Sharry Miller joined Nuka Research as a Senior Project Manager in 2019 after working for nine years with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation in Valdez. During her time with ADEC, Sharry focused on crude oil tanker discharge prevention and contingency planning in Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet. She also worked with non-crude and non-tank vessel contingency plans. She was responsible for reviewing contingency plans, planning and evaluating oil spill response exercises, making decisions about loading tankers in Valdez under adverse weather conditions, and many other activities. She led and participated in numerous multi-agency and industry work groups striving to improve contingency planning in Prince William Sound. When possible, Sharry also was involved with issues surrounding Arctic shipping, innocent passage, and Alaska/Canada trans-boundary shipping issues. On behalf of ADEC, Sharry wrote and presented a paper on oil skimmer recovery and efficiency rating to the 2014 International Oil Spill Conference.
In addition to her work with ADEC, Sharry has experience conducting environmental evaluations of defunct Air Force sites around Alaska. She is a certified instructor of 24- and 40-hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, and provides instruction to marine and other responders. She also occasionally teaches environmental science and biology.
Sharry holds an M.S. in Environmental Science from Alaska Pacific University and a B.S. Biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She works for Nuka Research from her home in Valdez, Alaska, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and dog. In her spare time, Sharry bicycles, hikes, skis, snowshoes, reads, and travels as much as possible. She uses all of her varied activities as inspiration for her fused glass artwork. Her artwork is displayed in several public Valdez venues and is in numerous private collections.