The 44th President of these United States

President Barack Obama has been an inspiration to many scientists during his campaign and his transition to office because of his repeated commitments to the sciences and his early appointments of scientists in high-profile cabinet positions and advisory roles. Yesterday he renewed those sentiments in his inauguration speech, vowing to “restore science to its rightful place” in our government.

The new president has also pledged a commitment to stewardship of our planet, making climate change a priority within his agenda by promising to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. In yesterday’s speech, he stated that the way we use energy threatens our environment, pledging to “roll back the specter of a warming planet.”

As an ecological community, we hope that our 44th president will create an administration that can make good on these committments to science and to our natural world.