[2] She is the founder of the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, hosted at the University of Washington, and dedicated to the study of sential species as early warning systems of natural or human caused environmental change.

Over multiple decades, her career has focused on protecting penguins from oil spills, habitat loss, and road construction plans that would disrupt nesting sites.

[7][8] Her research in Argentina has demonstrated climate-induced change that forced penguins to swim about 25 miles farther each day in search of food, which reduced their chance of survival.

[citation needed] In 1983, Boersma began finding penguins dead on the beaches covered in oil, which caused her and her team to bring the evidence to the attention of the government's and ultimately led to tanker lanes being shifted further offshore.

[11][12] She is the author of Penguins: Natural History and Conservation and Invasive Species in the Pacific Northwest.