DURHAM, N.C. – Bill Chameides, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at 91ÉçÇø¸£Àû, has been appointed by Gov. Mike Easley to the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences Advisory Commission.

The 40-member commission is comprised of many of the state’s leading scientists and educators. It formulates policies for advancement of the Museum of Natural Sciences and assists in advising administrators on ways to promote and develop wider and more effective uses of the museum as an educational, scientific and historical exhibit.

In addition to Chameides, Easley also appointed H. Kim Lyerly, director of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, to the commission.

Thirty-three of the commission’s members are appointed by the governor in recognition of their contributions and leadership in science, resource management or education. Appointees serve four-year terms.

The commission has seven non-appointed members, who serve by virtue of the office they hold. They are the director of the University of North Carolina Institute for Marine Sciences; the director of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission; the State Geologist; the N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture; the Secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources; the State Superintendent of Public Instruction; and the director of the Museum of Natural Sciences, or their designees.