Alumna Melissa Luna graduated from the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs in 2014 and is now a Social and Environmental Impact Officer at Playa Viva Sustainable Boutique Hotel in Mexico. We had a chance to catch up with Melissa and hear about her job, her time at SMEA, and advice she has for current SMEA students.
Can you give us a brief description of what you do for Playa Viva Sustainable Boutique Hotel? 

Congratulations to SMEA alumna, Natalie Lowell, for being selected as one of the 2018 Husky 100! Each year, the Husky 100 recognizes 100 UW undergraduate and graduate students from Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma in all areas of study who are making the most of their time at the UW.
See Natalie and fellow students honored with the Husky 100 award https://www.washington.edu/husky100/ 

Alumna Natalie Lowell graduated from the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs in 2015 and is now a PhD student in the School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington. We had a chance to catch up with Natalie recently and hear about what she’s studying, her time at SMEA, and advice she has for current SMEA students. 

Congratulations to SMEA alum Chris Hart, whose SMEA Master’s thesis “Will the California Current lose its nesting Tufted Puffins?” was recently published in PeerJ. Hart worked in collaboration with Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to ask about the population trends of an iconic species that’s under consideration for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing, the Tufted Puffin. Hart’s work could influence the U.S. 

2017 SMEA graduate, Tim Lee, whose SMEA thesis entitled, “Quantifying the effectiveness of shoreline armoring removal on coastal biota of Puget Sound“, was recently published in PeerJ. Lee did a meta-analysis of data from School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS) research scientists Jason Toft and Jeff Cordell to show that removing shoreline armoring in Puget Sound is an effective restoration technique. 

Congratulations to SMEA alum’s Mike Tillotson and Jimmy Krajl, Professor Ryan Kelly, and co-authors on their recently published paper “Concentrations of environmental DNA (eDNA) reflect spawning salmon abundance at fine spatial and temporal scales.” The paper, published in Biological Conservation, was spearheaded by Tillotson and refers to water sampling data from a small stream in Alaska to look at the rise and fall of sockeye salmon DNA over a spawning run. 

Alumna Sarah Nayani graduated from the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs in 2015 and is now a Director of Compliance with Arctic Storm Management Group, LLC. We had a chance to catch up with Sarah recently and hear about her job, her time at SMEA, and advice she has for current SMEA students.
Can you give us a brief description of what you do for Arctic Storm Management Group, LLC? 

Maggie Allen graduated from the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs in 2016 and is now with NOAA Education in Washington D.C. as a Sea Grant Knauss Fellow. We had a chance to catch up with Maggie recently and hear about her time at SMEA and advice she has for current SMEA students.
Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs? 

SMEA Professor Ryan Kelly and SMEA alumna Natalie Lowell, along with co-authors from the UW School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences recently wrote an article featured in The Conversation. The article titled “Want to change federal policies? Here’s how” discusses how the federal public comment process can be an effective way for those armed with facts, such as scientists, professionals and knowledgeable citizens to shape policy and ensure that policy is based on the best available evidence, vetting the science behind regulations. 

Congratulations to recent SMEA grads and students Sara Brostrom, Haley Kennard and Marisa Nixon who were all awarded Marc Hershman Marine Policy Fellowships! Hershman fellows are teamed with mentors in state government or an NGO host office in Olympia, Tacoma or Seattle, working on ocean and coastal science and management issues for one year. This year’s host offices are The Nature Conservancy, Makah Office of Tribal Affairs and Washington State Departments of Ecology and Health.