Thank you for all who participated in this year’s #HuskyGivingDay. Your gift to the McKernan Fund helps SMEA continue training the next generation of interdisciplinary scholars. When the community giving platform closed  April 7th, SMEA had the highest donation amount in the College of the Environment and we tied for first place with the Atmospheric Sciences in terms of the number of gifts! 

Affiliate SMEA faculty member, Eric Laschever, in collaboration with Associate Professor Ryan Kelly, Michelle Hoge, and Kai Lee, recently published an article in the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, which provides a legal analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) under existing U.S. federal statutes. The work was presented on April 4th at the New York Associated Journal Symposium. A copy of the journal article is available for review here. 

Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs?
I got my B.S. in environmental science so majority of my classes were natural sciences. After graduating from undergrad, I interned with a non-profit organization back home in Hawai’i called Mālama Maunalua. During this internship, I worked on a storm water management project and became interested in learning about how policies are placed to protect both marine ecosystems and human health. 

The School of Marine & Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Thursday, April 6, at 12:00pm. Please see below for location details;
Ocean  Building, Room 207 or via Zoom using the information below:
https://washington.zoom.us/j/93393936028?pwd=ZUxHS3liOGQ0ZTB6L0tyZDVPMEFYdz09
Meeting ID: 933 9393 6028
Passcode: 457426 US (Seattle)
A copy of the meeting agenda can be found here. Please contact Michaela Miller (mcski@uw.edu) with any questions or for more information. 

SMEA director Dr. Nives Dolšak and Dr. Eduardo Gallo Cajiao, a David H. Smith Postdoctoral Fellow at SMEA, along with a team of  scholars from Canada, Australia, South Africa, and the U.S., consider what the pending ‘Pandemic Treaty’ should incorporate  regarding the prevention of pandemics from the wildlife trade. Prevention of pandemics should focus on prevention at source, which means that zoonotic spillovers need to be avoided as globalization creates challenges for outbreak containment. 

SMEA David H. Smith Postdoctoral Fellow, Eduardo Gallo-Cajiao, has been nominated as a technical expert to the Intergovernmental Task Force to Address Illegal Hunting, Taking, and Trade of Migratory Birds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway under the UN Convention on Migratory Species. This appointment is on the back of Eduardo’s contribution to the understanding of hunting of migratory shorebirds and international governance for conserving migratory shorebirds in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The University of Washington, along with the University of Alaska and Iowa State University, have received U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding for research relating to the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities. The grant, which SMEA Assistant Professor Cleo Wölfle Hazard Co-PIed, provides UW $1.2M for a project researching preservation along the Duwamish River. For more information, you can read the Fox13 article here. 

Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs?

I’ve been a sailor all my life and love being out on or in the water. After studying marine biology in undergrad, I knew I wanted to learn more about human-ocean interactions and how environmental policy looks for coastal and marine areas. A masters in marine affairs felt like the perfect opportunity to build on my marine science background so that I can really make a difference in the future. 

The School of Marine & Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Thursday, March 2, 12:00pm. Please see below for location details;
Fishery Sciences Building, Room 207
or via Zoom https://washington.zoom.us/j/9175532830 
A copy of the meeting agenda can be found here. Please contact Michaela Miller (mcski@uw.edu) with any questions or for more information. 

SMEA faculty Nives Dolšak and Dr. Eduardo Gallo Cajiao, a David H. Smith Postdoctoral Fellow at SMEA, along with a team of  scholars from Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America, discuss complex challenges for the governance of biodiversity resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Specifically, they examine three interacting factors: (1) the isolation of Russia from the international system, (ii) the delay of international cooperation, and (iii) changes in international and domestic policy priorities.