Washington Post: Jane Lubchenco, the newly confirmed head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, decided to dedicate her life to the sea 40 years ago when she became fascinated with a tiny species of mud-burrowing clam. Lubchenco, then an undergraduate at Colorado College, was taking a summer course on invertebrates at Marine Biological Laboratories with a group of graduate students. She was given a chance to study why the Yoldia had a small, mysterious structure attached to the edge …