Susan Schubel

“Seabird Sue” works with Audubon’s Project Puffin, as a seabird biologist in the summer, and an outreach educator in the winter. She studied Zoology and Art at the University of New Hampshire and launched quickly into fieldwork. Being a seasonal biologist for many years allowed her to travel widely and have many interesting jobs during off times in Maine:  digging up bird bones in Polynesia, sorting through archaeological midden material in Micronesia, studying endangered petrels in Galápagos, restoring a common murre colony in California, and working at the Hog Island Audubon Camp. She has had the chance to help name an extinct subspecies of Abbott’s booby, and has a tiny marine mollusk from Oeno atoll named after her.

Sue’s current work centers on puffins and terns at restored colonies on Maine islands. She is particularly interested in the study of chick diet and survival, which gives important insights into ecosystem health and changes in fish populations. Many of these bird species are holarctic breeders and are impacted by climate change throughout their ranges. In her spare time she builds sound systems for other seabird restoration projects around the world. 

Now settled in Maine, Susan’s latest island obsession is Iceland, which she visits annually despite disapprovingly looks from her pug Pipsi.