Vollum Award Goes To Ecologist
Mary Ruckelshaus, managing director of the Natural Capital Project and senior research associate at Stanford University, received the Howard Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology last week.
The Vollum Award celebrates exceptional achievement in science or technology in the Pacific Northwest, and honors electronics pioneer Howard Vollum ’36, who helped found Tektronix, Oregon’s original high-tech firm.
The is a partnership among universities and NGOs that aims to transform decisions using the latest science of natural capital/ecosystem service values. Ruckelshaus previously led the Ecosystem Science Program at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, WA. Prior to that, she was an assistant professor of biological sciences at Florida State University. The main focus of her recent work is on developing standard approaches for valuing nature and mainstreaming them into high-leverage decisions globally.
Ruckelshaus serves on the Science Council of the Nature Conservancy and is past chair of its Washington Board, has been a lead author and reviewer for the 2013 and 2017 US National Climate Assessments, and is a past chair of the Science Advisory Board of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. She was chief scientist for the Puget Sound Partnership, a public-private institution charged with achieving recovery of the Puget Sound terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. She has a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University, a master’s degree in fisheries from the University of Washington, and a doctoral degree in botany, also from Washington.
After receiving the award, bestowed by Acting President Hugh Porter, she delivered a public lecture on campus titled .
Prior recipients of the Vollum Award include chemist Geri Richmond, geneticist Mary-Claire King, computer scientist Ivan Sutherland, astrophysicist Kip Thorne, cancer researcher Brian Druker, Zoloft inventor Ken Koe ’45, and technologist Steve Jobs ’76.