Jenny Selgrath

Social-Ecological Scientist

Dr. Jennifer (Jenny) Selgrath co-leads a collaborative project examining the intersection of ocean access, marine protected areas, and climate change. She is passionate about incorporating transdisciplinary spatial and social-ecological tools into research, monitoring, conservation, and the collaborative management of coastal ecosystems. Jenny focuses on human dimensions of oceans, including ocean access, equity and environmental justice (blue justice), subsistence fishing, climate impacts, and cultural benefits. She also works as a researcher focusing on human dimensions, deep sea corals, and climate change with the NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Formerly, she was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station where she integrated historical ecology and local ecological knowledge to assess biodiversity changes in Monterey Bay over the past two centuries and assessed the adaptive capacity of coastal fishing communities to respond to impacts from climate change. Jennifer completed her doctorate degree at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Oceans and Fisheries. During her PhD she worked in partnership with Project Seahorse, the Landscape Ecology Lab, and Zoological Society of London (ZSL-Philippines). Her doctoral research focused on understanding long-term and spatial changes in the sustainability of small-scale fisheries, the influence of fisheries governance, and the impacts of fishing and other stressors on the spatial resilience of coral reefs. Jennifer earned her Master of Science degree in Biology from San Diego State University and her bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University where she double majored in Dance and Earth & Environmental Science. She is a former AmeriCorps volunteer and a former Fulbright Scholar (Philippines).