An article titled, “Indigenous food sovereignty through resurgent self-governance: centering Nuu-Chah-nulth principles in sea otter management in Canada” from SMEA alumni Lindsey Popken’s (’21) thesis work has been published in Ecology & Society.  The research was published as part of a special feature on Collaborative Management, Environmental Caretaking, and Sustainable Livelihoods. The full article is available here. 

SMEA alumni Robinson Lowe and Darby Swayne (’22) have published a paper co-authored with their former capstone partners. The paper entitled, “At the end of the day, you need to do something”: discourses on prioritization of stormwater solutions” uses Q-methodology research, a mixed-method approach, to investigate differences in prioritization of stormwater solutions currently considered in the region. The article published in Frontiers in Sustainable Cities also explores how emergent perspectives may affect decisions surrounding stormwater management. 

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

SMEA faculty continue to contribute to the scholarship of marine and environmental affairs. In 2022, we published two books and over 30 articles in prestigious environmental, marine, and interdisciplinary journals. Many of these were co-authored with our students and our postdoctoral scholars. Below is a collection of these works. Faculty names are in bold; names of students and postdoctoral scholars trained by our faculty are underlined. 

The North Pacific snow and red king crab seasons are canceled this year, affecting entire communities that support the industry. Factors such as dropping populations from overfishing and climate change contributed to crab harvests being suspended this year.
SMA alumna Jamie Goen is the Executive Director for the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. In a KIRO 7 news article Jamie said in 2018 there were a lot of small snow crabs in the ocean and things were looking really good. 

SMEA graduate Amy Olsen has just published her thesis research in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. Amy’s work describes the effect of the Pacific Marine Heatwave (2014-2015) on coral reef fish communities in West Hawai’i. Her findings reveal changes in fish abundance following with the heatwave, and suggest an association with site-specific management regimes. The research was performed in partnership with the Seattle Aquarium where Amy currently works as a Research Technician in the Conservation Programs and Partnerships Department. 

 
Five recent SMEA graduates Abigail Ames, Kathryn Loy, Jenna Rolf, Harshitha Sai Viswanathan and Olivia Zimmerman have been awarded the Washington Sea Grant Hershman Fellowship for 2022–2023. This fellowship places highly motivated, qualified individuals with marine and coastal host offices throughout Washington, providing fellows with a unique perspective on building marine policy and allowing them to share their academic expertise with the host offices.