Megan Davis

People and PhD Student

Megan is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate broadly interested in how we protect and manage marine and coastal spaces. She is pursuing a cross-disciplinary approach to her thesis with the Integrative Biology Department and the School of Public Policy. The social science component of her dissertation aims to understand the values underrepresented coastal community members apply to the coast and ocean to inform the development of culturally and contextually relevant opportunities to engage in ocean conservation. She has also developed a strong science-policy skillset, working at the state level on marine and coastal issues as the 2023 Oregon Sea Grant Legislative Fellow and the recipient of the Ecological Society of America’s Graduate Student Policy Award. Prior to joining OSU, she worked as a researcher at the Ocean Collective, Urban Ocean Lab, Oceana, and The All We Can Save Project. She holds a bachelor’s degree with high honors in Environmental Studies from New York University. In my spare time, you’ll either find me running or making something ~whimsical~ out of yarn.