You are invited to join the SMEA thesis and capstone presentations on Friday, February 24th in the Marine Studies Building, room 268. If you’d like to attend via Zoom, please contact Michaela Miller at mcski@uw.edu for details. The schedule of events is as follows:
Thesis & Capstone Presentations

Student

Faculty Advisor

Thesis/Capstone & Title

Client

Scheduled Time

Virtual/In-Person

Rory Spurr & Alana Santana
Anne Beaudreau
Capstone, “Visualizing ESA-listed fish research in the west coast region”
Diana Dishman, NOAA
9-9:30am
Hybrid -Alana & Rory in person/Anne & Diana virtual

1 HOUR BREAK

Izzi Lavallee
P. 

Professor Nives Dolšak and coauthors examined whether endorsing climate policies, such as the Green New Deal, brings electoral payoffs. After publishing an academic paper in PLOS Climate, which was listed among the journal highlights of 2022, they wrote a shorter article for the Washington Post accessible to the public. Now, their work has been listed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her official House website. 

The School of Marine & Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Thursday, February 2, 12:00pm. Please see below for location details;
Ocean Sciences Building, Room 203
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 Professor of Practice Yoshi Ota and Ocean Nexus’s international report was highlighted in a recent UW News article. The report titled, “Towards an Equitable Approach to Marine Plastics Pollution” presents how marine pollution impacts the human population and promotes an equity-focus to addressing this issue. The report features topics from COVID-19 to Coca-Cola. You can read the complete article by Hannah Hickey here. 

Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs?
After 8 years of working in the environmental sphere—working in ecotourism, high school education, environmental consulting, and in the National Park Service—I felt my skills and knowledge had plateaued and I needed to finally pursue a Master’s degree so that I would have greater capacity as a leader to integrate large-scale ecosystem health, community and culture, environmental justice, and climate adaptation. 

SMEA is saddened to share the passing of Terry Johnson. Please see Alaska Sea Grant’s Remembering Terry Johnson article here. 

The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs is looking for a dedicated team member to join our staff as the Assistant to the Director. If you’d like to apply or know someone who would be a good fit, please share the UW Hire post here. 

SMEA graduate and former Canadian Studies FLAS fellow, Samantha Farquahar (’19), received the Fulbright-Hayes award to continue her fisheries research in Arctic Québec (Nunavik). Below is the article posted in the Department of Education’s IFLE newsletter. Congratulations, Samantha!

Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellow studies fisheries, food systems, and indigenous food security in Canada

Samantha Farquhar, a doctoral student in the Integrated Coastal Sciences program at East Carolina University (ECU), will travel to northern Quebec next year to study and document how fisheries relate to food systems in nearby coastal Canadian communities. 

This issue of the Alumni Focus shines on Jenny Waddell, the Research Coordinator for Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS). Jenny’s career is representative of the many SMEA graduates who have been selected for the prestigious Knauss Fellowship (a national award administered locally by Washington Sea Grant – and the application process just opened).
Jenny graduated from SMEA in 2001 with a thesis on sustainable tourism development for Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras. 

In 1972, the Board of Regents of the University of Washington authorized the formation of the Institute for Marine Studies. In the last 50 years SMEA has graduated nearly 800 alumni who are putting their skills to work around the world — a formidable force for improving human and environmental well-being. Here we report on a representative few alumni to inspire current students and to link alumni to friends.