The Haas Center for Public Service has selected National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator Jane Lubchenco as the center’s Distinguished Visitor for spring quarter, according to the Stanford News Service.

The selection of Lubchenco, who will leave her current post at the end of February, comes a month after the NOAA confirmed that it is currently investigating the University for potential criminal violation of the Endangered Species Act in the operation of Searsville Dam. Two environmental groups have since filed suit against Stanford on similar grounds.

During her quarter at Stanford, Lubchenco will lead weekly seminars, mentor students and deliver the Haas Center for Public Service Distinguished Visitor Lecture. Her talk, entitled “Science Serving Society: An Inside View from Washington, D.C.,” will be held in early May.

“Stanford University is pleased to have a world-class environmental scientist and ecologist as the Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor,” said Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82 in a statement.

Before joining the NOAA as a political appointee in 2008, Lubchenco earned a doctorate in ecology from Harvard University, where she later taught. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.