Sarah Risley

Sarah is a Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Kathy Mills' Integrated Systems Ecology Lab, joining the team in summer 2026. Her research focuses on supporting coastal communities as they adapt to climate change by integrating ecological and social science approaches to better understand climate impacts, adaptation, and decision-making in marine fisheries and coastal communities.

Trained as both a marine social scientist and an ecologist, Sarah uses transdisciplinary and community-engaged research to weave together diverse forms of knowledge in collaboration with fishermen, aquaculture farmers, resource managers, municipal leaders, and other coastal partners. Her work has explored community values, perceptions of social-ecological change, and pathways for climate adaptation in fisheries and aquaculture. At GMRI, she studies how climate adaptation is unfolding across the Gulf of Maine and beyond, with the goal of producing actionable science that supports more just and resilient coastal futures.

Sarah earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies, with a minor in Creative Writing, from Skidmore College in 2013. After working in food systems and food justice world, she moved to Maine in 2017, got bitten by the marine science bug, and joined Dr. Joshua Stoll's lab at the University of Maine as a Research Associate. She went on to earn dual master's degrees in Marine Biology and Marine Policy in 2022, advised by Dr. Stoll and Dr. Heather Leslie, and completed her Ph.D. in the UMaine Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program in 2026 under the guidance of Dr. Leslie.

Outside of work, Sarah enjoys reading fiction, playing music, sewing and knitting, and exploring Maine's forests and waterways by canoe.