{"id":389858,"date":"2026-07-07T23:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/389858\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T23:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:39:09","slug":"mike-beck-appointed-to-california-ocean-science-trusts-board-of-trustees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/389858\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Beck appointed to California Ocean Science Trust’s board of trustees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Beck, director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience<\/a> at UC Santa Cruz, has been appointed to the California Ocean Science Trust\u2019s board of trustees. In an announcement by California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot on July 6, Beck and Cal Poly Humbolt\u2019s Eric Riggs were named to the board, cited for their distinguished leadership and deep expertise in coastal climate resilience and marine STEM education.<\/p>\n

The trust<\/a>, created by state legislation, strengthens the bridge between scientific research and sound ocean management. The organization supports and brings world-class science and innovation together with state and federal policymakers to accelerate progress toward a healthy and resilient coast and ocean.<\/p>\n

Because of the impact of climate change, timely access to objective, trusted science advice is critical to protect and restore these ecosystems, said Alexis Jackson, chair of the trust\u2019s board of trustees.<\/p>\n

Beck\u2019s research makes him ideally suited for the role: He focuses on reducing risks to people, property, and nature by integrating science into policy and practice. In recent years, Beck has emerged as a global leader in quantifying how ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, and wetlands reduce storm damage and flood risk.<\/p>\n

For this important and impactful work, Beck was recently named by Chancellor Cynthia Larive as the 2025 Innovator of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an honor to advise and support the work of the Ocean Science Trust,\u201d Beck said. \u201cAs a past partner and collaborator, I have great respect for the highly professional work that OST does in translating science to guide policy. I look forward to helping advance this work, which is more critical than ever for ensuring the resilience of our coasts for the nature and people of California.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riggs, the other researcher named to the board, currently serves as the dean of the College of Natural Resources & Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. He is recognized for his deep expertise in broadening access to marine STEM education, with a particular focus on engaging tribal communities and addressing the experiences of minoritized groups in field-based learning.<\/p>\n

In welcoming Riggs and Beck to the board, OST Director Liz Whiteman said, \u201cTheir combined experience in workforce development and climate resilience science will be invaluable as we continue to invest in actionable solutions for California\u2019s most pressing ocean and coastal challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Beck, director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UC Santa Cruz, has been appointed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[157078,7,9,8,157079,32338,6080],"class_list":["post-389858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-awards-honors","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-center-for-coastal-climate-resilience","tag-faculty","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}