Michael S. Connor

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former joint program student Michael S. Connor at his home in Port Townsend, Washington, on June 10, 2025, surrounded by family and friends. He was 73. Michael was a tireless advocate for using science to improve coastal urban water management.

Michael graduated from Stanford University with a BS and received a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the joint WHOI-MIT program in 1980. He then did postdoctoral fellowships with the National Science Foundation and at the Harvard School of Public Health. His unusual combination of marine science and environmental health policy set him on a 40-year career working at the intersection of management and policy at every level, from local to international, and in organizations that ranged from non-profits to local, state, and federal agencies.

In 1982, Michael became a National Estuary Program Coordinator for EPA, where he worked to develop management plans for Long Island Sound, Narragansett Bay, and Buzzards Bay. He followed that with a stint at Battelle Ocean Sciences developing estuarine cleanup programs nationwide. In 1987, he took a position as the first Department Manager of Environmental Quality at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). MWRA was faced with a multibillion-dollar cleanup of Boston Harbor amid widespread concerns that the outfall relocation would damage fisheries and potentially harm right whales. In response, Michael led the development of a $3 million dollar monitoring program designed to track the impact of the project and address public concerns. Michael also played a huge role in helping translate science into policy options for the board. The project met all its goals, and the monitoring program he was instrumental in establishing is still viewed as a model.

In 1998, Michael moved to the New England Aquarium, where he was Vice President of Programs and Exhibits. Under his leadership, the Aquarium increased grant funding and opened four new exhibits. He was proud that he was able to better integrate programs and exhibits from the Aquarium’s various groups, including research, conservation, education, design, and husbandry.

Michael left the East Coast in 2002 to become the Executive Director of the San Francisco Estuaries Institute (SFEI), which aimed to foster the scientific understanding needed to better manage the Bay. SFEI’s financial stability, public visibility, and scientific publication rates all increased under his leadership. After six years, Michael sought the challenge of implementing solutions and became the General Manager for the East Bay Dischargers Authority in 2008. This agency coordinated the wastewater treatment and discharge into San Francisco Bay from nearly a million residents. With growing concern over the eutrophication of the Bay, Michael saw an opportunity to move toward water and nutrient recovery rather than just water treatment and disposal. The agency developed the Oro Loma Horizontal Levee, which captured water and nutrients and helped restore wetlands. Michael later shared a Bay Hero award for this green engineering strategy.

In addition to the work Michael did in the US, he also worked internationally. As a Fulbright specialist, he worked in both Myanmar and Mauritius and also served as an advisor to agencies in Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong.

Michael will be remembered for his analytical approach to problems, his insistence on data, his tenacity in seeking solutions, and his probing questions. He will also be remembered as an excellent mentor, an insightful colleague, and as a caring and witty boss and friend. He loved the environment and was an avid hiker, kayaker and skiing enthusiast. He accomplished a great deal, and he will be greatly missed by friends and colleagues all over the world.

Article prepared for the CEFR Newsletter by Dr. Anne Giblin, Ecosystems Center, MBL -colleague and friend of Mike Connor