Biography of Sarah Smith

Sarah Smith
Rhode Island Sea Grant Fisheries Extension Specialist

Sarah Smith is a coastal management extension specialist with Rhode Island Sea Grant and the URI Coastal Resources Center (CRC). Smith has been working with Sea Grant/CRC since 2009 and is currently working to grow Sea Grant’s Safe and Sustainable Seafood Supply program in her role as Fisheries Extension Specialist. She is also facilitating the National Oceans Partnership Program project developing environmental protocols and modeling tools to support ocean renewable energy and stewardship, as well as serving as the topic lead for developing protocols for monitoring fish and fishing activities as part of this project. During her time as a graduate student, prior to joining Sea Grant/CRC, Sarah worked as a research assistant for the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Social Sciences Branch profiling and researching fishing communities, and as a graduate research assistant for URI evaluating the success of marine protected areas in the Caribbean collecting and analyzing biological and social data. In the spring of 2011 she received her Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island in Marine Affairs. Her Ph.D. research, funded by an NSF grant, evaluated stakeholder participation in the cooperative management of marine protected areas in the Caribbean. She holds an M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University, and a B.A. in French from Hamilton College.