• B.S. '08 M.S. '12 PhD '18, Oceanography
• Marine Ecologist, National Park Service
• Website

Monique LaFrance Bartley is a Marine Ecologist in the National Park Service Ocean and Coastal Resources Branch and was previously a Marine Research Specialist at the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island (URI). Dr. LaFrance Bartley received her B.S. at URI, completing a major in marine biology and minors in marine affairs and underwater archeology. She then continued her studies at URI, earning her MS (2012) and PhD (2018) degrees in Oceanography.

LaFrance Bartley has been involved in shallow water mapping studies since 2007. Her primary research interest is benthic habitat mapping from an ecological perspective, e.g., to understand the relationships fauna have with components of their associated geological and physical environment; to investigate spatial and temporal changes to the benthos and their associated causes; and to present her findings in a broad ecosystem context.

LaFrance Bartley participated in the mapping study conducted as part of the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) that helped site the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF), the first offshore wind farm in the United States. She also co-led a multi-year study to assess alterations in benthic biological communities, sediment characteristics, and organic enrichment associated with the construction and operation of the BIWF. She strives to ensure her research has real-world applications and is useful to a broad range of users, including management and regulatory agencies, in addition to the scientific community.