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Scripps Institution of Oceanography Scientist to Receive Award for Excellence in Science
Jeremy Jackson honored with Chancellor’s Associates Award on Feb. 7

Jeremy Jackson, an internationally renowned marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), has been selected to receive the Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Award from UCSD.

Jackson and other award recipients are slated to receive the award during a
“Town and Gown” celebration to be held at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 7 in Mandeville Theatre at UCSD. A reception follows at 5:45 p.m. in UCSD’s Cecil and Ida Green Faculty Club.

Chancellor’s Associates Awards are the highest recognition UCSD bestows upon individuals. Recipients are nominated by their academic peers, with final selection by a committee of Chancellor’s Associates members. In addition to recognizing their accomplishments, the awards include a $2,500 honorarium.

Jackson, the William and Mary B. Ritter Professor of Oceanography and director of the Geosciences Research Division at Scripps, is being honored for “excellence in research in science and engineering” for his achievement and international leadership in marine biology and ecology, ecologic and evolutionary theory, and marine paleoecology.

Jackson recently led an international team of scientists in a study of the destructive effects overfishing has caused on marine ecosystems over hundreds of years. The study, which appeared as a cover story of the internationally acclaimed journal Science, gives a sobering new insight into efforts to restore and replenish biodiversity in the seas. The work was chosen by Discover magazine as the outstanding discovery of 2001.

Charles Kennel, director of Scripps Institution, says there is “no question that
Jeremy Jackson is a world leader in the study of the ecology and evolution of marine organisms—one of a select few. None of his peers match his simultaneous mastery of related fields of geology, paleontology, and marine biology, and just a few have had a comparable impact on ecologic thinking in the last two or three decades…He is arguably one of the world’s most outstanding marine ecologists.”

Others being recognized Feb. 7 include San Diego community leader Malin Burnham, and UCSD faculty members Halbert L. White Jr., Randolph Y. Hampton, Karen R. Dobkins, and Dr. Vivian M. Reznik.

In addition to his appointment at Scripps, Jackson also holds a senior scientist position at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panama.

He was professor of ecology at Johns Hopkins University from 1971 to 1985. He is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and five books. His current research includes the long-term ecological consequences of historical overfishing on coastal ecosystems and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of the gradual formation of the Isthmus of Panama.

He cofounded the Panama Paleontology Project in 1986, an international group of 30 scientists, to help support his isthmian research. He has also worked extensively on the ecology of coral reef communities and the tempo and mode of speciation in the sea.

Jackson is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the Secretary’s Gold Medal for Exceptional Service from the Smithsonian Institution in 1997.

He has served on committees of the National Research Council, the Advisory Board of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, and the Science Commission of the Smithsonian Institution.

He and his wife, Professor Nancy Knowlton, director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps Institution, live in La Jolla.