Keynote: A Sound Future

Dr. Mary Ruckelshaus, a research biologist with NOAA Fisheries in Seattle, will discuss how people in Puget Sound are using scientific information to design and evaluate recovery strategies for valued parts of our ecosystem.

Because of the diverse upland habitats and steep topography of the Puget Sound Basin, activities that humans undertake on land also affect the quality of life in the marine waters of the system. She will present examples of how science and policy interactions can improve our ability to manage the entire Puget Sound ecosystem for human and natural system goals we all seek to achieve in this region.

Some of the stories she will highlight include:

• watershed planning for enhanced stream flows and healthy salmon populations in the face of increasing human population growth and climate change,
• how nearshore habitat restoration and protection strategies can be informed by considering a fuller suite of ecosystem benefits that are changed under alternative strategies, and
• ways in which considering land use and stormwater management together might enhance our ability to achieve water quality, species recovery, and human health and well-being goals collectively.

Ruckelshaus leads the salmon risk and recovery science group at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and currently chairs the Puget Sound Technical Recovery Team, a multi-stakeholder recovery team convened by NOAA Fisheries to develop biologically based delisting criteria for listed salmonids under the Endangered Species Act.

In addition to her work on salmon recovery planning, Ruckelshaus is Chief Scientist for the Puget Sound Partnership, and has worked for more than ten years on marine conservation and reserve design issues. She serves as a trustee on The Nature Conservancys (TNC) Washington board, is a member of TNCs National Science Council, and is chair of the Science Advisory Board of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS).

Before joining the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1997, Ruckelshaus was a faculty member in Biology for three years at Florida State University. Ruckelshaus 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 the University of Washington.