Susan Brawley, professor of plant biology and cooperating professor of biological sciences in the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences, received the 2020 Award of Excellence from the Phycological Society of America. The society promotes research and teaching in all fields of phycology, the study of algae.
The PSA Award of Excellence recognizes Brawley’s research, which integrates cell biology, algal ecology, and genomics to advance understanding of macroalgal reproduction and development. Her work at the University of Maine has supported development of Maine’s growing aquaculture industry.
“The PSA Awards of Excellence that have been made previously are to researchers in our wide field, from all over the world,” Professor Brawley said. “I grew up admiring these people and their work so much, and to be honored in the same way by my professional peers is more than exciting to me.”
Dr. Brawley joined the faculty at the University of Maine in 1991 after teaching at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. In 2012, she was inducted as a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Brawley is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she majored in biological sciences. She earned a Ph.D. in botany from the University of California, Berkeley.