Annie Fagan
Annie is a marine scientist, educator and mariner living and working on the coast of Maine. After growing up in the midcoast, Annie attended Dartmouth College, where she participated in the Biology Foreign Studies Program in Costa Rica and the Cayman Islands and completed her undergraduate thesis fieldwork in Palo Verde National Park. She graduated with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology in 2015. Annie ran a rustic hiking lodge in the White Mountains before returning to Dartmouth to work for her thesis advisor Kathy Cottingham as a research assistant. She then went on to work for several years with Outward Bound, first teaching outdoor science programming and leadership on Thompson Island (now Cathleen Stone Island) in Boston Harbor and then leading backcountry sailing expeditions in Maine and the Florida Keys with the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School.
After obtaining her United States Coast Guard captain’s license, Annie moved back to Maine full-time. She brought her skills in informal science education and research to the Education team at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Eventually, completing the Aquaculture in Shared Waters program while working seafood retail and customer service helped spark Annie’s passion for aquaculture, which she pursued as a research and development technician and production technician in the shellfish hatchery at Mook Sea Farm.
Most recently, Annie joined Maine Sea Grant in January 2023 as a marine extension associate and the coordinator of the Maine Aquaculture Hub, a collaborative network that strives to situate aquaculture as a diversifying and strengthening industry for coastal economies. In her extension work, Annie pursues various education, outreach and research initiatives to promote sustainable use and development of the region’s marine and coastal resources, with a special focus on sea farming.
Annie began her graduate work in the Leslie lab in the fall of 2024 and is an affiliate with the Ecosystem Science National Research Traineeship. She is pursuing a master’s degree in marine biology. Annie lives in Pemaquid, Maine with her wife Alicia and their dog Hobie.