February 12, 2013 – Gov. Jerry Brown honored the Aquarium of the Pacific with his 2012 Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) in recognition for the Aquarium’s efforts in conserving California’s resources and protecting the environment while building public-private partnerships benefitting the state economy. The Aquarium is the first among museums, zoos and aquariums statewide to receive the honor since GEELA’s establishment in 1993. New facilities and exhibits constructed in alignment with the Aquarium’s master plan demonstrate the effects of climate change, watershed education and more, while serving as examples of sustainable development, according to the Aquarium. The master plan was developed in 2002 by Aquarium boardmember, Douglas Otto. “Our master plan demonstrates that greening can be sustainable from a business as well as an environmental perspective,” Otto said in a statement. For more information, call 562/590-3100 or visit http://www.aquariumofpacific.org. Pictured inside the construction zone of the Aquarium’s retail section expansion are, from left: John Rouse, vice president of operations, Aquarium of the Pacific; Otto; Jerry Schubel, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Aquarium of the Pacific; and Barbara Long, vice president of government relations and special projects, corporate secretary for the Aquarium of the Pacific. (Photographs by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)