Earlier today it was announced that Dr. Jennifer Seavey has been appointed as the new director of Shoals Marine Laboratory. Seavey comes to Shoals from the Seahorse Key Marine Laboratory, a field station of the University of Florida, where she has served as assistant director, responsible for directing college and K-12 science education programs and overseeing the facilities and staff in support of educational, research and outreach programs. Previously she has worked as a field biologist in California and Washington, and served as adjunct faculty at the University of Florida and Santa Fe College.
Located six miles off the New Hampshire coast in the Gulf of Maine, Shoals Marine Laboratory is run by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and Cornell University in a partnership that has spanned nearly half a century. The laboratory hosts undergraduate and community educational and research programs in marine biology and ornithology. Seavey will be the first Shoals director to be based at UNH, and will join the faculty of the UNH School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering. She succeeds long-time Shoals director Willy Bemis, who has returned to the Cornell campus as professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
“Shoals Marine Lab serves as an invaluable marine research and educational resource for Cornell faculty, student and staff,” said Dean Boor. “Jennifer’s appointment represents the dawning of a new era in the enduring partnership between CALS and UNH that sustains the Lab. I am confident that her energy, expertise and enthusiasm will further foster those ties and strengthen Shoals’ unique programs for years to come.”
The assumption of her new duties will entail something of a homecoming for Seavey. An island in the Isles of Shoals archipelago was named after her ancestor, William Seavey.