The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs welcomed faculty, students, alumni, partners, and friends to the 2025 SMEA Community Reception, an evening dedicated to connection, conversation, and community.
Held as a gathering space for the broader SMEA network, the reception provided an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, meet new members of our community, and celebrate the shared work that advances marine and environmental solutions. 

We’re excited to share a new publication by SMEA Professor Emeritus Marc Miller: “The Emergence of Hyper-Museums: Dubai’s Museum of the Future,” published in Arctic Review on Law and Politics.
In this article, Professor Miller explores the rise of “hyper-museums”, innovative cultural institutions that blend technology, design, and immersive experiences to redefine what a museum can be. Using Dubai’s Museum of the Future as a case study, he examines how these institutions are shaping cultural innovation, influencing society, and setting new standards for museums worldwide. 

George Thomas Jr. recently celebrated a major milestone: research connected to his floating wetlands capstone project was published in Science Direct. The multi-year capstone brought together several SMEA alumni (classes of 2019,2020, and 2021), and Geogre continued contributing to the work after graduation, serving as a co-author on the newly published article through ScienceDirect titled “Water Quality benefits of a nature-based solution: Constructed floating wetlands tested on two urban waterways”. 

SMEA alumnus Ethan Lucas co-authored a new report with FishWise titled Establishing Guidance for FIP Product Verification. The report examines challenges in verifying seafood products that claim to originate from Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs), including limited traceability, inconsistent definitions of participation, and reliance on self-reported data.
Drawing on research focused on Peru and Ecuador’s mahi-mahi fisheries, the report proposes two approaches to strengthen verification: a baseline procedure to confirm industry participation in FIPs and an advanced audit procedure that links products to documented harvest events. 

SMEA research scientist Aden Yincheong Ip and Professor Ryan Kelly have published a groundbreaking study in Scientific Reports exploring how airborne environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used to monitor salmon populations. Their study demonstrates that DNA from Coho salmon can be detected in the air, even 10–12 feet from waterways, opening new possibilities for non-invasive aquatic species monitoring.
Last fall, the team placed air filters at multiple locations along Issaquah Creek near the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery. 

Dear SMEA friends, 
Each academic year at SMEA brings new energy. This autumn, we were thrilled to welcome 34 new first-year students. As is always the case, they come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, ranging from aquatic and fishery sciences, biology, marine biology, other natural and physical sciences, chemical and biological engineering, to environmental studies, cinema and photography, ethnic studies, history, political science, sociology, and sustainable community development. 

The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs hosted its biennial Community Reception on November 22 at the Silver Cloud Inn, bringing together students, alumni, faculty, partners, and supporters for an evening of connection and celebration. The evening began with conversation, reconnecting, and building new relationships across the SMEA community.
Midway through the Evening, guests gathered for a short program featuring remarks from Dan Hull, Chair of the SMEA Director’s Council, Steve Metruck, Executive Director of the Port of Seattle and SMEA Professor of Practice, and SMEA Director and Professor Nives Dolšak. 

Our faculty had a productive research year. Below is the list of our 2025 publications for your easy access. The underlined co-authors are our students. We hope you enjoy learning about our newest work. 
Ere Aceves Bueno:

Clemens J, Ruesink JL, Donoghue C, Griffin PJ, Aceves-Bueno E (2025) Environmental justice in ecosystem restoration frameworks. Restoration Ecology e70165.
Lawson JM, Jean S, Steinkruger A, Castellanos-Rico M, Goto GM, Cisneros-Mata MÁ, Aceves-Bueno E, Warham MM, Sachs AM, Gaines SD (2025) Substantial gains and little downside from farming of Totoaba macdonaldi. 

Bio:
Erick Dowell is a 2024 graduate of the University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. Originally from North Carolina, Erick earned his undergraduate degree in Biology and Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied deep-sea microbial communities.
After moving to Washington ten years ago, Erick spent much of his time on the water, captaining boats around the West Coast, leading outdoor education programs, including Washington State’s official tall ship, Lady Washington, and making optical filters essential for micro-electronic manufacturing and high-powered sensor equipment. 

Dr. Kanae Komaki (2018) wrote from Japan that she completed a course on AI and has developed a proposal for an AI-based policy tool that could be applied to the review of contractor monitoring reports to the International Seabed Authority (ISA). She presented her proposal to the 2nd ISA Expert Scoping Workshop held in Kobe, Japan, in preparation for the possible transition to the exploitation phase of deep-seabed mining in the Area beyond national jurisdiction.