In Memoriam: Ken Finkelstein (1955–2024)
Diane N. Evers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
OR&R’s Ken Finkelstein passed away on 14 September.
On 16 September, OR&R Director Scott Lundgren shared the sad news of the passing of Ken Finkelstein, Regional Resource Coordinator in the Northeast/Great Lakes Branch of OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division:
For those that did not know Ken, he retired just at the end of 2023 from the Northeast/Great Lakes Branch of OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division after 36 years at NOAA and 40 as a federal employee. I had the opportunity to work with Ken in the Northeast in the early 1990s, and many of us had the chance to see him at the May 2024 ARD All Hands social gathering. Those who knew him will certainly feel this untimely loss. As an office with a history that reaches back nearly 50 years, it is a poignant reality that we have colleagues who are no longer with us, and it is very sad when a departure comes far too soon.
Ken grew up in Queens, New York, and graduated from Stony Brook University, followed by the University of South Carolina, where he earned a master’s degree, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William and Mary, where he earned a Ph.D. in coastal geology.
Many in OR&R knew Ken as a 36-year veteran at NOAA (with 40 years as a federal employee), with many respected publications in the field of ecotoxicology. His most recent publication was on an innovative approach to evaluating the impact of PCB-contaminated sediment on benthic life. Over the decades, Ken worked on many oil spills. He was brought onto the Exxon Valdez spill, doing beach surveys in the exact same location where he’d help with graduate research. “What stands out in my memory was the hot water, high-pressure cleaning and how slippery it got on the beaches. And being there 10 years earlier—remembering how stunning it had been—the damage from the oil was really striking,” Ken said, adding that he also assisted with the Deepwater Horizon assessment in 2010. “I was the youngest guy at Amoco Cadiz and an old man at Deepwater Horizon,” Ken laughed.
Ken also worked on many notable hazardous waste sites across Massachusetts and the Northeast Region. The Nyanza side was memorable to him because he had published research tracking the growth rate of muscles caged in the mercury-contaminated Sudbury River. New Bedford Harbor also stood out because of the record-high levels of PCB contamination and the $20.4 million settlement for restoration and can help reach in 1992. Overall, Ken said that Atlas Tack was his favorite side because he worked closely with an EPA colleague to include restoration as part of the EPA mitigation efforts. This helped the site in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, recover more quickly from heavy metal contamination. The pair won two EPA Superfund Bronze Medal Awards for their work.
In addition to working at NOAA, Ken also taught oceanography part-time at Suffolk University in Boston for 32 years, followed by teaching at Framingham State University. He was also involved for many years as a coach and judge with the National Ocean Science Bowl, a national science education and outreach event that encourages students to learn about the natural world.
“Ken was a natural teacher,” said Diane Evers, ARD’s Northeast/Great Lakes regional manager. “Whenever he was answering a student’s question, you could just see him light up. It's the same energy that he brought to work with teams at NOAA. Not only was he a great scientist, he valued passing on scientific knowledge to others.”
Looking back on his career, Ken was most proud of the restoration project he helped to implement across the Northeast. He was quoted as saying, “It was and remains a really great job. Sometimes I think about what I would do if I retired, and I don't want to play golf every day. I’m really doing what I want to do.” Ken did retire in December 2023, looking forward to playing golf every day.
In his retirement farewell, Ken wrote:
“This has been a most wonderful job, allowing me to represent the agency and complete research and site assessment at both hazardous waste sites and oil spills. And allowing me the independence to complete the jobs as quickly as possible. I never imagined when I first arrived at the Amoco Cadiz oil spill in Brittany, France, in 1978 that the event would result in a full career. I can thank Miles Hayes, Erich Gundlach, and Jaqui Michel for giving me that opportunity. I have many warm feelings for most of you and hope to stay in touch.”
Here are some highlights from the many condolences that poured in about the loss of our colleague:
Ken was such a significant part of our program and someone I always wanted to hear from when he spoke. I have great memories of working with him, even if he didn't always want a whole lot of help! I am thinking about Ken and his family, and his colleagues… This is very sobering news for all of us moving into the twilight of our careers. I'm glad to have known Ken.
Based in Boston at EPA, Ken had a hand in decades of environmental damage assessment in EPA’s Region 1. I remember with fondness in May 2020, when we were in the middle of COVID lockdowns, and he shared that he became a grandfather. His grandson Finn made appearances on future calls. I admired Ken for his experience and intelligence, his pragmatism and humility. He was very good at his job and was a fierce advocate for communities. He was also very funny and self-effacing, kind and generous. I enjoyed our conversations, and he always made me smile. He truly personified all that his great about federal service; how our expertise translates to tangible benefits for taxpayers, impacts communities and the environment we steward for our future generations.
My memories of Ken are how he was almost always the first to ask a question after presentation. Always inquisitive and never shy. With Ken’s example, we’ll remember to say what we need to say. RIP, Ken.
Ken was a colleague who became a friend. He was absolutely fearless in presenting alternative technical interpretations when he felt the data supported his position. Plus, he was fun to watch when this unfolded in public for a. Thanks for your truthfulness Ken! Make every day count.
I always liked Ken, even with his cantankerous side. When I first met you in NYC, you told me that Ken would eat me up as the newbie California kid on the block. That first meeting in Gloucester, when our programs merged and we became ARD, Ken delivered in the style that you both predicted. He went up on the white board, drew a circle, wrote DAC in the center, then with great panache and a wave of his arm, drew a diagonal slash across the circle. Alyce flinched. Ken was a man with a message and a direct manner to deliver. I grew to like his directness, even in spite of his contrary nature (which he used to provoke people). He was bright, outspoken, and passionate in many directions. And I believe he had friends widespread. I'm sure he'll be missed by many. I am raising a beer in his honor.
I worked on many projects with him over the years, so it's hard to imagine him gone. Family was everything to Ken, he was always so proud of them. He will be very missed.
Oh I am so sorry to hear this. He was a joy. [The news of his passing] comes as a shock. Ken meant a lot to folks including me. Ken contributed much. He was a key guy for contaminated site work for NOAA in the Northeast.
Like many of our NOAA colleagues, I have incredible vivid memories of Ken. I learned that once you penetrated the curmudgeonly persona he often affected, he was an amazing, considerate, compassionate, and highly intelligent person. Ken was the only person in ARD who took up my challenge of taking time out of their daily life to do something they felt would help them and help others. He started up and worked with a local high school to develop a program which supported students taking part in the National Ocean Science Bowl. Ken led that group for several years, as I recall. That one act said much about the things that Ken felt were important and, in fact, Ken's code of life. Additionally Ken was the only person I could count on to have a question on our group calls—sometimes the questions were challenging and uncomfortable—but they told me how much Ken really cared about the work we do at NOAA and how we do it. I will miss his comments, snide and erudite; I will miss seeing him and the jumpsuit he seemingly always wore for oil spill work; but mostly I will simply miss him.
I greatly appreciate the work he did with me and the passion he had for NRDA, and how much he loved what he did. I have two young boys and Ken would give me snippets of advice on life and parenting, and as we would talk, I could tell how much he loved his family. He was a great to work with, his life was impactful, and I will miss him very much.
In the Minds Behind OR&R feature, “Meet Regional Resource Coordinator Ken Finkelstein,” you can learn a bit more about Ken's early years, his involvement in oil spills such as the Amoco Cadiz, Ixtoc I and Exxon Valdez incidents; his Ph.D. research; and his work in ARD.
You can also read two brief obituaries about Ken:
Author's contact: [email protected]