NEWPORT – The Oregon Marine Reserves Program has hired Sarah Klain as its new human dimensions project leader.
Klain is a former Utah State University professor of ecosystem services who began her career on the Oregon coast in 2003 interviewing commercial fishermen before the reserves were established. She will continue the human dimensions work of recently retired Tommy Swearingen. That work involves understanding if and how marine reserves have impacted coastal communities, particularly when it comes to commercial and recreational fishing as well as tourism.
Part of her job will be to maintain and grow the marine reserves program’s collaborations with coastal communities, fishers, conservation groups, academic institutions, and others.
The ocean has been part of Klain’s identity since her childhood on an island off the coast of Maine. She worked on East Coast offshore wind energy issues, sea turtle conservation as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Palau, and marine spatial planning in Oregon and British Columbia
