Sean Anderson (scientist)

Sean Anderson (scientist) is an American conservation biologist, restoration ecologist and professor of Environmental Science and Resource Management at California State University Channel Islands. He was educated at the University of California Santa Barbara, University of California Los Angeles and Stanford University. Anderson embraces education and research alike, he manages projects that are located in the United States and Internationally. He is the director of an Environmental Science and Resource Management Laboratory at California State University Channel Islands, aptly named the "PIRatE Lab", in which he and his undergraduate students research, monitor and restore coastal ecosystems. He is known for his award-winning teaching techniques and multidisciplinary conservation efforts.
Dr. Anderson's projects feature a broad scope, and are often far flung. The projects include: wetland restorations in Turkey and New Orleans, LA, coral reef and sandy beach ecological monitoring in the Cook Islands, and ecotoxicological / socioeconomic impact of major oil spills such as the Deep Water Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Refugio Beach Oil Spill in Santa Barbara, CA.Anderson frequently leverages bleeding edge technologies, such as environmental sensors, open sourced computer hardware / software components, and Remotely Piloted Systems (drones) as tools in conservation and education. This passion for the utilization of technology in field science, and conservation, led to the formation of a new division of Dr. Anderson's Lab, the Aerial and Aquatic Robot Research (AARR) team, a group of multidisciplinary faculty and research students.
The character of Sean Anderson (played by actor Josh Hutcherson) in the Journey to the Center of the Earth franchise, was named after Anderson.