Terrie Klinger, Ph.D.

Director and Professor, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

Stan and Alta Barer Professor of Sustainability Science in Honor of Dr. Edward L. Miles

Adjunct Professor, School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences

Research areas

Terrie Klinger is the Director of the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, Co-Director of the Washington Ocean Acidification Center, and holds the Stan and Alta Barer Endowed Professorship in Sustainability Science in Honor of Dr. Edward L. Miles. She is a marine ecologist focused on applying ecological theory to practical management solutions. She studies ecosystem-based approaches to managing natural resources in the ocean, the ecological effects of environmental stressors, such as ocean acidification and habitat loss, and how rocky intertidal communities respond to and recover from disturbance. She is the principal investigator on a National Science Foundation IGERT award– shorthand for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship – focusing on how oceans are changing worldwide and what that means to the human communities connected to them. The Pacific Northwest is her primary study area, including the Puget Sound, the San Juan Archipelago, and the outer coast of Washington, and she maintains a time-series of ecological data at a site in the Gulf of Alaska.  She has been recognized for her combination of marine science and public engagement with the UW’s Outstanding Service Award. She was named Naturalist of the Year by the Western Society of Naturalists and recently was honored with the Seattle Aquarium’s Conservation Research Award. Dr. Klinger received her Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Dr. Klinger teaches:

  • SMEA 500: Introduction to the Human Dimensions of Global Change in the Marine Environment
  • SMEA 510: Topics in Marine Ecology
  • SMEA 550: Marine Social-Ecological Systems
  • SMEA 550: Marine Affairs issues in Puget Sound (Field Course)
  • SMEA 591: Marine Science in the Coastal Zone

Selected publications

2017      Klinger T, Chornesky EA, Whiteman EA, Chan F, Largier JL, Wakefield WW. Using integrated, ecosystem-level management to address intensifying ocean acidification and hypoxia in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. Elementa, in press.

2016      Hillier A, Kelly RP, Klinger T. Narrative Style Influences Citation Frequency in Climate Change Science. PLOS One 11(12): e0167983.

2016      Sunday JM, Fabricius KE, Kroeker KJ, Anderson KM, Brown NE, Barry JP, Connell SD, Dupont S, Gaylord B, Hall-Spencer JM, Klinger T, Milazzo M, Munday PL, Russell BD, Sanford E, Thiyagarajan V, Vaughan MLH, Widdicombe S, Harley CDG. Ocean acidification can mediate biodiversity shifts by changing biogenic habitat. Nature Climate Change doi:10.1038/nclimate3161

2016      Massaua MJ, Thomas CW, Klinger T. The Use of Science in Collaborative Management of Marine Environments. Coastal Management 44: 1-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08920753.2016.1233797

2016      Klinger T, Newton J. Ocean Acidification as a Problem in Systems Thinking. Washington J Env Law and Policy 6: 207-211

2015      Somero GN, Beers JM, Chan F, Hill T, Klinger T, Litvin S. What Changes in the Carbonate System, Oxygen, and Temperature Portend for the Northeastern Pacific Ocean: A Physiological Perspective BioScience doi:10.1093/biosci/biv162

2015      Reum J, Ferriss BE, McDonald PS, Farrell DM, Harvey CJ, Klinger T, Levin PS. Evaluating community impacts of ocean acidification using qualitative network models. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 536: 11–24 doi: 10.3354/meps11417

2015      Klinger, T. The role of seaweeds in the modern ocean. Perspectives in Phycology 2: 31-39

2015      Gaylord B., Kroeker, KJ, Sunday JM, Anderson KM, Barry JP, Brown NE, Connell SD, Dupont S, Fabricius K, Hall-Spencer JM, Klinger T, Milazzo M, Munday PL, Russell B, Sanford E, Schreiber SJ, Thiyagarajan V, Vaughan M, Widdicombe S, Harley CDG. 2015. Ocean Acidification through the Lens of Ecological Theory. Ecology 96:3–15

2013      Wigand L, Klinger T, Logsdon M. Patterns in Groundfish Abundance along the Eastern Bering Sea Outer Continental Margin. ICES Journal of Marine Science 70: 1181-1197. doi: 10.1093/icesjms/fst054

2010      Hofmann G, Barry JP, Edmunds PJ, Gates RD, Hutchins DA, Klinger T, Sewell MA. Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Polar, Temperate and Tropical Calcifying Organisms. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 41:127-147