Conrad C. Lautenbacher is a retired Navy Vice Admiral, was the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere

Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere

The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere is the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Under Secretary oversees the day-to-day functions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as laying out its strategic and operational...

 within the United States Department of Commerce

United States Department of Commerce

The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...

 and the eighth administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...

. He was appointed to the position on December 19, 2001 and resigned effective October 31, 2008 in anticipation of a new White House administration.

Education and career

Before joining the Department of Commerce, Lautenbacher formed his own management consultant business, and worked principally for Technology, Strategies & Alliances Inc. He was also president and CEO of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, which is a non-profit organization with the goal of increasing basic knowledge and public support across the spectrum of ocean sciences. He possesses a Master of Science

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

 degree and a Ph.D in applied mathematics from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

.

He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964 and is a retired Navy Vice Admiral with 40 years of service. His Navy experience includes tours as Commanding Officer of the USS Hewitt (DD-966)

USS Hewitt (DD-966)

USS Hewitt , named for Admiral H. Kent Hewitt USN , was a built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi and launched on 14 September 1974 by Mrs. Leroy Hewitt Taylor and Mrs. Gerald Hewitt Norton, daughters of Admiral Hewitt.-History:Hewitt was the...

, Commander of Naval Station Norfolk

Naval Station Norfolk

Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...

; and Commander of Cruiser-Destroyer Group Five. He had additional duties as Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command

United States Naval Forces Central Command is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command . Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea...

 at Riyadh

Riyadh

Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...

 during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

During his final tour of duty, he served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations

Chief of Naval Operations

The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...

 (Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments) in charge of Navy programs and budget. He had also served as Assistant for Strategy with the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, and as Program Planning Branch Head in the Navy Program Planning Directorate.

Administration

After an investigation into Bill Proenza

Bill Proenza

Xavier William "Bill" Proenza is the Southern Region Director of the United States National Weather Service. He was previously the director of the National Hurricane Center from January 4, 2007 to July 9, 2007. Before that Proenza was Southern Region Director from 1999 to 2007.-History:Bill...

's management of the National Hurricane Center

National Hurricane Center

The National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of the National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting weather systems within the tropics between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th...

, Lautenbacher removed him as Director on July 9, 2007. In September 2007, he was returned to his old job at the southern region of the National Weather Service

National Weather Service

The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...

. Proenza had drawn criticism from colleagues for calling the eight-year old QuickSCAT system outdated. After the unauthorized killing of a gray whale

Gray Whale

The gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of about , a weight of , and lives 50–70 years. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were...

 by members of the Makah Indian tribe in September 2007, Lautenbacher met with tribal leaders to discuss the issue. He collaborated with other federal agencies on a new program to track volcanic ash and report the risks to the aviation community.

During Lautenbacher's tenure, the Open Rivers Initiative was started to provide funding and technical expertise for the community-driven removal of obsolete small dam and river barriers. According to the NOAA, over 3,500 large dams in the U.S. were considered unsafe in 2007. On the subject of the Bush administration's plan to expand the tsunami warning and detection system, Lautenbacher has said that the need for more buoys is critical, because their sensors measure passing tsunamis, whereas tide gauges measure changing water levels close to the coast.

Lautenbacher has rejected scientific claims that climate change is the greatest challenge facing humankind this century. In a November 2002 interview for the Australian television show Lateline

Lateline

Lateline is an Australian television news and current affairs program produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, airing weeknights at on ABC1. The program has developed a reputation for head-to-head debates on current issues and political interviews. Lateline is followed by its sister...

, he said that evidence gathered so far fails to convince the US that extreme weather being felt around the globe is a direct result of climate change. In December 2004, he called the decline in health among coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s a global issue, essential to life on Earth.

Meetings and summits

Lautenbacher spearheaded the first Earth Observation Summit, which hosted ministerial-level representation from several dozen of the world's nations in July 2003. Through subsequent international summits and working groups, he worked to encourage world scientific and policy leaders to work toward a common goal of building a sustained Global Earth Observation System of Systems that would collect and disseminate data, information, and models to stakeholders and decision makers for the benefit of individual nations and the world community. The effort culminated in an agreement for a 10-year implementation plan for GEOSS reached by the 55 member countries of the Group on Earth Observations at the Third Observation Summit held in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 in February 2005.

He also has headed numerous delegations at international governmental summits and conferences around the world. This includes the U.S. delegation to the first and second Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region...

 Ocean Ministerial Meetings in Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 in 2002 and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 in 2005, and the annual meetings of the World Meteorological Organization

World Meteorological Organization

The World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization , which was founded in 1873...

, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14, 1992...

. He also led the Commerce delegation to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa.