Dr. Margaret S. Leinen

Chief Science Officer, Climos

Dr. Margaret S. Leinen serves as Assistant Director for Geosciences at the National Science Foundation, having been appointed in January, 2000. In addition to her responsibilities as the Assistant Director, Dr. Leinen is responsible for coordinating environmental science, engineering and education programs within the National Science Foundation (NSF), and for environmental cooperation and collaborations between NSF and other Federal agencies. She also serves as the Co-Chair of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, the federal interagency committee that coordinates ocean science among the participating federal agencies and she serves as Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Global Change/Climate Change Science Program, the federal interagency committee that coordinates global change science among the participating federal agencies.

Dr. Leinen is involved in a wide range of international activities. She is Chair of the International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA). Dr. Leinen leads NSF cooperation in global change and environment research with the European Commission and with Japan. She represents the United States in the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), in the APN Conference of the Parties, and has served until recently as Vice-Chair of the IAI Executive Council.

Prior to coming to NSF, Dr. Leinen was Dean, Graduate School of Oceanography and Vice Provost for Marine and Environmental Programs at the University of Rhode Island. She was also Acting Dean, College of the Environment and Life Sciences. Dr. Leinen spent her academic career at the University of Rhode Island. During her tenure, she spearheaded the University’s efforts to build a cohesive interdisciplinary marine and environmental focus. Dr. Leinen is a well-known researcher in paleo-oceanography and paleoclimatology. Her work focuses on the history of biogenic sedimentation in the oceans and its relationship to global biogeochemical cycles, and the history of eolian sedimentation in the oceans and its relationship to climate.

Dr. Leinen received her B.S. degree (1969) in Geology from the University of Illinois; M.S. (1975) in Geological Oceanography from Oregon State University; and Ph.D. (1980) in Geological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.

Dr. Leinen is past president of The Oceanography Society. She served on the Board of Governors of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc., on the Board of Directors of the Bermuda Biological Station for Research and on and the Ocean Research Advisory Council. Dr. Leinen also served as the Vice Chair of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and on the Board on Global Change of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Geological Society of America.