Jessica Jansujwicz

Maine Sea Grant
Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology
5741 Libby Hall Suite 110 D
Orono, ME 04469
Email Jessica Jansujwicz

Jessica Jansujwicz joined Maine Sea Grant in 2021 and serves as the Assistant Director for Research. In this role, she coordinates the research and fellowship programs and facilitates linkages among researchers, students, resource managers, industry, and community partners to integrate all aspects of Maine Sea Grant’s programmatic efforts across our strategic focus areas.

Jessica also serves as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Conservation Biology and was previously a postdoctoral research fellow with the Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine. With academic training spanning ecology and social science, her work centers on the human dimensions of natural resources, emphasizing community engagement, interdisciplinary research, and transdisciplinary student training. Her earlier research focused on regulatory and community-based approaches to vernal pool conservation, sustainable development of tidal power, and trade-offs in decision-making regarding the future of dams in New England.

Ph.D. (Ecology and Environmental Science), University of Maine, 2011
M.S. (Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation) University of Massachusetts: Amherst, 1996
B.A. (Zoology), Connecticut College, 1993

Selected Publications

Salcido, E, L. Horne, J. Jansujwicz, S. De Urioste-Stone and L. Silka (2025) Enhancing conservation science through transdisciplinary practices: A literature review, Society & Natural Resources, DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2025.2589900 

Shrestha, A., T. Johnson, S. Jain, and J. Jansujwicz. Stormwater management challenges in rural coastal Maine: Identifying place-based solutions by studying current practices. Maine Policy Review 34.2 (2025) : 236 -245, https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol34/iss2/ 29.

Soucy, S. De Urioste- Stone, P. Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran, J. Jansujwicz, K. Eitel, and M. Brownlee. 2024. Involving people in conservation: Perceptions from Maine, USA, Conservation and Society, 22(4): 168-179.

Marafino, G.A. , G.B. Zydlewski, and J.S. Jansujwicz. 2023. Knowledge co-production to improve information uptake: A case study in Downeast Maine. Maine Policy Review 32.2: 129 -136, https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol32/iss2/22.

Soucy, A.R., De Urioste-Stone S., Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran P, Jansujwicz J, Eitel K, Brownlee M. 2023. Finding hope and fulfillment in meaningful work: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of conservation and stewardship practitioners’ experience, values, andmotivations. PLOS Sustain Transform 2(11): e0000087. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000087

Vogel, S., and J. Jansujwicz. 2022. Navigating fish passage decisions during regulatory dam relicensing in Maine. Fisheries Management and Ecology 29: 69-87 https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12513

Jansujwicz, J.S., AJK Calhoun, K.H. Bieluch, B. McGreavy, L. Silka, and C.C. Sponarski. 2021. Localism “reimagined”: Building a robust localist paradigm for overcoming emerging conservation challenges. Environmental Management 67(1): 91-108 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-020-01392-4.

Vogel, S, J.S. Jansujwicz, C.C. Sponarski, and J.D. Zydlewski. 2020. Science in action or science inaction? Evaluating the implementation of “best available science” in hydropower relicensing. Energy Policy (143) 111457.

Roy, S.G., Uchida, E., de Sousa, S. P. *Blachly, B., *Fox, E., Gardner, K., Gold, A., Jansujwicz, J., Klein, S., McGreavy, B., Mo, W., Smith, S.M.C., *Vogler, E., Wilson, K., Zydlewski, J. & Hart, D. 2018. Damming decisions: A multi-scale approach to balance trade-offs among dam infrastructure, river restoration, and cost. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115(47), 12069-12074.

Jansujwicz, J.S. and AJK Calhoun. 2018. Community-based strategies for strengthening science and influencing policy: Vernal pool initiatives in Maine. Maine Policy Review 26 (2): 33-42.

Jansujwicz, J.S. and T.R. Johnson. 2015. Understanding and informing permitting decisions for tidal energy development using an adaptive management framework Estuaries and Coasts. 38(1): 253-265 DOI: 10.1007/s12237-013-9678-0.

Jansujwicz, J.S. and T.R. Johnson. 2015. The Maine Tidal Power Initiative: Transdisciplinary sustainability science research for the responsible development of tidal power Sustainability Science 10:75-86 DOI 10.1007/s11625-014-0263-7.

Johnson, T.R., J.S. Jansujwicz, and G. Zydlewski. 2015. Tidal power development in Maine: Stakeholder identification and perceptions of engagement Estuaries and Coasts 38(1): 266-278 DOI 10.1007/s12237-013-9703-3.

Calhoun, A.J.K., J.S. Jansujwicz, M.L. Hunter, and K.P. Bell.  2014. Improving management of small natural features on private lands by negotiating the science-policy boundary for Maine vernal pools The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences DOI: 10.1073.

Jansujwicz, J.S., A.J. K. Calhoun, J.E. Leahy, and R.J. Lilieholm. 2013. Using mixed methods to develop a frame-based private landowner typology Society & Natural Resources: An International Journal 26(8): 945-961 DOI:10.1080/08941920.2012.729294.

Jansujwicz, J.S., A.J.K. Calhoun, and R.J. Lilieholm. 2013. The Maine Vernal Pool Mapping and Assessment Program: Engaging municipal officials and private landowners in community-based citizen science. Environmental Management 52(6): 1369-1385 DOI 10.1007/s00267-013-0168-8.

Gardner, S.K., J.S. Jansujwicz, K. Hutchins, B. Cline, and V. Levesque. 2013. Socialization to interdisciplinarity: faculty and student perspectives. Higher Education 67(3): 255-271 DOI 10.1007/s10734-013-9648-2.