Lisa T. Ballance
Dr. Lisa T. Ballance is Interim Associate Vice President for Marine Research Operations and Executive Director of the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center at Oregon State University. In this role, she provides leadership for OSU’s Academic Research Fleet, mid-size vessels, small boats and dive programs, marine technicians, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Ecosystem Research, PacWave, and Port Orford Field Station, as well as a crosscutting research and education campus that houses federal and state partners and is globally renowned. Dr. Ballance is also Director of the Marine Mammal Institute and Endowed Chair for Marine Mammal Research, having grown the institute to 60 scientists (more than doubling its size) and secured over $10.7 million in extramural and philanthropic funds over the past six years.
Prior to joining OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute, Dr. Ballance directed NOAA’s Marine Mammal and Turtle Research Division in La Jolla, California, providing scientific leadership and oversight for 70 scientists conducting applied research in the context of Endangered Species and Marine Mammal Protection Act directives. She was also Chief Scientist of NOAA’s Eastern Tropical Pacific Dolphin Research Program, which provided the scientific basis for the “Dolphin Safe” label found on tuna cans in supermarkets all over this country.
Dr. Ballance holds a PhD in marine ecology, an MS in marine science, and a BS in biology. She has studied the ecology and conservation biology of whales, dolphins, porpoises, and seabirds for almost 40 years around the world, including the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, Antarctica, the Bering Sea, and Cambodia’s Mekong River. She has published more than 150 scientific papers, book chapters, and technical reports; regularly gives invited presentations at professional conferences, universities, public lectures, and policy-related briefings; and has been awarded research funding from a wide variety of sources, including the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, US Navy, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Dr. Ballance is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, President-Elect of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, recipient of the Department of Commerce Bronze and Silver Medals, NOAA Fisheries’ Supervisor of the Year, cover feature of the Association for Women in Science, and Presidential nominee as Chair and Commissioner of the US Marine Mammal Commission.