EDUCATION
PhD, Anthropology, University of Washington (UW), 2011
BA, Biology, Swarthmore College, 1995
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
Principal, Sara Jo Breslow, LLC, Seattle, 2021–present
Research Scientist, UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Seattle, 2020–2024
Social Science and Transdisciplinary Lead, UW EarthLab/Center for Creative Conservation, Seattle, 2015–2020
Postdoctoral Research Associate, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, 2013–2015
Instructor, Antioch University, Seattle, 2013
Mickelson Fellow, Western Governors’ Association, Olympia WA, 2011–2012
Instructor, Teaching Assistant, and Advisor, UW, Seattle, various years 2002-present
RESEARCH & COLLABORATIONS
Translating Qualitative Social Science for Ecosystem Management through the Lens of the Skagit Story, 2022–present
Floodplains by Design: Research and Monitoring Plan/Adaptive Governance Framework, 2020–present
Social Science for the Salish Sea: A Research Agenda to Serve Ecosystem Recovery, 2017–present
Nature and Health Research Alliance/Equity and Racial Justice Task Force, 2017– 2023
Earthgames/Games for Our Future, 2017–2019
Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), 2014–2015
Social Well-being Indicators for Marine Management (SWIMM), 2013–2016
Recreation Management in the American West, 2011–2012
Salmon Habitat Restoration, Farmland Preservation, and Environmental Drama in the Skagit River Valley, 2001–2011
PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTS
For more, see my Publications page.
Pascual, U, P Balvanera, S Díaz, G Pataki, E Roth, M Stenske, RT Watson, et al. (48 authors). 2017. Valuing nature’s contributions to people: the IPBES approach. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 26:7-16.
Breslow, SJ, B Sojka, R Barnea, A Agrawal, X Basurto, C Carothers, S Charnley, S Coulthard, N Dolšak, J Donatuto, C García-Quijano, CC Hicks, A Levine, MB Mascia, K Norman, M Poe, T Satterfield, K St. Martin, and PS Levin. 2016. Conceptualizing and operationalizing human wellbeing for ecosystem assessment and management. Environmental Science and Policy, 66:250-259.
Hicks, CC, A Levine, A Agrawal, X Basurto, SJ Breslow, C Carothers, S Charnley, S Coulthard, N Dolšak, J Donatuto, C García-Quijano, MB Mascia, K Norman, M Poe, T Satterfield, K St. Martin, and PS Levin. 2016. Engage key social concepts for sustainability. Science, 352(6281):38-40.
Breslow 2015. Accounting for neoliberalism: “social drivers” in environmental management. Marine Policy. 61: 420-429.
Breslow, SJ. 2015. When the anthropologist becomes a character: critical reflections on the perils and possibilities of research-based theatre. In Linds, W and E Vettraino, eds. Playing in a House of Mirrors: Applied Theatre as Reflective Practice. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Breslow 2014. Tribal science and farmers’ resistance: a political ecology of salmon habitat restoration in the American Northwest. Anthropological Quarterly, 87(3): 695-726.
Breslow, SJ. 2014. A complex tool for a complex problem: political ecology in the service of ecosystem recovery. Coastal Management. 42: 308–331.
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS
Breslow, SJ, with N Baloy, J Gigot, J Donatuto, M Mark, A Sheikh, and C Thrush. 2024. Engaging the Environmental Humanities for Ecosystem Recovery: Selected Concepts and Recommendations. A thought paper for the Puget Sound Partnership, April 8, Seattle, Washington.
Breslow, SJ, L Kintner, S Dreyer, H Cole, L Anderson, K Biedenweg, N Bennett, J Donatuto, E Hanson, E Norman, M Poe, D Trimbach. 2019. Social Science for the Salish Sea: An action-oriented research agenda to inform ecosystem recovery. A report to the Puget Sound Partnership.
Breslow, S and C McKinnon, eds. 2012. Managing the region’s recreation assets: Get Out West! advisory group report to the Western governors. Western Governors’ Association, Denver.
Breslow, S. 2001. Farmers’ perceptions of salmon habitat restoration measures: loss and contestation. Environmental Protection Agency and Society for Applied Anthropology, Seattle.
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Symposium Organizer
EarthLab Annual Showcase. UW Seattle, 2020.
The Northwest Nature and Health Symposium. UW Seattle, 2017, 2018, 2019.
Session Organizer
Social Science for the Salish Sea: An Interactive Discussion to Build a Research Agenda. Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference, April 26-28, 2022.
Integrating Social Science into Ecosystem-Based Management. Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference, Vancouver, Canada, April 15, 2016.
Invited Keynote Addresses
Complex tools for a complex problem: anthropology and political ecology in the service of ecosystem recovery. STORM Symposium, Woodinville, WA, November 15, 2018.
Collaborative practices at the science-society interface. European Society for Ecological Economics, Budapest, Hungary, June 20, 2017.
Scale matters: salmon habitat restoration and social complexity in the Skagit Valley. Education-Environment-Economy (E3) Washington Regional Summit, Grays Harbor College, Aberdeen, Washington, March 1, 2008.
SERVICE
Member, Social Science Advisory Committee, Puget Sound Partnership, 2011–present
Board Member and Site Host, Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program, 2016–present
MEDIA
“Critically looking at truth: Becoming a transdisciplinary environmental anthropologist,” by Adi Stein. The Daily at the University of Washington. March 15, 2019.
“Public scholar profile: Sara Jo Breslow,” by Amanda Swain. University of Washington Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities. March 28, 2014.
“Of salmon and the stage: UW anthropologist’s research comes to life as a play,” by Nancy Wick. UW Today. April 8, 2010.
Full CV available on request.
Sara Jo Breslow 