Molly Jacobs, Ph.D.
As Vice President for Environmental Education and Outreach, Molly works to support and expand Manomet’s education work as a major pillar of its conservation mission across the western hemisphere. She believes that we can only achieve long-lasting conservation success when community members are motivated and empowered as environmental stewards, and that students and teachers make some of the most effective community ambassadors. Molly has a particular interest in outdoor learning at schools, and in how we can build the capacity of schools to help students connect to nature by learning outside.
Molly joined Manomet in 2021 and brings more than 25 years of professional experience as a scientist, educator, and nonprofit leader. Prior to Manomet, she served as chief scientist and Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Project Oceanology, a nonprofit science education organization in Groton, Connecticut. Molly led the education staff there through a significant rebuilding and expansion process, doubling the number of full-time educational staff, expanding the scope and reach of Project Oceanology’s education programs, and building partnerships both locally and nationally.
Molly is a native New Englander who grew up in Maine and New Hampshire and also has family roots on Cape Cod. She graduated from Swarthmore College with highest honors, received her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Washington, and spent a year as a science policy fellow in the United States Congress. She held postdoctoral positions at the University of Connecticut and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where her research focused on metamorphic transitions and life history evolution of marine invertebrates, particularly crustaceans. Before joining the nonprofit world, Molly was an Assistant and then an Associate Professor of Biology at McDaniel College in Maryland.
Why Manomet?
Manomet allows me to bring together my two professional passions – education and science – in the context of a highly effective, mission-driven nonprofit organization. That’s been extremely rewarding, and I’m very proud of the work I’ve been able to do myself here, as well as the work the broader organization does, writ large. Second, the team here at Manomet is dedicated, extraordinarily talented, and deeply committed to our shared mission, and it is a privilege to be part of it.