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CORVALLIS - Steve Strauss, a professor of genetics and forest science at Oregon State University, is one of 20 academic environmental scientists in North America to be awarded a 2005 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship.

This program, based at the Stanford Institute for the Environment, provides scientists with intensive communications and leadership training to enhance their ability to communicate complex scientific information to non-scientific audiences, especially policy makers, the media, business leaders and the public.

The program was launched in 1998 and is named for Aldo Leopold, a renowned environmental scientist and prominent author and communicator.

"The 2005 cohort of Leopold Leadership Fellows comprises a truly outstanding group of scientists working to address today's most important environmental challenges," said Jane Lubchenco, distinguished professor of zoology at OSU, who founded the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program and co-chairs the steering committee. "The training sessions will help them become more effective in their work individually, and the range and depth of their collective knowledge will make the Leopold Leadership Network even stronger."

Strauss, an expert in the use and development of genetic advances in forestry, has been active for years in public outreach and educational efforts. Most recently, he was named the director of a new Outreach Program in Resource Biotechnology at OSU to help the public, policy makers, and others better understand the use of biotechnology in agriculture and natural resources.