Sabrina holds a BA in International Political Economy and Spanish Language Literature from Fordham University, and completed her fellowship while pursuing a master's degree in Agriculture, Food, and the Environment from Tufts University. Shen worked with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, Maine on a project that provides climate change adaptation information to fishing communities. Sabrina's project involved synthesizing and contextualizing economic and ecosystem models to create prototypes for community-specific reports on climate change vulnerability and adaptation strategies. Sabrina's main area of focus was analyzing in-depth interviews from four focus ports to identify community-specific barriers and facilitators to adaptation. In addition, Sabrina outlined existing climate change adaptation frameworks and identified how the project's qualitative results could be incorporated into a relevant research paper. Sabrina was impressed by the adaptability and entrepreneurial nature of fishermen and the fishing industry, and perplexed by the complex management system under which they operate. Sabrina hopes to continue a career involved in the development of resilient, regional food systems. The GMRI fellowship was a comprehensive introduction to the role fisheries play in our food system, and a deep dive into the challenges the ocean ecosystem and fishing industry face.
