Rhode Island Sea Grant honors Stephen B. Olsen with Lifetime Achievement Award

Award recognizes over 40 years of outstanding service to the people of Rhode Island, the Coastal Resources Center, the Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program, the Graduate School of Oceanography, and the University of Rhode Island

On December 14, Rhode Island Sea Grant honored one of the global pioneers in coastal management, Professor Stephen B. Olsen, director of the Coastal Resources Center (CRC) at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography.

Professor Olsen received Rhode Island Sea Grant's Lifetime Achievement Award, only the 6th such award given over its 40 year history, for his outstanding leadership of CRC and contributions to Rhode Island Sea Grant. Under his direction since 1975, CRC has developed a global reputation for innovation and action. CRC has raised over $70 million since 1985 to support programs in coastal resources management on three continents in the developing world as well as in the United States.

"Here in Rhode Island, Professor Olsen has pioneered the development of and had continued impact on the state's coastal program which has resulted in systemic changes in the way the state has managed and regulated its rivers, lagoons, and especially Narragansett Bay. No other individual or organization has had such a broad and sustained track record in this field. The people of Rhode Island owe a huge debt of gratitude to Stephen," said Professor Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Rhode Island Sea Grant director, in presenting the award.

Professor Olsen has developed standardized methods that are being used throughout the world to develop new governance strategies and measure progress given the political, economic, social and ecological conditions of a particular place. Under his leadership, CRC has produced hundreds of peer reviewed publications, technical reports, best practices manuals, educational CD-ROMs, videos, atlases, and innovative training and public outreach programs. CRC is also known globally for its Summer Institutes that have created first-generation, second-generation, and now third-generation practitioners and decision-makers in coastal zone management.

The Rhode Island Sea Grant Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes not only Professor Olsen's professional accomplishments in sustainable coastal resources management, governance, and environmental stewardship, but also his efforts to challenge unfair practices and other barriers to equity and justice throughout the world.

The presentation of this Lifetime Achievement Award culminates Rhode Island Sea Grant's 40th anniversary year of celebrations.

For more information on Professor Stephen Olsen and CRC, please visit www.crc.uri.edu.