Liz Hadly, professor of biology, was named a Leopold Leadership Fellow this week. Hadly is one of 20 environmental researchers honored in 2011.

The Leopold Leadership Program, based at the Woods Institute for the Environment, was founded in 1998 to help scientists share their knowledge with policymakers. The program’s fellows receive intensive communications training to help them convey information to journalists, politicians, business leaders and communities about sustainability and the environment. Training involves practice media interviews and meetings with policymakers in Washington, D.C.

Hadly’s research examines animals’ responses to climactic change using genetic, morphological and geochemical analyses. Other fellows engaged in a wide variety of subjects, ranging from ecology to economics.

“These twenty outstanding researchers are change agents engaged in cutting-edge research,” Pam Sturner, executive director of the Leopold Leadership Program, wrote in a press release. “Through our program, they will gain new skills and connections to help them translate their knowledge into action at the regional, national and international level.”

The Leopold Leadership Program is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

— Ivy Nguyen