Sarah C. Spelsberg

Sarah C. Spelsberg, M.D., FAWM, FEWM, is an Assistant Professor and Senior Associate Consultant in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mayo Clinic Florida. She serves as Director of U.S. Operations for World Extreme Medicine and is Medical Lead for Project NEPTUNE 100.

Dr. Spelsberg earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Doctor of Medicine degree from Saint James School of Medicine. Throughout her career, she has developed expertise in wilderness, expedition, and extreme environment medicine. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM), a Fellow of Extreme and Wilderness Medicine (FEWM), and a Fellow National of The Explorers Club.

Prior to her current academic appointment, Dr. Spelsberg worked extensively in the Emergency Department at the IFHS Clinic in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska, providing care in one of the most remote and challenging practice environments in the United States including the Deadliest Catch Fleet. She has also served on medical teams supporting large-scale expeditions and remote operations, including a three-and-a-half-month deployment in the South Pacific as part of the medical crew for the CBS/SEG Productions television series Survivor.

Dr. Spelsberg has authored several peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and serves as Expedition Medicine Column Editor for Wilderness Medicine Magazine. She is a member of the FAWM Committee of the Wilderness Medical Society and the Wilderness Medicine Committee of the American College of Emergency Physicians. In recognition of her service supporting critical aeromedical evacuations in Alaska, she was named a “Hometown Hero” by the U.S. Coast Guard/U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2020.

Her clinical interests include emergency medicine, wilderness and expedition medicine, sports medicine, orthopedic care, dive medicine, hyperbaric medicine, and tropical medicine. Her research focuses on wound care innovations for austere environments, biometric monitoring in extreme conditions, human performance in challenging environments, and climate-related health issues.