For the past two decades, Shaw has conducted pioneering research documenting the effects of hundreds of man-made chemicals in the ocean environment. She is credited as the first scientist to show that flame retardant chemicals used in consumer products have contaminated marine mammals and commercially important fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Her research has influenced policy decisions in the US and abroad, including the Maine legislature’s decision to ban the neurotoxic flame retardant Deca, and the subsequent US phase-out of the chemical.

An outspoken and influential voice on ocean pollution, Shaw dove in the Gulf of Mexico oil slick in May 2010 and subsequently launched an independent investigation on the effects of oil and chemical dispersants in the food web. The author of a scientists’ consensus statement on dispersants, Shaw has helped shape the national debate on the hazards of chemical dispersants used in the Gulf. She serves on the Strategic Sciences Working Group (SSWG), the U.S. Department of Interior’s team of 14 scientists charged with developing a science-based assessment of the oil spill and recommending policy actions to lessen stress and accelerate recovery in the region. The SSWG is the only official task force linking the spill to consequences, including the long-term health impacts of oil and dispersants on marine life and people.

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