Drawing blood from a small blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) as part of work on shark stress physiology, which has many implications for recreational fishery policy.

​Hi, I'm Julia Wester.

I'm an interdisciplinary environmental scientist and educator, researching social-ecological systems.

I am interested in how we teach and communicate about science, how systems work and how to change them, and how to better engage everyone in learning about and protecting our natural world.

I am a lecturer at the University of Miami and the Associate Director of the Ecosystem Science and Policy undergraduate program at the Abess Center. 

I am also co-founder of Field School, an innovative hands-on marine science program operating off a live-aboard Research Vessel in south Florida and the Caribbean, and the director of the Field School Foundation, a non-profit geared toward engaging people in science and conservation, particularly underserved and underrepresented communities.