UF professor named Leopold Leadership Fellow

March 24, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida professor has been named a 2011 Leopold Leadership Fellow — becoming only the third professor in Florida to achieve the honor.

Ted Schuur in the department of biology was one of 20 academic environmental scientists from across the country selected to become fellows. Schuur was recognized for his work in researching permafrost carbon and terrestrial ecosystem feedbacks to climate change.

Schuur, a faculty member at the University of Florida since 2002, received his postdoctorate in bioinformatics at the University of California, Irvine, and his doctorate in ecosystem ecology from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and a Young Investigator Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Leopold Leadership Program, located at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, was founded in 1998 to fill a critical gap in environmental decision making: getting the best scientific knowledge into the hands of government, nonprofit, and business leaders to further the development of sustainable policies and practices.

The group was selected through a highly competitive process on the basis of their exceptional scientific qualifications, demonstrated leadership ability and strong interest in communicating science beyond traditional academic audiences. Fellows take part in intensive leadership and communications training designed to hone their skills in delivering scientific information to decision makers, the media and the public. Fellows and program advisers are intended to become leaders in conducting scientific outreach beyond traditional academic and scientific circles.

A list of 2011 Fellows and further information about the program is available at http://leopoldleadership.stanford.edu/.