The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs (SMEA) is pleased to announce its Winter 2026 Speaker Series, themed “Building a Port for the Future.” This series explores the critical role of ports and marine transportation in supporting the vibrant marine economy of the Pacific Northwest.
The seven-part series brings together regional experts to discuss key issues shaping the maritime sector, including:

Maritime infrastructure and global trade

The port as a civic engine

Safety and security in maritime transportation

Marine energy and decarbonization

Environmental stewardship

Economic impact and community equity

The future of ports

Each session features a presentation followed by a lively Q&A discussion, offering opportunities for engagement and learning across the university and broader community. 

The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs is pleased to announce Rear Admiral Steve Metruck, U.S. Coast Guard (retired), and Executive Director of the Port of Seattle, has joined us as Professor of Practice in addition to his role as Executive Director of the Port of Seattle.
With a distinguished over forty-year career spanning maritime leadership and public service, Metruck brings extensive experience as both a U.S. 

The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Monday, September 29, at 2:30 pm. Please see below for location details:
MAR Room 268  or via Zoom
A copy of the meeting agenda,9-29-25 Faculty Meeting Agenda is provided. Please contact Hailie Borges (hrb25@uw.edu) with any questions or for more information. 

SMEA is proud to share a new paper published in Fisheries Research titled Assessing the social-ecological dimensions of Dungeness crab fishery closures in Southeast Alaska from analysis of public records.
The study was led by SMEA alum Rondi Nordal (Class of 2024), with faculty coauthors Anne Beaudreau and Erendira Aceves-Bueno, in collaboration with NOAA colleagues.
Drawing on more than a decade of public meeting records, the research takes a deep look at how decisions about fishery closures are shaped not only by ecological goals, but also by social, cultural, and subsistence needs. 

A new study co-authored by SMEA Director Dr. Nives Dolšak has been published in PLOS ONE, examining how the nationality of waste-to-energy (WtE) facility operators influences public support for these projects.
The research focuses on Thailand, where WtE projects are gaining attention as a potential solution to both energy and waste management challenges. Through a large-scale survey experiment, the study explores how public perceptions, environmental values, and international partnerships intersect when it comes to sustainable infrastructure. 

Dear SMEA friends!
Greetings from SMEA. We had an exciting spring with presentations of outstanding capstone projects and thesis research, from the sea to the land, from invertebrates, bull kelp, Dungeness crab, fisheries management, aquaculture, container ships, ocean grabbing, to food forest, and salmon habitat restoration. You can watch recordings of these presentations here. We celebrated our graduates’ accomplishments. Including outstanding research and the impact our students make on our communities. 

Professor Ryan Kelly was interviewed for his work with environmental DNA in two publications, NPR and Science.
Scientists want to track the world’s biodiversity using DNA in the air by Ari Daniel.
DNA captured from the air could track wildlife, invasive species–and humans by Warren Cornwall. 

Please join us on Friday, May 16 and 23, as some of our soon-to-be graduates share their theses and capstone work.
Presentations will be followed by a short Q&A.
Join us in person in MAR 168, or over Zoom:
https://washington.zoom.us/j/96145092750?pwd=FuVYbVxI0fbi37CaFV6aaiaOprdbaS.1
Meeting ID: 961 4509 2750
Passcode: 292533
We look forward to having you join us!
We look forward to having you join us! 

A recent paper published in the journal FACETS features seven SMEA authors, titled Excavating the regulatory process and risks posed by Alaska hardrock mine expansions.
Open-access available here!
This paper represents the culmination of a SMEA capstone project! We hope it will be of interest to a broad audience, including NEPA practitioners, applied scientists, and citizens that current or future mining operations may impact. 

Dr. Nives Dolsak’s latest paper entitled “Postmaterialism and Environmental Protection Revisited: Domestic Plastic Bag Regulations, 1992–2019”, just got published online in Global Environmental Politics!
 
Abstract:
The postmaterialism hypothesis suggests that wealthy countries are likely to be early adopters of pollution control regulations. Yet, Global South countries have taken the lead in regulating plastic bags. To explain this puzzle, Dolsak and co-authors examine the influence of plastic waste imports on the onset of domestic plastic bag regulations.