Socrates Fellows Our Projects Environmental Science Sheila Walsh
Sheila Walsh is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in Marine Biology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography where she is working with mentor Nancy Knowlton. Sheila received her B.S. degree in Biological Studies from Stanford University (graduating with honors), and now uses her strong background in ecological studies to better understand how poverty levels in a given population are linked to the viability of that population’s ecological environment.
Her research takes a system-based approach and includes diverse methods, such as ecological surveys, household surveys, and focused research of ecological organisms. Sheila's research is innovative for how it integrates ecology with economic development solutions which is proving important for evaluating conservation policy in developing countries.
In doing so, she has honed her skills in such far-flung locations as the Republic of Kiribati, an island nation in the Central Pacific. “There, for my dissertation,” says Sheila, “I am studying the coupled relationship between the health of coral reefs and island poverty. In order to complete my research, I have worked closely with scientists and managers in Kiribati, and served as a visiting scientist at the island’s Ministry of Fisheries for two months.” Her activities in Kiribati also involved teaching database management and basic statistical concepts and analysis, while communicating the importance of the linkages between the health of the coral reef and the welfare of the people.
As a Socrates Fellow, Sheila (who has also taught environmental education at underprivileged schools in the U.S.) says it is “especially important to me to motivate students to understand science so that they can make informed decisions as aware citizen or choose careers that contribute to solving our global challenges.”
