Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs?
After spending a couple of years working on community-based marine conservation projects in the developing world, I realized that in order to help build impactful and resilient conservation initiatives I needed to further strengthen some of my technical skills. Through my job, I had been exposed to challenges that were not solely scientific or development focused in nature. 

Professor Eddie Allison was a co-author on two recently published articles. “Adaptive capacity: from assessment to action in coastal social-ecological systems,” published in Ecology and Society, draws on case studies of coastal communities from around the globe, describing and comparing 11 approaches that are often used to study adaptive capacity of social and ecological systems in the face of social, environmental, and climatic change. 

Assistant Professor Ryan Kelly was featured on Parsing Science’s recent podcast which highlights 2016 SMEA alumna, Annie Hillier’s, master’s thesis “Is There a Role for Narrative Attributes in Scientific Literature?” In the episode, Kelly tells the unpublished stories behind the article “Narrative Style Influences Citation Frequency in Climate Change Science,” which he published along with co-authors Hillier and Professor Terrie Klinger in the December 2016 edition of PLoS One. 

A big congratulations to recent SMEA graduates Grace Ferrara, Jimmy Kralj, and Carrie Schmaus who were selected as Washington Sea Grant’s John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellows for 2017-18.
The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources.  

SMEA Professor and Associate Director Nives Dolsak, and UW Professor and Director of the Center for Environmental Politics Aseem Prakash recently wrote an article for The Conversation titled, “Are we overreacting to US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate?” In the article Dolsak and Prakash state the President’s withdrawal from the agreement is a symbolic action with little substantive impact on climate mitigation, and as such, it is critical not to overreact and lose sight of domestic issues that could significantly jeopardize future climate policies. 

SMEA Research Associate Ramon Gallego and co-authors from the University of Auckland published a paper in the Journal of Biogeography titled “On the need to consider multiphasic sensitivity of marine organisms to climate change: a case study of the Antarctic acorn barnacle.” In the paper the authors present the first study in which species distribution models (SDMs) have been simultaneously developed for both the larval and adult stages of the same organism, highlighting the importance of considering such effects on both larval and adult life stages. 

Congratulations to SMEA Professor Eddie Allison, Research Associate Nathan Bennett, Affiliate Assistant Professor Yoshitaka Ota and their co-authors on their latest article “Committing to socially responsible seafood” published in Science. The article discusses a comprehensive framework for social responsibility developed by the authors that responds to a need for alignment around a shared, transdisciplinary approach. Their framework, which is informed by practical experience from organizations and experts that work in the seafood sector and is supported by a strong legal and policy basis for implementation, comprises three components: (i) protecting human rights and dignity and respecting access to resources, (ii) ensuring equality and equitable opportunities to benefit, and (iii) improving food and livelihood security. 

SMEA alumnus Max Mossler (’16) recently published his thesis work in Global Environmental Change, along with co-authors Ann Bostrom, Kate Crosman, Patricia Moy, and SMEA Professor Ryan Kelly. The paper entitled “How does framing affect policy support for emissions mitigation? Testing the effects of ocean acidification and other carbon emissions frames” advances research on ocean acidification and climate change perceptions and communication, by (i) examining causal beliefs about ocean acidification, and (ii) measuring support for mitigation policies from individuals presented with one of five different policy frames (climate change, global warming, carbon pollution, air pollution, and ocean acidification). 

Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs?
I fell in love with the sea the first time I saw one at the age of 5. Naturally, I was inclined to study marine sciences, swim with the dolphins, and save the animals. Eventually, I pursued a bachelors in biology and grew old enough to realize the marine environment is composed of more than animals and ecosystems. 

Research Associate Stacia Dreyer, SMEA Alum Hilary Polis, and former SMEA Professor Lekelia Jenkins recently published an article about tidal energy in Energy Research and Social Science. In the article, they assess acceptability and support for tidal energy, as well as perceived benefits and risks of tidal energy and climate change beliefs in Washington State. They also highlight how environmental psychology can contribute to a larger body of literature on life-cycle development for emergent renewable energy technologies.