Leanna Heffner

Biological Oceanography
vita

Leanna began her work at Vassar College as an undergraduate studying the effects of nutrient pollution in coastal ecosystems, an environmental issue that she continues to pursue. After college, Leanna continued this research while working at the Boston University Marine Program in the waters of Waquoit Bay, Cape Cod, comparing pristine and heavily polluted areas of the bay. From there Leanna, drawn to explore the west coast, moved to Los Angeles for a position at UCLA to study salt marsh restoration and assess compliance of wetland mitigation in California. These projects gave Leanna a glimpse into the complications and implications of wetland management.

After her two-year hiatus from academic life, Leanna began applying for doctoral programs in marine science at institutions where she could also study coastal issues that integrated policy, management, and science. Leanna was extremely pleased to enter the Ph.D. program at the Graduate School of Oceanography, URI, studying coastal marine ecology under the guidance of Dr. Scott Nixon. She was especially happy to join the CIIP community and train in addressing coastal issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. Through CIIP, Leanna has worked with The Nature Conservancy to help re-prioritize land conservation in order to optimize water quality benefits for downstream coastal ecosystems. In Spring of 2008, she will intern with the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to analyze water quality data from a collaborative project intended to advance the understanding of the Bay's ecology. Leanna has particularly enjoyed CIIP's engaging and fresh approach to bridging communication between and among scientists, managers, policymakers and local communities. In her scientific work, Leanna plans to continue researching coastal ecology and human impacts to coastal systems.

In addition to her professional pursuits, Leanna particularly enjoys traveling, having lived in Switzerland and Chile, and visited Japan, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany, and the Cayman Islands. (Next on her list: Australia and Southeast Asia). Leanna is also an avid pianist, beach-swimmer, political junkie, dancer, out-door enthusiast, bookworm, chef, and film afficianado.