The six-member review panel will evaluate the fisheries and aquatic resources program of the Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division. The review will help provide scientific understanding and technologies needed to support sound management and conservation of U.S. biological resources.
The evaluation will study the division's activities in aquatic sciences and fisheries, including studies of individual organisms, species and their populations, community ecology, habitats, and landscapes.
Coutant is a past president of the American Fisheries Society. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees and a doctorate in biology from Lehigh University. He and his wife, Nancy, are residents of Oak Ridge.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation.