Valery E. Forbes

Valery E. Forbes is an American ecologist and professor specializing in environmental toxicology. Since the start of the 2022-2023 academic season, she has been the Dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science at Florida Atlantic University. Her research expertise is in ecotoxicology, where she primarily studies effects of environmental stresses on organisms at different levels of biological organization.

Education
As an undergraduate student, Forbes received B. A.'s in Biology and Geology at Binghamton University in 1983. She later attended Stony Brook University, completing her M.S. in Marine Environmental Sciences in 1984, and her PhD in Coastal Oceanography in 1988.

Scientific contributions
Research in the Forbes lab is aimed at improving environmental management through increased understanding of how risks, such as exposure to toxins and temperature change, impact ecosystems. With over 350 peer reviewed publications and a google scholar citation index of 8658, Forbes is an internationally recognized expert in assessing risks to complex ecosystems through population modeling. Her expertise led to her participation of an advisory council formed to advise SETAC-Europe about using mechanistic effect models for ecological risk assessment of chemicals.

Awards and honors

 * Helmholtz International Fellow
 * Fellow of the University of Minnesota Institute of the Environment
 * Member of the Board of Directors, Minnesota Freshwater Society
 * Fulbright Scholar, Odense University, DK

Professional activities

 * Editorial Board, PeerJ, 2017–Present
 * Editorial Board, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2018–Present
 * Editorial Board, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 2005–Present
 * Editorial Board, Marine Environmental Research, 2000–Present
 * Invited Member of the Spinoza Prize Selection Committee, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, 2013–16
 * Editorial Board, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2004-13
 * Director, Centre for Integrated Population Ecology, 2005–09
 * Danish Natural Sciences Research Council Member, 2001–07