Sue’s postgraduate training in marine ecology at the University of Cape Town, employment at the Sea Fisheries Research Institute and freelance work over two decades has given her a comprehensive knowledge of the marine and coastal environment and its management issues.

She was awarded her MSc degree with distinction in June 1991 for her thesis on nitrogen dynamics in planktonic food webs, and later worked on harmful algal blooms that cause ‘red tides’.

Freelance work for DEA’s Integrated Coastal Management section included editing and supplementing a technical manual on coastal management, compiling the section’s first website, and writing more than 35 factsheets for the Coastcare file.

Over the years she has also edited various reports and theses on marine and coastal topics, written articles for popular and trade magazines, and compiled brochures and booklets for the Dept. Fisheries and the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) Programme.