Professor Wainright has been at USCGA in the Marine Science Section of the Department of Science for 11 years. He teaches courses in the Marine and Environmental Sciences major. Previously, he was member of the faculty in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, where he was active in both research and teaching. His post-doctoral research training included two years at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts; one year at Boston University, and one year at the University of Georgia. He is author of over 35 peer-reviewed publications, is an active member of three professional societies, and hosted a meeting of 200 professional scientists at the USCGA in 2006. Through his ongoing collaborative research program with the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Univ. of Rhode Island, he provides opportunities for cadet research in his laboratory. Other activities include bird watching, faculty union, faculty advisor to the Sustainability Club, and organizer of cadet musical events. 

• Ph.D., in Zoology, University of Georgia, 1988
• M.S., in Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 1983
• B.A., in Biology, Lycoming College, 1976

• Marine Biology
• Biological/Chemical Oceanography

• Wozniak, A.S., Roman, C.T., Wainright, S.C., McKinney, R.A., James-Pirri, M.-J. 2006. Monitoring food web changes in tide-restored salt marshes: a carbon isotope approach. Estuaries and Coasts 29: 568-578.
• Witting, D.A., Bosley, K.L., Chambers, R.C., Wainright, S.C. Experimental evaluation of ontogenetic diet transitions in summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, using stable isotopes as diet tracers. Submitted to: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 61: 2069-2084.
• J.M. Patt, S.C. Wainright, J. Dietrick, G.C. Hamilton, K. Bosley, D. Whittinghill and J.H. Lashomb. 2003. Assimilation of carbon and nitrogen in nutrients derived from flowers and prey insects by the larvae of the green lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea. Ecological Entomology 28: 717-728.
• Tsutsumi H., Wainright S., Montani S., Saga M., Ichihara S., Kogure K. (2001) Exploitation of a chemosynthetic food resource by a polychaete, Capitella sp. I. Marine Ecology Progress Series 216:119-127.
• Wainright, S.C.,Weinstein, M.P., Able, K.W., and Currin, C.A. 2000. Relative Importance of Benthic Microalgae, Phytoplankton and the Detritus of Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina) and the Common Reed (Phragmites) to Brackish Marsh Food Webs. Marine Ecology Progress Series 200: 77-91.
• Wainright, S.C., Haney, J.C., Kerr, C., Golovkin, A.N., and M.V. Flint. 1998. Utilization of nitrogen derived from seabird guano by terrestrial and marine plants at St. Paul, Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea, Alaska. Marine Biology 131: 63-71.
• Wainright, S.C., C.M. Fuller, R.H. Michener, and R.A. Richards. 1996. Spatial variation of growth rate and trophic position of juvenile striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in the Delaware River. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53: 685-692.
• Wainright, S.C., M. Fogarty, R. Greenfield, and B. Fry. 1993. Long-term changes in the Georges Bank Food Web: trends in stable isotopic compositions of fish scales. Marine Biology 115: 481-493.
• Wainright, S.C. 1987. Stimulation of heterotrophic microplankton production by resuspended marine sediments. Science 238: 1710-1712.
• Wainright, S.C. and T.H. Perkins. 1982. Gymnodorvillea floridana, a new genus and species of Dorvilleidae (Polychaeta) from southeastern Florida. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 95(4): 694-701.

• Estuarine Research Federation
• New England Estuarine Research Society
• American Association for the Advancement of Science