Kelsi Furman is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Marine Social-Ecological Systems based at SERC in Edgewater, Maryland. Kelsi is working with Emmett Duffy on the Marine Dialogues 2 project funded by the Lenfest Ocean Program. This project, titled “Integrating the functional importance of biodiversity in US marine ecosystem management,” examines how resource users, managers, and other experts interact with coastal and marine biodiversity in support of better management. Kelsi and her team are utilizing participatory modeling techniques during stakeholder interviews and workshops to examine tradeoffs of various marine resource management approaches for biodiversity conservation and access for coastal communities. 

Kelsi received both her BS and PhD in Marine and Environmental Sciences from Northeastern University. Prior to her current position, Kelsi was a Postdoctoral Researcher at NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Juneau, AK. Her previous research has focused on the impacts of shoreline alteration to shore-based fishing access, social equity in recreational fisheries management, and the adaptive capacity of subsistence fishing communities to climate stressors.