Experts
Senior Research Scientist
Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS) at Conservation International
Originally from King of Prussia, PA, Sheila McKenna is a senior research scientist of Marine Biodiversity Analysis for Conservation International's (CI) Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS) Threatened Species Program. She has been with CI for six years, having received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Villanova and a doctorate in zoology from the University of Maryland.
McKenna has been fascinated by the ocean from early on. “When I was three years old, my parents took me to the Smithsonian where they happened to have an aquarium full of fish at that time. I stood there mesmerized – my parents couldn’t get me to leave!”
She wasn’t content to be an outside observer. McKenna got her feet wet at a young age, taking up surfing during her summers in Ormond Beach, FL, and learning to scuba dive while on scholarship to study marine biology in the U.S. Virgin Islands during high school. So began her love affair with the submerged world that has spanned more than 20 years.
Through her studies, she learned that marine conservation activities lagged behind terrestrial ones, and that there was a lot of scientific knowledge that was not being applied to conservation. McKenna wants to correct this problem, and her efforts have contributed to some positive progress for the marine conservation realm.
“One of my most satisfying CI projects to date was the marine RAP survey of Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, because it sparked an incredible amount of marine conservation work that continues today.”
McKenna has been fascinated by the ocean from early on. “When I was three years old, my parents took me to the Smithsonian where they happened to have an aquarium full of fish at that time. I stood there mesmerized – my parents couldn’t get me to leave!”
She wasn’t content to be an outside observer. McKenna got her feet wet at a young age, taking up surfing during her summers in Ormond Beach, FL, and learning to scuba dive while on scholarship to study marine biology in the U.S. Virgin Islands during high school. So began her love affair with the submerged world that has spanned more than 20 years.
Through her studies, she learned that marine conservation activities lagged behind terrestrial ones, and that there was a lot of scientific knowledge that was not being applied to conservation. McKenna wants to correct this problem, and her efforts have contributed to some positive progress for the marine conservation realm.
“One of my most satisfying CI projects to date was the marine RAP survey of Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, because it sparked an incredible amount of marine conservation work that continues today.”