UAF researchers will advise ocean management bureau

October 16, 2015

UAF News

University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers Hajo Eicken and Keith Criddle have joined a committee of 14 distinguished experts who advise the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Selected by the National Academies of Sciences from academia and industry, the committee members provide their expertise, independent information and advice on offshore energy and mineral resources issues relevant to BOEM’s environmental studies and assessment activities.

The committee members’ expertise encompasses a broad range of disciplines in natural and social sciences, such as sea ice, ecology, economics and the application of science to policy and other topics.

Hajo Eicken
Hajo Eicken


Eicken is a professor of geophysics, specializing in sea ice, with a joint appointment with the International Arctic Research Center where he serves as interim director, the Geophysical Institute and the Department of Geosciences.

Criddle, who holds the Ted Stevens Distinguished Professorship of Marine Policy, specializes in fisheries at the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. He is based at the school's Juneau center.

Keith Criddle
Keith Criddle


“BOEM is honored to have these extraordinary scientists provide their guidance to the bureau on scientific matters,” said BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper. “We look forward to engaging with and learning from them as we continue to address complex offshore energy and marine mineral issues in an environmentally responsible manner.”

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted in 1863 and signed by President Abraham Lincoln.