Sean Anderson (scientist)

Sean Anderson, Ph.D. is an American conservation biologist, restoration ecologist and professor of Environmental Science and Resource Management (ESRM) at California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI). He was educated at the University of California Santa Barbara, University of California Los Angeles and Stanford University.[1] Anderson embraces education and research alike, managing projects from California to Oceania and the Middle East. His aptly named "PIRatE Lab" (an acronym for the Pacific Institute for Restoration Ecology) conducts a wide range of coastal monitoring, ecological restoration, and conservation efforts. He is known for award-winning teaching, innovative approaches to emerging conservation challenges, his ability to pull together interdisciplinary groups with often divergent stakeholders, and his infectious and energetic enthusiasm for nature and science.[2][3][4][5]

Dr. Anderson's projects are often broad in scope and typically grapple with evolving or novel environmental challenges. Examples of his wide-ranging work include: wetland restoration in Turkey[6] and New Orleans,[7] Cook Islands coral reef monitoring,[8] ecotoxicological and socioeconomic impact of major oil spills such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon[9] and 2015 Refugio[10] spills, and quantification of microplastic pollution across the planet.[11] Anderson frequently leverages bleeding edge technologies including novel environmental sensors, modified commercial hardware, and open-source software in various Remotely Piloted Systems (drones and ROVs) that are effective tools for both conservation and education. This passion for technology-infused field science and conservation birthed a new interdisciplinary research group at CSUCI in 2012. Anderson co-directs this Aerial and Aquatic Robot Research (AARR) team which has now grown into a large group of multidisciplinary faculty and students working on various coastal efforts from over the horizon monitoring of Marine Protected Areas to long-term oil seep impacts from wildfires.[12]

The character of Sean Anderson (played by actor Josh Hutcherson) in the Journey to the Center of the Earth franchise, was named after Anderson.[13]

Anderson currently chairs the ESRM Program at CSUCI.[14]