Ellen Spooner

Kayaking along the shores of Mexico and encountering dolphins, Ellen’s passion for the ocean began. A 2016 Knauss Marine Policy Fellow with NOAA Fisheries and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Ellen focused on marine science education and communication. Her most recent field experience took her scuba diving in the second largest barrier reef in the world, found in Belize. There she encountered sharks, sting rays and surveyed the health of the reef. She received her Master’s in fisheries at the University of Michigan studying the diet of muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) in part of the Great Lakes. She received her Bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona, while educating youth about the marine life only a few miles south in Baja California, Mexico. She continues to pursue her passion for educating the public about the importance of the ocean today.