Susan Shaw, 2009 WINGS Elected Fellow

"Follow your convictions, seek ways to advance in your field and show leadership because you are needed." — Susan Shaw

Environmental Toxicologist; Founder/Director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute

Born: 1943-01-01

Hometown: Amarillo, TX, and New York, NY

Education: DrPH in Public Health/ Environmental Health Sciences

Achievements

Discoveries: First scientist to document the widespread contamination of marine mammals and fish in the Northwest Atlantic by toxic flame retardant chemicals used in consumer products

Expeditions: Seal ledges and islands of the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Maine, Pacific Northwest coast

Biography

An outspoken and influential voice on ocean pollution, Dr. Shaw dove in the Gulf oil slick in May and observed first-hand how oil and dispersants are impacting life in the water column. The experience prompted her to call for a collaborative, Gulf-wide effort to track effects as the toxins ripple through the food web.

For two decades, Shaw has conducted large-scale ecotoxicological investigations on the effects of hundreds of environmental chemicals in marine animals. She is credited as the first scientist to show that flame retardant chemicals in consumer products have contaminated marine mammals and commercially important fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Her research has influenced policy decisions in the US and abroad, including the Maine legislature’s decision to ban the neurotoxic flame retardant decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca), and the subsequent US phase-out of the chemical.

In 2009, Shaw published the first comprehensive review of flame retardant chemicals in marine ecosystems of the American continents. She serves on the International Panel on Chemical Pollution, a select group of scientists urging policymakers to improve management of toxic chemicals.

Shaw is a keynote speaker on the ocean crisis and chemical pollution in the US, Europe, and Asia, and is amplifying the ocean message as Chair of the International Explorers Club’s State of the Oceans Forums. She has recently been nominated to be a Woodrow Wilson visiting fellow.

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: Seaworthy vessel, favorable winds, good friends, marine mammals

Heroes: Rachel Carson for her courage and unflinching honesty, Elisabeth Mann Borgese for her vision of peace in the oceans, and Sylvia Earle for her impassioned leadership as an ocean advocate