Biography

Dr. Sarah Lindley Smith is a Marine Research Associate at the Coastal Institute, providing advanced social science research and technical support for CI’s international coastal and fisheries programs. She joined URI’s Coastal Resources Center in 2022 and continues this work at CI, contributing to sustainable fisheries and coastal management initiatives across the Philippines, Pacific Islands, and Madagascar.

Sarah’s expertise spans fisheries and marine resource management, the human dimensions of coastal governance, gender and social inclusion, and environmental policy. She has served as co-PI of the USAID-funded Our Fish, Our Future program in the Pacific, providing project oversight, monitoring and evaluation, and donor reporting. Her work centers on using social science research methods to understand the needs of coastal communities and resource users, and to design interventions that support sustainable marine resources. At CI, she also leads proposal development and publishes findings in peer-reviewed journals to inform coastal management practice. She brings extensive experience across academic, non-profit, and government sectors studying the interactions between people and marine environments.

Sarah holds a PhD in Marine Affairs from URI, an M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University, and a B.A. in French from Hamilton College. Before returning to URI, she held senior social scientist and management roles at the Environmental Defense Fund and conducted postdoctoral research at Rutgers University. A Coastal Institute Senior Fellow, she also teaches in URI’s Department of Marine Affairs.

For more about Sarah Lindley Smith, see her LinkedIn profile.