Home Page /images/AAUS/Headers/News_Articles.jpg

Sherry Anne Reed (1959-2019)

Sherry passed away gracefully and peacefully, December 16, 2019. Sherry landed her first marine science job at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., assisting with curating the octopus and mollusk collections. In 1983 Sherry was hired as a Research Assistant to help with the Visiting Scientist Program at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce, Florida (SMSFP). She headed field operations and served as Diving Officer for the Smithsonian Marine Station until her promotion to Station Manager in 2015. Sherry is known to many people for her work with countless scientists who conducted research at SMSFP over her 36-year career at the Smithsonian. She was a dedicated professional, always providing the best field and laboratory research support possible. As SMSFP Dive Officer, she worked for many years on the Smithsonian Diving Control Board and supervised hundreds if not thousands of scientific research dives throughout Florida, Belize and the Caribbean. Sherry was a member of a number of professional organizations. She served on the Board of Directors of both the American Academy of Underwater Sciences and the International Women Divers Hall of Fame (WDHOF), the latter of which she was inducted into in 2002. She has been described by her friends and coworkers as "the sweetest and most hard-working woman" and the "heart of the Smithsonian Marine Station." She will be greatly missed.

The family requests that donations to honor Sherry's memory and legacy may be made to continue the WDHOF "Sherry Reed Undergraduate Marine Conservation/Marine Biology Scholarship". Full obituary can be found here.

Latest News

2024 AAUS OM Renewals

Posted on 2/2/2024

SDLA 2023

Posted on 9/25/2023

Townhall on Standards 2023

Posted on 9/25/2023