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Dr. Judith S. Weis is a Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences at Rutgers University, Newark. She received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell, and MS and PhD from NYU. Her research focuses on estuarine ecology and ecotoxicology, and she has published over 200 refereed scientific papers, as well as books on salt marshes (Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History), fish (Do Fish Sleep?), crabs (Walking Sideways: The Remarkable World of Crabs), and marine pollution (Marine Pollution: What Everyone Needs to Know) for the general public, and co-edited a more technical book on Biological Invasions and Animal Behaviour.  She is interested in stresses in estuaries and their effects on organisms, populations and communities. Much of her research has been in the NY/NJ Harbor area, but she has also done research in Indonesia and Madagascar. She is on the editorial board for BioScience, is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and was a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Indonesia.  She has been on advisory committees for USEPA, NOAA and the NAS and currently chairs the Science Advisory Board of NJ DEP, co-chairs the Science and Technical Advisory Committee for the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary, and serves on the Waterfront Management Advisory Board of NYC.  She chaired the Biology Section of AAAS, served on the boards of SETAC, the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), of which she was the President in 2001. She received the Merit Award from the Society of Wetland Scientists in 2016. She is very proud that her nomination to “Mission Blue” of the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary as a Hope Spot, was successful and our estuary is recognized for the vast improvements in water quality, biodiversity, restoration, and public access that have taken place over the past decades.