B2 Board of Advisors

José Sarukhán Kermez

Professor, Institute of Ecology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

José Sarukhán Kermez has an undergraduate background in biology and a graduate background in agricultural botany and population ecology. His areas of research have ranged from plant population ecology, to systems ecology in the study of biogeochemical cycles in tropical ecosystems, and then to the study of biodiversity and the construction of very large databases of the biological diversity of Mexico. That database, housed in the Mexican National Committee for Biodiversity (CONABIO), is the world's largest geo-referenced biodiversity database, accessible on the web internationally. CONABIO has been an instrumental tool for development of public policies for the conservation of biological diversity and natural resources in Mexico. First as Dean of Science and later as Rector (President) of the National University of Mexico, Sarukhán recognizes the influence of higher education and scientific research in the development of third world countries. Sarukhán served as member of President Vicente Fox's Executive Office as Commissioner for Social and Human Development, a task that allowed him to pull together his experiences on education, the role of science in development and the intersections of society-development-environment. Sustainable development has become an important integrating concept of his professional interests, especially in the application of knowledge and research to government programs and societal action. Sarukhán has been President of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and is a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the Royal Society.

Peter G. Backus

President, P B Trading Company, Inc.

Edward P. Bass

Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Fine Line, Inc.

Anthony R. de Souza

Director, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, National Research Council

William E. Dietrich

Professor, Earth and Planetary Science,
UC Berkeley

Adrián Fernandez Bremauntz

President, National Institute of Ecology, Mexico

James M. Gentile

President, Research Corporation

Nick Hanauer

Second Avenue Partners

Laura F. Huenneke

Vice President for Research, Northern Arizona University

Jan Lesher

Director, Arizona Department of Commerce

Pamela A. Matson

Dean, School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University

Cherry A. Murray

Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Jonathan T. Overpeck

Director, Institute for the Study of Planet Earth,
The University of Arizona

Henry N. Pollack, Chair

Professor Emeritus, Geological Sciences, University of Michigan

Peter H. Raven

Director, Missouri Botanical Garden

Joaquin Ruiz

Dean, College of Science, The University of Arizona

Eugene G. Sander

Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona

José Sarukhán Kermez

Professor, Institute of Ecology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

Rick F. Shangraw

Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs, Arizona State University

Stephen G. Wells

President, Desert Research Institute

C. Larrabbee Winter

Deputy Director, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Ex-Officio Members

Lisa J. Graumlich

Director, School of Natural Resources, The University of Arizona

Arthur L. Herbst

Joseph B. DeLee Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago

Travis E. Huxman

Director, B2 Earthscience; Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Arizona

Pierre Meystre

Director, B2 Institute; Regents' Professor, Physics and Optical Sciences, The University of Arizona

Ramón Pacheco Aguilar

Director General, Research Center for Food and Development (CIAD), Mexico