EPA Awards Gold Medal to Dr. Robert T. Lackey

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has presented their highest award to Oregon State University professor Dr. Robert T. Lackey, a senior fisheries biologist at EPA’s research laboratory in Corvallis. The EPA Gold Medal was presented to Dr. Lackey at a ceremony in Washington D.C., where he was cited for his scientific contribution in organizing the Salmon 2100 Project.

“With limited funding but with remarkable persuasive powers, Dr. Lackey secured the ongoing personal involvement of senior scientists and policy experts from a variety of agencies and organizations,” said Dr. Thomas D. Fontaine, Director of EPA’s Western Ecology Division in Corvallis. “Through his personal commitment and scientific expertise, he provided pivotal leadership in the salmon science arena.”

The ground-breaking project brought together 33 senior scientists and salmon policy experts from British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and California. Under the direction of Dr. Lackey and OSU colleagues Dr. Sally Duncan and Dr. Denise Lach, this group of experts conducted a comprehensive alternative futures analysis for salmon recovery in western North America.

“Dr. Lackey's efforts to identify credible policy options for sustaining wild salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest will serve as a model for developing candid, scientifically credible analyses of ecological sustainability options nationwide," said Fontaine. Dr. Lackey was able to provide a comprehensive scientific analysis that has been invaluable not only to EPA, but to other Federal and state agencies, tribes, local governments, and others concerned with ecological sustainability. The recovery options offered by the project have also been of interest to environmental agencies of other nations.

In presenting the Gold Medal, EPA Administrator Steven L. Johnson commented that the award was “in recognition of exemplary scientific vision and personal leadership in assessing the future of salmon in western North America”.

The Gold Medal for Exceptional Service is EPA’s highest award. It is given on a highly selective basis for distinguished service of major significance to environmental improvement and to public service. Recipients must demonstrate outstanding abilities devising and implementing major Agency programs, or show special skills and achievements in managerial excellence.

The book, “Salmon 2100: the Future of Wild Pacific Salmon” is available through American Fisheries Society.

Dr. Lackey is courtesy professor of fisheries science, and adjunct professor of political science, at Oregon State University. He was a 1999-2000 Fulbright Scholar at the University of Northern British Columbia when the project was conceived and planned.

Since his first fisheries job 43 years ago mucking out raceways in a trout hatchery, he has worked on an assortment of natural resource issues from various positions in government and academia. His professional assignments involved diverse aspects of natural resource management, but mostly you would find him at the interface between science and policy. He has published over 100 articles in scientific journals.

Dr. Lackey has long been an educator, having taught at six North American universities. He teaches a graduate course in ecological policy at Oregon State University and was a 1999-2000 Fulbright Scholar at the University of Northern British Columbia. Canadian by birth, Dr. Lackey earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from Colorado State University and he was selected as the 2001 Honored Alumnus by their College of Natural Resources. He is a Certified Fisheries Scientist and a Fellow in the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists.