The Board of ISCO are pleased to announce that Dr. Kenneth Lee has agreed to join the ISCO council.
Dr. Kenneth Lee was a Senior Research Scientist (RES-5) with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), where he developed and led original, independent research in environmental impact assessment, ecotoxicology, and contaminated-site remediation. In 2002, he founded the Centre for Offshore Oil, Gas and Energy Research (COOGER), a national Centre of Expertise within DFO. COOGER provided scientific knowledge and advice on the potential environmental impacts of offshore oil and gas development and ocean renewable energy to support policy, regulatory, and operational decisions.
From 2014 to 2017, Dr. Lee served as Director of the Wealth from Oceans Flagship and Business Unit Director of the Oceans and Atmosphere Business Unit at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. In these roles, he helped advance research to support Australia’s prosperity and well-being through the sustainable economic, social, and environmental use of its marine estate and the effective management of its atmospheric environment.
After recently retiring from his position as DFO Research Scientist and National Senior Science Advisor for Oil Spill Research, Preparedness and Response, Dr. Lee continues to serve as Science Lead for Natural Resources Canada’s Multi-Partner Research Initiative (MPRI), part of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan. The initiative supports collaborative research among academia, government, and the private sector in Canada and internationally to advance oil spill response measures and science-based decision-making during response operations.
Recognized internationally for his expertise in assessing the environmental impacts of offshore oil and gas development and in developing, evaluating, and applying oil spill countermeasures, Dr. Lee has authored more than 600 academic and technical publications. His work has helped shape national policies, international standards, and governance for marine environmental protection. He has also served on science advisory teams for major oil spill response operations around the world.
In 2015, Dr. Lee was appointed Chair of the Royal Society of Canada’s Expert Panel on the Behaviour and Environmental Impacts of Crude Oil Released into Aqueous Environments. His international contributions to oil spill research, preparedness, and response have also been recognized through four appointments to committees of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
In 2024, Dr. Lee was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and received the International Oil Spill Conference Lifetime Achievement Award and the Senator Gary Peters Award for Innovation in Great Lakes Oil Spill Research. His other recent honours include the 2023 Timothy R. Parsons Medal for his multidisciplinary contributions to ocean sciences; the 2022 Hall of Fame Discovery Center Award for Science and Technology; and the 2021 Legacy Award from the Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force. The Government of Canada has twice awarded him DFO’s Prix d’Excellence and also recognized him with the Federal Partners in Technology Transfer Leadership Award for his research on the development and application of oil spill countermeasures.
Welcome, Ken!
