1948-2000

Ellie Dorsey was born in Beverly, USA.  She graduated from Cornell University in 1971, where she studied psychology and linguistics and later obtained her master's degree in marine zoology at the University of Washington in 1976. 

From 1977 to 1988 she was involved in research, at the Long Term Research Institute in Lincoln, on the behaviour of baleen whales, writing or co-authoring 13 scientific papers. During this time she also served as director of the San Juan Islands Minke Whale Project in Friday Harbor, Washington. 

Here, her research focused on cataloguing individual minke whales and studying their behaviour. 

From 1988 to 1998, Ellie worked for the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), in Boston, where she advocated for the protection and restoration of marine resources, with an emphasis on improving management of New England's depleted ground fish stocks. 

In 1998, Ellie moved to Maryland with her husband and two children where she continued to work on marine-related issues as an independent environmental consultant.

CLF Vice President Peter Shelley who worked with Ellie for more than a decade said "Ellie Dorsey was a person wholly without guile. She was respected by fishermen and scientists alike in a world where respect is not earned easily. She always spoke what she believed to be the truth, was willing to stand corrected if she got it wrong, and refused to sweep the hard issues under the rug to be ignored. "

A fund has been established to help young scientists carry on Ellie's work.

 Donations to the Ellie Dorsey Marine Conservation Fund may be sent to:

Ellie Dorsey Marine Conservation
Fund (CGF 137747)
c/o Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
83 Devonshire Street
Boston, MA 02109

Information about the conservation fund can be found here