Deborah Ann Bronk is an American oceanographer and the president and CEO of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. She leads the nonprofit research institution in

East Boothbay, Maine Boothbay is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,003 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Back Narrows, Dover, East Boothbay, Linekin, Oak Hill, Ocean Point, Spruce Shores, and Trevett. The Boothbay regi ...

in its mission to understand the ocean's microbial engine and to harness the potential of these and other organisms at the base of the

ocean food web Compared to terrestrial environments, marine environments have biomass pyramids which are inverted at the base. In particular, the biomass of consumers (copepods, krill, shrimp, forage fish) is larger than the biomass of primary producers. Thi ...

through research, education, and innovation.

Education and academic career

Bronk earned her doctorate in marine-estuarine and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland in 1992, and completed postdoctoral research at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...

in 1993. She held a professorship at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

between 1994 and 2000, and at the College of William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science between 2000 and 2018. She chaired that university's department of physical sciences for two years until becoming the president and CEO of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in 2018.

Professional career

Before joining Bigelow Laboratory, Bronk was the Moses D. Nunnally Distinguished Professor of Marine Sciences and chair of the Department of Physical Sciences at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

’s Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences. She previously served as division director for the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

’s Division of Ocean Science, as president of the

Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), formerly known as the Limnological Society of America and the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, is a scientific society established in 1936 with the goal of advan ...

, and as chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, which represents over a million scientists in the US. In 2019, she twice testified before Congress on the effect of climate change on the ocean, before the House subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife and the Senate subcommittee on Science, Oceans, Fisheries and Weather. Bronk studies ocean nitrogen cycling and biogeochemistry. Her research interests lie in the ways that nitrogen controls the growth of the microscopic organisms at the base of ocean food webs. She has authored over 90 scientific papers and reviews, and conducted more than 50 research cruises and field studies in freshwater and marine environments that stretch from pole to pole. Her work also extends into the processing of nitrogen within wastewater treatment plants Bronk has also held two positions with the National Science Foundation. Between 2012 and 2013, she was the section head of its ocean science section. From 2013 to 2015, she directed the National Science Foundation's division of ocean science.

Selected awards and elected positions

Between 2008 and 2014, Bronk served as the president of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, and she was named a sustaining fellow of the organization in 2015. In 2018, Bronk received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) is the Commonwealth's coordinating body for higher education. SCHEV was established by the Governor and General Assembly in 1956. Its mission, which is outlined in the Code of Virginia§2 ...

, the state's highest honor for faculty at its public and private colleges and universities. Between 2017 and 2019, she served as chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. Bronk received an Antarctic Service Medal for her research in the region in 1995. In 2021, Bronk was named President-Elect of

The Oceanography Society The Oceanography Society (TOS) is a nonprofit society founded in 1988, based in Rockville, Maryland, U.S. and incorporated in the District of Columbia. It is an oceanographical organization that aims to promote communication among oceanographe ...

. Her two-year term begins in 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronk, Deborah American oceanographers University of Maryland, College Park alumni College of William & Mary faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women chief executives Women oceanographers University of Georgia faculty 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American scientists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American scientists