She is a marine and coastal geography expert

Dawn Wright, an Oregon State University professor of geography and oceanography, has been named Oregon Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

An OSU faculty member since 1995, Wright is a marine and coastal geography expert so passionate about her subject that she’s known as “Deepsea Dawn.” Her Web site is dusk.geo.orst.edu.

Wright is one of 40 faculty named professors of the year in individual states and the District of Columbia.

“Professor Wright exemplifies the very best in undergraduate teaching,” said OSU President Ed Ray in his nomination of Wright for the honor. “That’s because the pioneering science she brings to each of her courses is made personal and accessible by the genuine caring she conveys to each of her students.”

Undergraduate students are often mesmerized by Wright’s tales from 25 scientific voyages across the planet, including descents to the deep sea floor in submersibles, according to her nomination.

“When you go down in a submersible, it feels very much like being an astronaut,” Wright said earlier this year. “You’re going through this alien world, but it’s inner space instead of outer space. It has that wild, exploratory feeling.”

Wright often speaks to younger students, especially girls and underserved students aspiring to science careers. She is featured on a Web site about “Women Exploring the Oceans” (www.womenoceanographers.org/) and was profiled in the book “What Do You Want To Be? Explore Earth Sciences.”