Anne Shaffer Shares Her Water Story

Anne Shaffer is the Executive Director & Lead Scientist of the Coastal Watershed Institute.

I was raised in a large family in a small town in eastern Washington ravaged by PTSD of post WWII. Wild lands, including rivers creeks and shorelines of the Pacific Northwest were a continued place of refuge and healing that led to my lifelong dedication to understand and conserve them. The solitude of wild intact remote coastal shorelines of northwest Washington provide rare moments of peace and healing.

After my first round of graduate school, my husband Dave Parks and I moved back to the Olympic Peninsula where we raised our two children. I returned to school to earn a PhD in Marine Science from the University of Victoria in 2017. As a family we continue to thrive in our dedication to fight for what matters. Looking forward my focus is to instill a passion in the next generation to do the same.

No surprise, that nearshore coastal of the NE Pacific are foundational for me-they have been my whole life. They are literally the connective tissue that link riverine and marine zones. They provide refuge, rest, reproduction, growth, and transition for all our keystone species.