Sarah Fangman
Research Coordinator
NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

Born in Minnesota and raised by two Midwesterners that get seasick just looking at a boat, Sarah did not seem destined for a life in and on the ocean. Fortunately for her, the Fangman family escaped to the Caribbean one particularly frigid Minnesota winter and Sarah discovered her passion for the ocean. While studying biology and environmental studies at Middlebury College (in Vermont), Sarah arranged to spend part of her junior year in the Virgin Islands taking courses on coral reef ecology. This experience solidified her desire to make a career of matters marine.

After college, Sarah spent several years conducting fieldwork in the Turks and Caicos Islands (investigating conch and lobster fisheries) and off the coast of North Carolina (studying the biology and behavior of bottlenose dolphin). From there, she traveled to Seattle Washington for graduate studies at the University of Washington's School of Marine Affairs. While in graduate school, Sarah began working for NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, investigating the impact of pinneped (seals and sea lions) predation on salmon populations. After graduating from UW in 1997, she transferred to NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, where she has happily remained.

As Research Coordinator for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Sarah conducts a wide variety of research projects. Some of these include: population studies of Xantus's murrelets, aerial surveys of marine mammals, SCUBA surveys of the kelp forest, and habitat characterization surveys using Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). Sarah also has conducted research using submersibles (Deepworker, Delta and Alvin). She is looking forward to her first saturation experience.