SEI People
Deborah Brosnan, PhD,
   President & Founder
Executive and Advisory Trustees
Conservation Science Panel

SEI Staff and Researchers
Steven Courtney, PhD,
   Vice-President
Tatiana Boyle, PhD
Terry Erwin, PhD
Peyton Owston, PhD
Lisa Sztukowski

Deborah Brosnan
Founder Hon.President

SEI Oregon
Marine Ecology, Natural Disaster Science, Conservation Science and Policy

B.S.(hons) and M.S. National University of Galway, Ireland
Ph.D. Oregon State University

email: brosnan@sei.org

web and blogsite deborahbrosnan.com
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Born in Ireland, she grew up on the shores of the wild Atlantic coast where the tidepools and kelp forests were her playground and where she learned to dive. Always a trailblazer, as a young undergraduate she became the first woman ever to qualify as a scuba diver at the University. She graduated with an honors degree from the National University of Galway Ireland, and went on to her Ph.D. with Jane Lubchenco and Bruce Menge at OSU. She holds professorships at Lewis and Clark College and Portland State, a visiting scholar at Stanford University and a Whitely fellow. The Author of scientific and popular articles, she is known for her work on the ecology and conservation of marine life.

Dr. Brosnan's own research and conservation is diverse, ranging from the science of natural disasters, to marine reserves in the Caribbean. Her work takes her around the globe where she works to integrate research into our lives. She has studied species and ecosystems from whales to coral reefs to intertidal communities Her ground breaking research into human impacts on rocky shores was the backbone of the Oregon Territorial Sea Plan, and has been used to protect coasts worldwide. Her adventurous spirit and love of science has taken her diving under active volcanoes to study how eruptions affect coral reefs and fisheries, and onto hostile seas in pursuit of greater understanding of the ocean. She founded the Tsunami Reef Action Fund (tsunamireefactinfund.org) to provide scientific and financial aid to communities to restore their ocean and livelihoods in the aftermath of the SE Asia tragedy. She traveled and worked extensively in the region. As a scholar and an activist scientist, she is equally at home working in the boardroom or a mud hut in war torn Sri Lanka.

She is actively sought out for membership of organizational boards, including U.C. Davis SeaDoc, PADI ProjectAWARE OSU, College of Forestry, co-chairs the National Science and Policy Forum, and the Santa Barbara Group. She has set up marine reserves, St. Barthelemy Marine Reserve. published on science and consevation, given testimony before house and senatate committees, is a frequent speaker at gatherings, universities, and conferences, and serves on serveral boards.She is currently writing a book.

After running SEI and setting up its Conservation Science Network, Dr Brosnan has now moved to new roles and initiatives. Today, she remains engaged in SEI as an honorary president and helping to start new efforts. She is devoting her time to her global work, writing and ecosynthesis- founding a new discipline uniting science and law. In her spare time, Dr. Brosnan Scuba dives, swims, runs, hikes and plays African marimba music. You can contact her at brosnan@deborahbrosnan.com You can follow her adventures at deborahbrosnan.com
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