SMEA graduates Samantha Klein (’21), James Lee (’21), Sallie Lau (’20), and current SMEA student Bryce Lewis-Smith, along with SMEA Assistant Professor Cleo Wölfle-Hazard and accompanying authors recently published an article in The American Naturalist titled, “Transforming Restoration Science: Multiple Knowledges and Community Research Cogeneration in the Klamath and Duwamish Rivers [journals.uchicago.edu].”
Typical practices in restoration science can perpetuate exclusionary and oppressive paradigms in both ecosystem restoration and restoration policymaking. 

SMEA alums and faculty represented at the recent PCSGA Annual Shellfish Conference held this year in Wenatchee, Washington. In attendance were SMEA alums Jessi Florendo (’22), Kalloway Page (’21), Sam Klein (’21), and Emily Buckner (’20). SMEA Professor of Practice Yoshitaka Ota was a keynote speaker. “It was fun to be among good company in an unfamiliar place!” shared Florendo.
The PCSGA Annual Shellfish Conference is a convening of growers, natural resource managers, regulators, academics, and others involved in the regional shellfish industry to gather and discuss modern problems, scientific inquiry, and collaborative solutions to all nature of problems. 

Congratulations to recent SMEA graduates Clay McKean, Caroline Potter, Kelsey Rudes and Jacquelyn Shaff on being selected as Sea Grant Fellows!
Clay McKean was one of thirteen early-career scientists and professionals to have been selected for the 2022–2023 class of Alaska Sea Grant State Fellows. The group comprises the largest fellowship cohort in the program’s history. The year-long paid fellowship matches soon-to-graduate or recently finished graduate students with hosts in Alaska-based state or federal agencies and nonprofits where they acquire on-the-job experience in marine science and policy positions. 

Why did you decide to become a professor?
I began applying for faculty positions after a phase of my postdoc that involved a lot of solitary time writing R code. I realized that as much as I enjoyed research, my sense of purpose was in sharing a love of discovery and learning with others. Doing research with my students is among the greatest joys of my job. 

Recent SMEA graduates Clayton McKean and Caroline Potter, along with SMEA Associate Professor Emeritus David Fluharty, SMEA Affiliate faculty member Amber Himes-Cornell, and accompanying authors recently published an article in Frontiers in Marine Science titled “Reaching Global Marine Biodiversity Conservation Goals With Area-Based Fisheries Management: A Typology-Based Evaluation“.
Those who are tracking the issues surrounding Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as part of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on Biodiversity may be aware that Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECM) are essential to meeting the marine targets. 

SMEA Alum Bobbak Talebi is currently a senior coastal planner for the Washington State Department of Ecology. He and his wife Bridget Talebi are two of five UW alumni recently profiled for following their passion to make our planet’s environment healthier, more just and more resilient. As stated in Bobbak’s profile “With a love of the outdoors and a natural inclination toward public service, Talebi was drawn to environmental policy.”
Bobbak’s current role includes helping protect more than 3,000 miles of shoreline through the State Coastal Zone Management Program. 

Adopting new technologies requires building familiarity and trust, and this is where SMEA Professor Ryan Kelly and his research group, the eDNA Collaborative comes in. This new effort at the University of Washington aims to accelerate Environmental DNA (eDNA) research by supporting existing projects and building a network of practitioners to advance the nascent field. Professor Kelly likens the young field of eDNA research to how various new technologies develop and take off. 

Congratulations to SMEA student Kristin Hayman on being awarded a Population Health Initiative Tier 1 Pilot Research Grant Award. The funds will go towards Kristin’s work with public health practitioners and natural resource managers to systematically identify locations across the Puget Sound region where protection and restoration of urban green space have the greatest potential to enhance human health, abate health disparities, and further environmental resilience. 

On Thursday, June 9, 2022 the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs held its graduation ceremony.
A welcome was given by SMEA Director, Nives Dolsak, followed by opening remarks from the College of the Environment Dean, Maya Tolstoy, and special keynote speaker David Mendoza, Director of Advocacy and Engagement for the Washington chapter of Nature Conservancy, joined as well. Graduating student Greg Papp was nominated as the class of 2022 student speaker. 

The School of Marine & Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Thursday, June 2, 12:00pm. Please see below for details on how to join;
In person @ Ocean Sciences Building, Room 203 or
Zoom Online Meeting
https://washington.zoom.us/j/94705406674
Phone In
1-206-337-9723
Meeting ID: 947 0540 6674
A copy of the meeting agenda can be found here. Please contact Jackie Chapman (jachap@uw.edu) with any questions or for more information.