Magdalena Gutowska-Romano
Adjunct Professor
- Office
- McGowan 212 (The Center for the Blue Economy)
- Tel
- (831) 647-6615
- mgutowskaromano@middlebury.edu
Dr. Magdalena Gutowska-Romano is a marine scientist with more than ten years of experience working in climate change research. Magdalena has contributed to projects that investigated the biological impacts of anthropogenic changes across diverse marine ecosystems. These include ocean acidification as well as warming and eutrophication, in programs organized by the Future Ocean German excellence initiative, as well as the German research network BIOACID and European Project on Ocean Acidification. Through her collaborations with international teams on emerging ocean challenges, she saw the critical importance of translating climate science to broader audiences. Her professional commitment to contribute to science-based environmental policy most recently brought her to serve in the Environmental Quality Committee of the California Senate as a California Council on Science and Technology Fellow. There she applied her technical background to analyze and amend environmental bills and helped develop strategic plans to advance California’s long-term climate policy goals.
Areas of Interest
Dr. Gutowska-Romano believes that an interdisciplinary understanding of marine systems is essential for identifying useful climate change indicators and making relevant policy recommendations. In her class she uses a ‘genes to ecosystem function and services’ approach to teach the physiological, ecological, and management processes that are all inherent components of ocean sustainability goals. She is convinced that coastal communities have the opportunity to be leaders in climate adaptation if effective communication takes place between marine scientists and collaborative networks of local governments and partners.
Programs
Academic Degrees
Ph.D. Integrative Biology in Marine Systems, 2004 - 2009 (magnum cum laude), University of Bremen, Germany, Affiliated with the Helmholtz Federal Research Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, 1999 - 2003, The Evergreen State College, WA - Emphasis in Environmental Sciences and Biology