Bridget Patterson

Fulbright-Global Wales Postgraduate Award

Graduating from Bowdoin College with a Biology major and Oceanography minor, Patterson’s Fulbright will enable her to continue her education with an MSc in Marine Biology from Bangor University. In Wales, Patterson plans to forge connections between researchers and local fisheries to protect essential seagrass meadows, building on the interest in science communication and seagrass ecosystems.  

Passionate about marine ecosystems from a young age, Patterson attended Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, where she was able to engage deeply in place-based learning and field science. This experience encouraged her to attend Bowdoin College, where she investigated eelgrass epifauna’s adaptations to temperature. A year later, she was awarded a National Science Foundation Research experience for Undergraduates to study eelgrass genomics at UC Davis. 

As a capstone to her research, Patterson engaged in an honors project on how the diversity of species’ characteristics within eelgrass communities can help predict eelgrass ecosystem response to disturbance. Patterson has shared her research not only with the scientific community but has also worked with shellfishers and coastal communities to expand the impact of her science. Upon her return to the US, Bridget plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology.