Dr. Ann Elizabeth Jochens

Research scientist, lawyer, and professor Dr. Ann Elizabeth Jochens passed away on December 1, 2021, on what would have been her late husband’s 85th birthday.

Born April 12, 1952 in Fairbury, NE, Ann grew up with a love of music and nature. She played several instruments, and began to dedicate her life to scientific, legal, and environmental issues.

While working for Gulf Oil as an environmental attorney, Ann met Dr. Hans Juvkam-Wold. That meeting led to a marriage and family — with children from Hans’ previous marriage — that would move from Denver, CO, to Anchorage, AK, before finally settling in College Station, TX.

Ann worked as an environmental lawyer for Gulf, and when the family arrived in Texas, she earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in oceanography at Texas A&M University. She came to physical oceanography as an attorney with extensive experience in environment, safety, and permitting in the oil and gas and minerals industries. She was a principal investigator and project manager on 15 studies funded for over $35M.

Ann was the first Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association (GCOOS-RA), a multi-entity partnership of government agencies, academic & research institutions, and private industry working to develop a comprehensive ocean observing system for the Gulf.

Beginning in 2015, she taught courses at Texas A&M University in Global Science and Policymaking, Environmental Geosciences (a senior-level capstone research course), and Environmental Regulatory Compliance, which she developed as well as taught.

Ann will be remembered for her love of family, friends, travel, and the environment. Through teaching her students, children, and grandchildren, she endeavored to share her knowledge, love, and respect for our earth, particularly our oceans and their inhabitants.

Ann is preceded in death by her father Les Jochens and husband Hans Juvkam-Wold. She is survived by her mother Harriet Jochens of Denver, CO; daughter Greta Cleary and her husband David and granddaughters Ann and Laura, all of College Station, TX; son Per Juvkam-Wold and his wife Lauren Yates and grandson Nikolai of Plano, TX; brother Robert Jochens and his wife Carol of Denver, CO; nephews Eric Jochens and his wife Liz, and Mark Jochens and his wife Laura; and her extended family in the United States, Barbados, and Norway.

A celebration of her life will be held next year in a private online event to which friends and family will be invited. In lieu of flowers, the family would suggest donations to the World Wildlife Fund.