Amy Bower


Amy Bower is an American physical oceanographer. She is known for her research on ocean circulation and for being one of very few blind oceanographers.

Career

Bower is a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She attended Tufts University as an undergraduate and the University of Rhode Island for her PhD.

Research

Bower investigates ocean circulation, including thermohaline circulation, using research floats. She also goes on research cruises to retrieve the floats. Bower's research covers the Arctic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, among other locations.

Disability and Advocacy

Bower is legally blind, having lost much of her sight in the past twenty years to juvenile macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, and still has some light perception. She advocates for improved accessibility tools and equal access to information for blind scientists. She started a partnership with Perkins School for the Blind to allow young blind students to meet blind scientists, such as herself. "If they don’t ever meet a blind scientist, they’re never going to think that they can be one,” she told Tufts Now. Bower uses a service dog for navigation.

Awards