MESM 2022
Bio
Halley McVeigh graduated from Warren Wilson College in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Halley has always gravitated towards the coast for both her career and many varied pastimes and is driven by the potential that healthy marine systems hold to sustain communities with food, energy, employment, and invaluable ecosystem services. During her undergraduate education, she carried out research in Maine for her thesis on the effect of climate change conditions on larval lobster development. After graduation she began work in the environmental nonprofit sector in North Carolina before transitioning into research and industry environments. She entered the aquaculture field at Virginia Institute for Marine Sciences where she focused on breeding and genetics research of oysters. She then returned to Maine to continue research and fieldwork with commercial shellfish hatcheries and farms. Her experiences focus on improving marine aquaculture methods to increase productivity and resilience of sustainable seafood production in a changing climate. She is interested in developing collaborative solutions that are both restorative for the ecosystem and economically beneficial for coastal communities. Halley plans on pursuing a Coastal Marine Resources Management specialization at Bren and hopes to continue efforts to protect marine environments and resources while developing innovative ventures and resilience-based management.