Susan H. Brawley

Born: 1951

Country of Birth: USA

Nationality: USA

Ethnicity: White

Wellesley College BA Biological Sciences 1973; UC Berkeley PhD Botany 19789

""About twice per month, I collect a small number of Porphyra blades in the high and mid-intertidal zone at Schoodic Point. But most of my work is in the laboratory. I use the spores of collected algae to grow new Porphyra germlings, and study their cellular structure and DNA to learn more about how Porphyra and other marine algae grow and survive." (nps.gov); "I was interested in plants because they support everything else, and I loved land plants. But then when I went to the sea for the first time, I fell in love with macroalgae, also called seaweeds. From that point on, I did things that would help me eventually have a career studying the algae." (humansandscience.com); "I have helped to develop the kelp industry and I've been trying to develop some red algal crops, but we still need to do more work to develop the red algal aquaculture industry. And there are two red algae that are particularly important. One is called dulce, it's common name, and it's eaten by people who live near a shore all over the North Atlantic. It's delicious. So in Maine there's some wild harvesters and some aquaculture companies are starting to grow it, but it's going to take a while to work out the best techniques for growing. And then the other is Nori, the wrapper around sushi." (humansandscience.com); "

— Susan H. Brawley

Field of Study: Marine Ecology; Botany

Institution/Corporation: University of Maine; Maine Seaweed Council

Degrees & Memberships: Member: American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012), Phycological Society of America, American Society for Cell Biology, American Society of Microbiology, Maine Seaweed Council, Northeast Algal Society, , Japanese Phycological Society, Board Member Council of Scientific Society Presidents (2011), Sigma Xi (1973)

Awards: 2020 Award of Excellence, Phycological Society of America; 2023 Maine Seaweed Council's Seaweed Hall of Fame; 2020 Education Award, Phycological Society of America (with Kyle Capistrant-Fossa); 2014 ADVANCE Career Award, University of Maine Rising Tide Center; 2005 Award for Excellence in Project Achievement, New England Board of Higher Education; 1997 George F. Papenfuss Prize; 1988-89 Career Advancement Award, NSF; 1981-83 Science Scholar of the Bunting Institute, Radcliffe College

Achievements: marine ecologist at the University of Maine known for her research on algae especially algal reproduction; Editor of the Journal of Phycology from 1996 until 2001; has modeled fertilization and the physical transport of gametes from algae; has tracked the movement of invasive species including periwinkles and the toothed wrack seaweed, Fucus serratus, where her research revealed that both originated from Ireland and Scotland and were likely carried in ballast rocks on ships that were moving materials across the Atlantic Ocean; her research on electrical currents measured during the development of wild carrot, a flowering plant, revealed that the chemical indole-3-acetic acid rapidly stopped the current in the plant's cells; led the team examining the genome of the red algae Porphyra and the resulting research revealed how they survive by transporting nutrients, protecting themselves from light, and form cell walls; her research has implications for aquaculture and the new marketing of sea vegetables, including Ascophyllum, as a new cash crop in Maine; was a key member of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources’ Rockweed Fishery Management Project Development Team in 2013;