Profiles of Women Working In STEM
Asha de Vos
Marine Biologist and Ocean Educator
Asha de Vos is a Sri Lankan marine biologist, ocean educator, and pioneer of blue whale research within the northern Indian Ocean. She has degrees from the University of St. Andrews, University of Oxford, and the University of Western Australia, but escaped academia to establish her own Sri Lankan-grown nonprofit, Oceanswell. She also runs “The Sri Lankan Blue Whale Project,” the first long-term study on blue whales in her region. Her work has led to many key research publications and is used to inform policy at the local and global level. De Vos is the first and only Sri Lankan to have a Ph.D. in marine mammal research, the first Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation from Sri Lanka, and the first National Geographic Emerging Explorer from her small island nation. De Vos’s life work is to change the current marine conservation model, protect this unique population of blue whales, and inspire the next generation of ocean heroes from the developing world. ashadevos.com
