Janet Duffy-Anderson, Ph.D.

Dr. Janet Duffy-Anderson is the Chief Scientific Officer at GMRI and she oversees the Science and Research Division. In her role, Janet leads the science needed to advance GMRI’s mission focusing organizational research effort on the challenges of climate and ocean change, maintaining healthy ecosystems, supporting sustainable fisheries and seafood, and advancing a thriving blue economy. Janet serves as a member of the Executive Team, working to advance the strategic vision, goals, initiatives, and impact of GMRI in the Gulf of Maine region and beyond. She oversees a robust scientific enterprise working to advance understanding of physical oceanographic processes, coastal dynamics, biological oceanography, fisheries, data sciences, marine ecosystem dynamics, marine and fisheries economics, and ocean policy in the Gulf of Maine and beyond.

Before joining GMRI, Janet served at the US Department of Commerce, NOAA Fisheries at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, WA. There she was the Program Director for the Recruitment Processes Program and the co-Lead for the NOAA’s Ecosystem and Fisheries Oceanography and Coordinated Investigations Program. In her role she worked to improve the understanding of the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, and U.S. Arctic and apply that understanding to the management of living marine resources. During her career, Janet has served on numerous national and international committees and boards, including US Fishery Management Councils, IOOS, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Math, Gulf of Maine Council, and various bilateral committees working on oceans, fisheries, and management.

Janet has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Dept. of Commerce Administrator’s Award for Service to the Nation, the PICES Ocean Monitoring Award for Observational Science Excellence, and Dept. of Commerce Bronze and Gold Medals for Scientific Achievement and Excellence.

Janet received her BS at Lafayette College (1990), her PhD at the University of Delaware, College of the Earth, Ocean, and Environment (1996), and conducted postdoctoral work at Rutgers University and the University of Washington. She has extensive experience in marine science including expertise in fisheries recruitment, fisheries oceanography, climate-ecosystem interactions, population connectivity, and fish early life history dynamics. For over two decades, Janet has worked to develop mechanistic approaches to understanding how ocean processes mediate fisheries population variability, trophic shifts, and ecosystem change. She applies that understanding to the sustainable management of fisheries and ecosystems. She has authored over 100 scientific book chapters, papers, and reviews, and conducted more than 80 research cruises and field studies in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Arctic Ocean.