Sara is originally from Virginia and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Gender Studies from Bowdoin College in Maine. She moved out to Oregon in 2017 to get her PhD studying kelp forest ecology at Oregon State University. After defending her PhD, she spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California-Davis studying patterns of hypoxia and acidification across the California Current and the implications for shellfish species. In 2023, she decided to leave academia to find new creative ways to use my scientific skills to help create healthier ocean ecosystems and communities. She joined the Oregon Kelp Alliance as the Science Coordinator in January 2023 and was the lead author on the 2024 Kelp Forest Status Report.
She lives in Eugene, Oregon, on the occupied lands of the Kalapuya peoples, whose descendants are often enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. Outside of her day job, Sara goes to her night job, where she works full time adoring her rescue dog D.B. Cooper.