What the Tide Washed In 

We’re always glad to hear about the accomplishments of our graduates. This column is a hit-and-miss collection of things I discover at high tide around my desk, or that are reported to me as found by others or by the individuals themselves. Dear friends, do not be afraid to let me know about the excellent work you are doing – it can inspire others.

Best, Dave Fluharty 

Max Perkins (2024). Affiliate Faculty Member Dr. Katie Arkema congratulated SMEA alum, Max Perkins, on the publication of his first lead author paper, “Exploring the disaster risk reduction and energy resilience benefits of coastal ecosystems and protected areas in Puerto Rico,” published in Ecosystem Services June 2026 Vol. 79:101847) It can be accessed here. Katie Arkema and Jonathan Bakker are co-authors. 

This paper is the culmination of a research project that Max began as an undergraduate intern at Pacific Northwest National Laboratories and completed – with a lot of grit – through his senior thesis and then capstone in the Program on Climate Change Graduate Certificate in Climate Science. He is grateful for the support from SMEA classmates and faculty. 

The paper applies a spatial model to identify where coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses are helping to mitigate coastal hazard risk for nearshore energy infrastructure. The results show the potential for new protected areas to improve electrical grid resilience in coastal communities. By modeling coastal vulnerability under several conservation and degradation scenarios, our replicable approach aims to break down typical silos between energy, disaster, and environment sectors.

Barbara Bennet (2010) visited SMEA recently to meet with Director Dolšak and attended the Departmental Seminar/SMEA 550A Special Topics Course “The Port of the Future”. She has been active post-SMEA, organizing a Whidbey Island Beach Watchers group for Washington State University Extension and serving on the Island County Marine Resource Committee, providing advice to Island County Commissioners on actions to protect the marine environment. She reports, “It’s wonderful to see how the innovative creation of MRCs is directly impacting local marine priorities, and it is my pleasure to be a part of that story.” 

Stacy Hall-Gomez and Eulalie Sullivan (1980) provided enthusiastic and thought-provoking reviews of their careers and gave astute advice to SMEA students in the Special Topics course under the title “Post-SMEA: Can you have it all?” Their participation was well-received by the current SMEA cohorts taking the course, as they face an incredibly uncertain time and a difficult job hunt situation. Alumna Nona Henderson (1981) attended on Zoom.

NOTE: You, too, can participate in the SMEA Speaker Series by Zoom. A list of speakers and topics is available at the start of each quarter on the SMEA website with information on how to attend in person or via Zoom.

Karen Dyson (2009) continued her education in forestry and earned her PhD. She is now employed at the Spatial Informatics Group in Pleasanton, CA. Her recent paper with other authors was published in Methods in Ecology and Evaluation under the title, “A distributed large-volume soil sampling approach to spatial heterogeneity in eDNA collection DOI: 10:1111/2041-210x.70317.

Brett Veehusen (2014) bills himself as a “lifelong Alaskan commercial fisherman, policy expert, strategist, and communicator.” After graduation, he took on the position of Executive Director of Seafood Harvesters of America. In 2017, he founded Ocean Strategies and built the nation’s go-to public affairs firm focused on seafood, fisheries, and marine resources. The firm has served multiple clients across private and non-profit sectors. Brett is also a member of the SMEA Director’s Advisory Council.

Jongseong Ryu (2009) Professor Ryu is a SMEA alumnus from Korea, and wrote with lots of good news. He moved from Anyang University Group to Seo Kyung University in Seoul last year under very favorable conditions. He has now become a well-established, mid-career scientist with substantial influence on Korea’s marine and fisheries policy. He is currently serving as a Korean representative on the PICES Human Dimension Committee and also as the chair of the ocean committee at KFEM, the largest environmental NGO in Korea. During the last presidential election, Prof. Ryu participated in developing policy for the new president. Dr Ryu is coming to Seattle for the UW graduation of his daughter with a degree in data science. His son is accepted as an economics major at Vanderbilt University. His wife is still working as a pharmacist at Walgreens in Renton.