June 18, 2019 — The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has hired Eric Schwaab, the one-time head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to serve as the new leader and senior vice president of its oceans program.
He replaces Kathleen “Katie” McGinty, a former US Senate candidate who held the post for less than a year after serving as an environmental advisor to former vice president Al Gore and president Bill Clinton, an EDF spokesperson confirmed to Undercurrent News. Johnson Controls, a $32 billion multi-national conglomerate specializing in electronics and HVAC equipment with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, announced last week that it had hired McGinty to serve as its head of global relations.
Schwaab rose through the ranks at the US state of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources to become its deputy secretary in early 2007, serving three years in the position before being named assistant administrator of fisheries for NOAA in February 2010, a position he held for almost two years.
EDF’s press release credits Schwaab for leading a transformation at NMFS, including the “widespread adoption of science-based catch limits and catch shares,” efforts advocated for by EDF.