The 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was one of the greatest environmental disasters the world has experienced, and proved to be a serious setback for environmental sustainability efforts internationally. For 87 days, oil poured out a mile below the ocean. In this university podcast, Marcia McNutt talks about the leadership lessons learned from this calamitous spill. The event was part of the Von Gugelberg Memorial Lecture on the Environment, sponsored by the Von Gugelberg Memorial Fund. The fund, established by members of the Stanford MBA Class of 1987 to honor the memory of their classmate, Conradin von Gugelberg, aims to inspire and support students and alumni interested in environmental issues.
Dr. Marcia McNutt is director of the United States Geological Survey and science advisor to the United States Secretary of the Interior. A leader in oceanographic research, McNutt has also served as the president and chief executive officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (1997-2009), and she recently headed the Flow Rate Technical Group in May 2010, which attempted to measure the deepwater horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
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