Expertise
- Community Engagement
- Coastal Hazards (Flooding, Sea Level Rise, Erosions, and Tsunamis)
- Social-Ecological Resilience
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Community-Focused Strategies
- Environmental Education and Outreach
Growing up on the coast of Thailand, Sanpisa developed a deep love for coastal ecosystems. She has dedicated her career to protecting these ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. Trained as a multidisciplinary ecologist, hydrogeologist, climate scientist and environmental educator, Sanpisa has led numerous research and educational outreach efforts to address coastal environmental issues. She is especially passionate about promoting environmental justice to empower underserved and vulnerable communities to thrive. As the community engagement specialist at Washington Sea Grant (WSG) and a core member of Washington multiagency Coastal Hazards Organizational Resilience Team (COHORT), Sanpisa helps coordinate technical assistance and other support for community-led efforts to enhance social-ecological resilience to natural hazards along the Washington coast.
Prior to joining WSG, Sanpisa served as a faculty member at Mahidol University in Thailand, where she led several multiagency grants aimed at assessing climate change risks and providing adaptation strategies to coastal and tribal communities. She was honored with the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) Graduate Fellowship and the New York Sea Grant – NERR Cooperative Fellowship, which supported her doctoral research on long-term anthropogenic and climatic impacts on the Hudson River Estuary. Sanpisa earned her M.A./M.Phil./Ph.D. in earth and environmental science from Columbia University. She also holds dual bachelor’s degree with triple majors in biology, environmental science and hydrogeology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Sanpisa loves spending her free time exploring the great outdoors: hiking, camping, diving, biking, foraging and gardening. Additionally, she holds a second-degree black belt in Kokikai Aikido and has taught various self-defense workshops.
