The White House appointed Dr. Jane Lubchenco as Deputy Director for Climate and the Environment on March 19, 2021. In previous administrations, the position had been known as the head of “energy and the environment.” The renaming signifies the emphasis the Biden Administration is placing on climate change.
Lubchenco coordinates climate and environmental issues within the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Her portfolio encompasses a broad set of issues that President Biden asked OSTP officials to address, including finding climate change solutions that will help improve the economy and health, especially in communities that have been left behind.
Prior to her appointment, Lubchenco was a well-known marine scientist and distinguished professor at Oregon State University, and former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during the Obama-Biden Administration. Lubchenco was an inaugural member of President Obama’s “Science Dream Team,” and from 2014 to 2016, she served as the first U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean.
Lubchenco earned a B.A. in Biology from Colorado College and a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology from Harvard University.