Nat Scholz

Nat Scholz is a marine conservation biologist.  His graduate training spanned Boston University’s marine program in Woods Hole (masters) and marine zoology at the University of Washington (doctoral), followed by a postdoctoral position with the National Academy of Sciences (National Research Council).   In 1999, he joined NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, becoming the lead for the Ecotoxicology Program in 2004.  For the past 25 years, he has spearheaded the Center’s research on urban stormwater threats to Pacific salmon conservation.  This includes extensive field, laboratory, and modeling investigations into a severe mortality syndrome affecting coho salmon in restored urban streams.  These different lines of evidence laid the groundwork for the eventual discovery of 6PPD-quinone as the cause of the syndrome.  He has also published widely on pollution threats to coastal, estuarine, and open-ocean habitats.  He retired from federal service in May of 2025.