SMEA graduate students Kaitlin Lebon and Katie Keil each contributed pieces to a series for the student blog Currents illustrating researchers’ experiences at sea. Lebon’s piece takes an inside look at field science in the Arctic through Kylie Welch— a Faculty Research Assistant with the Goñi Lab at Oregon State University. Keil’s piece describes her own experiences on the University of Washington’s R/V Clifford A Barnes to collect water chemistry parameters, various plankton samples, and krill. 

Congratulations to Professor Cleo Woefle-Erskine! His paper The watershed body: Transgressing frontiers in riverine sciences, planning stochastic multispecies worlds, was recently featured in a landmark special double issue of Catalyst: Feminism and Technoscience. The paper explores how beaver modify landscapes differently than human engineers, and how human engineering might be transformed through riverine collaborations with beavers.
Read the complete paper 

Written by Katie Keil
Although my summer was already comically overbooked with a month-long summer course at Friday Harbor Labs, two nine day research cruises for my thesis, and a trip back home, when Dr. Tim Billo invited me to join him in teaching a backpacking course, I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough. I rescheduled my flight home, and started preparations for ENVIR 495C, Landscape Changes in the Pacific Northwest – an interdisciplinary ecology and environmental philosophy course taught through the lens of a 9-day backpacking trip in Olympic National Park. 

How did you decide to become a professor?
I’ve always loved teaching, and before graduate school taught environmental science and geography to K-12 students, and home graywater system installation and rainwater harvesting to adults. In graduate school, I discovered I love research as well, and realized I could combine research, teaching, mentoring students, and community-engaged research as a professor.
What do you like most about your work? 

Research Assistant Professor Yoshitaka Ota and co-authors recently published an article in Marine Policy titled “Ecotourism, climate change and reef fish consumption in Palau: Benefits, trade-offs and adaptation strategies.” The study found that reducing tourist consumption of reef fish is critical for Palau’s ocean sustainability. As Ota stated in a press-release from the Nereus program “The ocean is central to Palau’s life and customs; their seafood consumption must be maintained sustainably. 

Written by Allie Sifrit
Hello all!
My name is Allie Sifrit and I am just starting my second year at SMEA! However, I will actually be in Indonesia for the beginning of the school year! I am currently collecting data for my thesis. My research is on the stakeholder perceptions of compliance to marine protected area regulations in Maluku, Indonesia. I am working alongside a project from USAID called the Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced Project and the director of this project is one of SMEA’s affiliate faculty members: Dr. 

Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs?
I have always loved the ocean and I earned my undergraduate degree in marine biology. Moving forward I wanted to learn how to protect the ocean, so after looking into possible degrees, earning my degree in marine affairs seemed like a great choice.
Why did you decide to come to UW’s SMEA for graduate school? 

Congratulations to SMEA Professor Sunny Jardine and her co-PIs, who were recently awarded a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant to study links among people, lakes, and fish in the Northern Highland Lake District in Wisconsin. The four-year project will involve a team of 15 collaborators representing nine research institutions and conservation agencies. Along with Professor Jardine, co-leading principal investigators include Christopher Solomon of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Marco Janssen of Arizona State University, Olaf Jensen of Rutgers University, and Stuart Jones of the University of Notre Dame. 

Congratulations to recent SMEA grads and students Sara Brostrom, Haley Kennard and Marisa Nixon who were all awarded Marc Hershman Marine Policy Fellowships! Hershman fellows are teamed with mentors in state government or an NGO host office in Olympia, Tacoma or Seattle, working on ocean and coastal science and management issues for one year. This year’s host offices are The Nature Conservancy, Makah Office of Tribal Affairs and Washington State Departments of Ecology and Health. 

SMEA (’16) graduate Chris Giordano recently wrote a post that was featured on the Peace Corps Response’s website. In the fall of 2016, Chris joined the Peace Corps Response, which sends experienced professionals to undertake short-term, high-impact service assignments in communities around the world. He went to northern coast of Peru where “the bulk of my time has been in a support role for my socio, Inkaterra Asociacion, drawing on my recent master’s degree and experience to help my counterpart form their first set of marine projects while teaching the team how to think about coastal conservation.” In his post, Chris reflects on his past year of service and the amazing opportunity it provided him.