Stephanie Sharuga

Dr. Stephanie Sharuga is an interdisciplinary scientist who works for the Federal government Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which manages U.S. offshore energy and mineral resources. She grew up on a farm in Canada and fell in love with the ocean during childhood trips to the coast. Stephanie received a Ph.D. in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences from Louisiana State University, where she studied deep-sea faunal communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. She also holds an M.B.A. from University of California Davis, a M.S. in Environmental Management and Sustainability from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Biology and Earth Sciences from the University of Victoria in Canada. Dr. Sharuga has had diverse environmental and sustainability roles working in government, industry, and academia and is a former fellow of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Over the years, she has worked with Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Louisiana State University, BP, International Ocean Drilling Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Her roles have involved participating in coastal and oceanic research taking place all over the world. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys gardening, reading, fashion, collecting rocks/minerals, swimming, scuba diving, and doing STEM education and outreach.