geomorphologist with 30 years of experience in tidal wetland restoration and sea-level-rise adaptation planning on the Pacific Coast and in Europe. Career highlights include designing sea defenses to reduce flooding in Venice, Italy; designing restoration initiatives for the Ballona Wetlands in Venice, Calif.; and authoring tidal wetland guidelines for San Francisco Bay, the Puget Sound and Lower Columbia River Estuary. He will lead the Institute’s initiatives related to rising ocean levels due to climate change.
Lowe most recently served as a director at Environmental Science Associates, where he developed nature-based climate change adaptation strategies for San Francisco Bay and the Lower Columbia. He was the project director for the Oro Loma Ecotone Slope Demonstration Project, one of the first nature-based climate adaptation projects in San Francisco Bay. Born in Britain, Lowe previously worked at the universities of Cambridge and Newcastle in England.
The two hires signify the major changes taking place at the San Francisco Estuary Institute, which is in the midst of its biggest transformation since its inception. The group has recently launched a new website (www.sfei.org) to better communicate its mission to the public and policymakers. In late 2014, the organization hired Chabot to grow the organization’s influence in the state and region, and to drive regional climate change strategies. Chabot previously headed the California League of Conservation Voters.
“Rising sea levels, temperatures and drought is transforming California. Climate change is the challenge or our generation,” Chabot said. “We are committed to ensuring that California and the Bay Area have the best available science to implement the state of the art infrastructure and landscape strategies that help our state thrive–and lead–in a changing world.”
About SFEI: The San Francisco Estuary Institute is a premier California-based aquatic science center. SFEI’s 50-plus scientists work in three programs: Resilient Landscapes, Environmental Informatics and Clean Water. Our mission is to identify and develop cost-effective, scientifically rigorous solutions to protect and restore natural resources, and to connect people and policymakers to the lands and waters we all share.www.sfei.org.
About Resilient Landscapes: Resilient lands filter and store clean water, moderate floods, cool extreme temperatures, sequester carbon, purify the air, provide places for people to recreate in nature, and support wildlife communities that are the natural heritage of California. By learning from the past, identifying best practices, advancing our understanding of landscape processes, and designing greener infrastructure, the Resilient Landscapes program seeks to make the Bay Area and California a leader in the emerging field of resilience science.www.sfei.org/programs/resilient-landscapes.
Media Requests: To interview Lowe, Grenier, or Chabot, contact Tony Hale attonyh@sfei.org.
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