On June 28, 2023, Dean Tolstoy and Director Dolšak hosted Admiral Linda Fagan, Commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard and SMEA alumna (MMA ’00). For reference, Admiral Fagan is the 27th Commandant of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), overseeing operations of more than 50,000 members and a fleet of 259 cutters, 200 aircraft, and 1,600 boats. Admiral Fagan was in Seattle to preside over the change of command ceremony for Healy, an active icebreaker homeported in Seattle. 

SMEA student Courtney Skalley has been selected as a member of the 2023 Bonderman Fellow cohort. The Bonderman Travel Fellowship was created by UW alumnus David Bonderman in 1995 to fund global journeys as a way of inspiring individual transformation. The 2023 Fellows cover a wide variety of interests including:

Afro-futurism and presentism
Black diasporic history and culture
Counterculture formation as a tool for human connection
Linguistics and dialects
Musical events and concert culture
The relationship between a place’s natural resources and its cuisine, clothing, and culture
The role of the bicycle in community-building

Courtney is a second-year SMEA student with an interest in sustainable fisheries management. 

Recent SMEA graduates, Amelia Wells and Kellie Cutsinger (’23), completed their capstone “Community-Based Mitigation and Adaptive Strategies for River Flooding and Erosion in Alaska Native Communities”  with advisor Dr. Cleo Woelfle-Hazard and in collaboration with Iowa State University. As part of their work, a video was created highlighting the communities they collaborated alongside. A message from their Capstone community partner is shared below as well as a link to the completed video project. 

SMEA Director and Professor Nives Dolsak has co-authored a journal article published in PLOS Climate. The article titled, “Varieties of just transition: Public support in South Africa’s Mpumalanga coal community for different policy options” reviews public support for “Just Transition” (JT) through four policy types: individual compensation, financial support to local governments, individual reskilling, and upgrading local infrastructure. The primary focus is on South Africa for its large coal mining sector, and features in-depth interviews with over 50 coal miners, Eskom power planter workers, and community members within the Mpumalanga province. 

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. 

On Thursday, June 8th, 2023 the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs held its graduation ceremony.
A welcome was given by SMEA Associate Director, Ryan Kelly, followed by opening remarks from the College of the Environment Dean, Maya Tolstoy, and special keynote speaker Stephen Metruck, Port of Seattle Executive Director. Graduating students Andrea Richter-Sanchez and Kurt Ellison were nominated as class speakers. 

The School of Marine & Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Thursday, June 1, at 12:00pm. Please see below for location details;
Ocean Sciences Building (OCN), Room 203 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 Ulla Johnson (ullaj@uw.edu) with any questions or for more information. 

You are invited to join the SMEA thesis and capstone presentations on Friday, May 12th 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:
May 19th 

Student
Faculty Advisor
Thesis/Capstone & Title
Client
Scheduled Time
Virtual/In-Person

Mallory Muna
Yoshi Ota
Thesis, “Towards Equity in Ocean Governance: A Case Study of Indigenous Chamorro Participation in Marine Conservation in the CNMI”
N/A
10-10:30am
Virtual

Hannah King & Maddie Hicks
Cleo Wolfle Hazard
Karuk Tribe Sahpihnîich (Beaver) Research and Recovery

10:45-11:15am
In-person

BREAK

Kristin Hayman
Phil Levin
Thesis, “Carbon & Health Co-Benefits of Afforestation & Avoided Forest Conversion in the Puget Sound Region”
N/A
12:15-12:45pm
In-person

Adrien Owens
Yoshi Ota
Thesis, “Local Perspectives and Cultural Values in Relation to “El Projecto Techos de Esperanza,” Bocas del Toro, Panamá”
N/A
1-1:30pm
In-person

BREAK

Caitie Sheban, Kat Husiak & Hannah Tennent
Sunny Jardine

Restoration in the Lower Duwamish River: Understanding Community
Stakeholders and their River Use Preferences
 
3-3:30pm
 In-person

Bryce Lewis-Smith
Griff
Thesis, “Grounded Constellations: Networks of Nourishment and Support Amongst Indigenous Resurgent Movements” 
AIS
3:45-4:15
Virtual

There will also be a networking happy hour immediately following the presentations. 

You are invited to join the SMEA thesis and capstone presentations on Friday, May 12th 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:

Student
Faculty Advisor
Thesis/Capstone & Title
Client
Scheduled Time
Virtual/In-Person

Ivana Suradja
Ere Aceves Bueno & Yoshi Ota
Thesis, “Application of Blue Transition to Community-based Marine Tourism in Indonesia”
N/A
9-9:30am
In-person/Hybrid

BREAK

Isabel Jamerson, Danny Kosiba, Oliva Horwedel
Griff
Sea Otter Reintroductions: Honoring Relationality and Balance on the Coast
Elakha Alliance
10-10:30am
In-person/Hybrid

BREAK

Leslie Nguyen
Nives Dolsak
Thesis, “Evaluating tenant relocation outcomes from flood-related voluntary property buyouts in the U.S.”
N/A
11-11:30am
In-person/Hybrid

Ellie Mason
Anne Beaudreau
Thesis, “Adaptive capacity of the Maine lobster fishery: Insights from the Maine Fishermen’s Climate Roundtable”
N/A
11:45-12:15pm
In-person/Hybrid

Emma Scallisi
Anne Beaudreau
Thesis, “Stewardship, advocacy, and knowledge in Juneau-area fisheries”
N/A
12:30-1:00pm
In-person/Hybrid

BREAK

Catalina Burch
Anne Beaudreau
Thesis, “Temperature effects on spatiotemporal patterns of forage fish and crustaceans in Gulf of Alaska groundfish diets”
N/A
1:30-2:00pm
In-person/Hybrid 

The School of Marine & Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Thursday, May 4, at 12:00pm. Please see below for location details;
Ocean Sciences Building (OCN), Room 203 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 Ulla Johnson (ullaj@uw.edu) with any questions or for more information.