Heidi J. Auman, Ph.D. | Board Member
Heidi has been passionate about Midway since she first set foot there May 1993 as a M.Sc. candidate studying plastics ingestion and toxicology in Laysan and black-footed albatrosses. After graduating, she continued there another year as a biologist for the same EPA-funded study. After this, she volunteered for the USFWS on Midway. She then had concurrent jobs as a monk seal biologist for Hawaii Wildlife Fund and an expedition leader for Oceanic Society. She even did a short stint as the flight attendant on the Gulfstream bringing tourists in! Wishing to stay on Midway, she accepted jobs working for Midway Phoenix Corporation in hospitality and later as the Academic Programs Manager. Heidi finally left in 2000 but was fortunate to return in 2007 to volunteer five weeks as part of the FOMA “Pulling Together Initiative”. Heidi wrote Garbage Guts, a children’s book about plastic debris impacts that engages and inspires young environmentalists. As an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Heidi continues to supervise postgraduates on marine debris in seabirds, on other isolated islands, and even in Antarctic sea ice. Heidi joined the FOMA board in 2020.