P. Dee Boersma, also known as Dee Boersma (born 1946) is a

conservation biologist Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...

and professor at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, where she is Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science. Dr. Boersma's area of work focuses on seabirds, specifically

Magellanic penguin The Magellanic penguin (''Spheniscus magellanicus'') is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Patagonia, including Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil and Uruguay, where they are occasionally seen as ...

s. She has directed the Magellanic Penguin Project at Punta Tombo, Argentina since 1982. She is the founder of the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, hosted at the University of Washington, and dedicated to the study of sential species as early warning systems of natural or human caused environmental change.

Early life and education

She grew up in Michigan. She graduated from

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

in 1969 and later completed her Ph.D. in Zoology from Ohio State

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1974. Her dissertation was on

Galapagos penguin The Galápagos penguin (''Spheniscus mendiculus'') is a penguin endemic to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. It is the only penguin found north of the equator. Most inhabit Fernandina Island and the west coast of Isabela Island. The cool wate ...

s and titled "The Galapagos Penguin: A Study of Adaptations for Life in an Unpredictable Environment."

Career

Boersma began teaching at the University of Washington in 1974. Over multiple decades, her career has focused on protecting penguins from oil spills, habitat loss, and road construction plans that would disrupt nesting sites. Boersma and a team of researchers banded more than 44,300 Magellanic penguin chicks at

Punta Tombo Punta Tombo is a peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean south of Trelew in Chubut Province, Argentina, where there is a large colony of Magellanic penguins - the largest such colony in Argentina. It is a short distance north of Camarones. Natural ...

from 1983 to 2010, finding 3,296 of those chicks made it back to the breeding colony where they were born. Overall, they found that fewer female penguins survived''.'' Her research in Argentina has demonstrated climate-induced change that forced penguins to swim about 25 miles farther each day in search of food, which reduced their chance of survival. In 1983, she began finding penguins dead on the beaches covered in oil, which caused her and her team to bring the evidence to the attention of the government's and ultimately led to tanker lanes being shifted further offshore. This shift protected the penguins from the effects of commercial petroleum dumping in the ocean. She has received multiple awards for teaching and her contributions to science, including a Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology in 2006 and the 15th Heinz Environmental Award. She is the author of ''Penguins: Natural History and Conservation'' and ''Invasive Species in the Pacific Northwest''.

References

External links

Center for Ecosystem Sentinels
(Boersma's penguin project) *

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boersma, P. Dee 1946 births Living people American conservationists University of Washington faculty People from Mount Pleasant, Michigan Central Michigan University alumni Ohio State University Graduate School alumni Conservation biologists