Although I have no formal extension appointment, my career has been built around both conducting research that is pertinent to environmental decision making and applying the best possible science to the policy, managment, and political communities. Over the past year, I have participated in many briefings, workshops, seminars, and symposia toward this end, with a focus on how atmospheric pollution and agriculture contribute to coastal nutrient pollution, on the consequences of coastal nutrient pollution, and on potential solutions for this problem. For example, I continued to represent the State of New York on the Science and Technical Committee of the Chesapeake Bay Program, and co-chaired a major workshop for the Program on the importance of atmospheric deposition. I served on an advisory panel to the EPA Science Advisory Board on the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico, which released our report to the White House and Congress in December 2007. And I provided invited testimony to a Congressional hearing on how agriculture affects coastal ocean water quality. Also in 2007, I accepted an appointment as chair of the International SCOPE Biofuels Project, a 5-year effort by the International Council of Science (ICSU) in coordination with the United Nations to evaluate the net environmental benefits and costs of various biofuel technologies. I am also a member of the Oceans Caucus, a small bipartisan group of congressional staff, political appointees, NGO leaders, and academic leaders who meet monthly in Washington to find common ground on oceans issues.