Hey Surfrider Community! I’m Taylor Wood and I’m so excited to be hosted by Surfrider through the Oregon Sea Grant Natural Resource Policy Fellowship. Over the next year, I’ll be working with the Oregon Surfrider team on our Oregon Beaches Forever campaign. This work will involve collaborating with local community members and decision makers to protect the future of Oregon’s public shoreline.
Our treasured public beaches are at risk of disappearing between the coastal squeeze of development, rising sea levels, and erosion. Shoreline armoring has made matters worse and continues to threaten beach sustainability and access. The Oregon Beaches Forever campaign aims to safeguard the future of Oregon’s beaches through improved shoreline management, beach preservation, and coastal adaptation.
I was born and raised in the Midwest before studying Zoology at Oklahoma State University. After graduating, I moved to Lincoln City to work as a naturalist throughout the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. I fell in love with Oregon’s vast, dynamic beaches and have called the central coast home ever since.
This fall I earned my Master’s degree in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University, where I used Cooperative Fisheries Research to monitor harmful algal blooms along the Oregon coast. My goal is to continue working at the intersection of ecological research and marine conservation, while focusing on participatory research and community engagement.
Surfrider’s Oregon Beaches Forever work is especially meaningful to me because I have experienced the cascading impacts of shoreline armoring right here in my neighborhood. I live in Gleneden Beach, which has become a nearly continuous stretch of riprap with shrinking beach access every winter. Increasing erosion threatens the future of this magical stretch of beach that means the world to me. I’m inspired to work with local community members to champion better solutions to protect these beaches we know and love for future generations.
I’m a true beach lover and can’t wait to take this passion into my work with Surfrider with my coastal friends and neighbors. Outside of work, I love to surf, tidepool, forage for mushrooms, and explore the wild Pacific Northwest coast with my husband. On rainy days you might even find me tinkering away on my latest stained glass project.
I’m stoked to be working with Surfrider to protect the beaches where I work, live, and play everyday!
Cheers, surfriders! Let’s keep loving Oregon beaches, now and forever!