Jan 10 - Heal the Bay's Mark Gold Joins UCLA Environment Institute


Submitted by Recycling News on January 10, 2012 - 16:17.

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Mark Gold, the long-time President of Heal the Bay has announced he will be leaving the organization to become the associate director of UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IOES).

Gold worked at Heal the Bay for 23 years, where he has been one of the State's leading champions of coastal protection. In recent years, Gold and Heal the Bay have been at the forefront of the effort to phase out single use plastic bags.

"Mark has been one of the leading advocates of banning single use plastic, and a close partner of CAW," said Mark Murray, Executive Director of Californians Against Waste. "We wish him the very best in this new endeavor."

Gold will continue to work with Heal the Bay as part of the organization's advisory board, and should strengthen ties between Heal the Bay and UCLA in this new position. As associate director, Gold will split duties between teaching (he is already an adjunct professor at the university) and engaging in development activities for the IEOS.

Glen McDonald, director of the IOES, praises Gold:

"Mark has a genius for translating science so that it can be useful to local and state government agencies. He also knows virtually everyone in the environmental community. The nexus that he can create between UCLA's strengths and the environmental community will be a tremendous benefit, not just to the university but the whole region."

Of the move, Gold says,

"I'm excited to become part of UCLA's efforts to build the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. UCLA's education enabled me to become an environmental leader at Heal the Bay, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to give back to the university through teaching, fundraising and providing leadership."

CAW has worked with Gold and Heal the Bay extensively on plastic pollution and water quality related issues, including plastic bags and expanded polystyrene foam litter. We are co-sponsors with Heal the Bay and Environment California on AB 298 (Brownley).  

Read more and see an interview of Gold in the UCLA newsroom.