By Beach Watcher Dave Fluharty
What is this? We are experimenting with ways to engage with our alumni and to inspire current students with their accomplishments. This section is a random walk through what we’ve recently observed about or heard from alumni. Please keep Graduate Program Advisor, Tiffany L. Dion up to date with your accomplishments and changes in location or employment. 

SMEA alumnus Dan Hull spent much of his career gillnetting salmon and longlining halibut in coastal waters out of Cordova, Alaska. 40 years later as he retires from fishing, Hull reflects on his career as a leader in marine resource management, bringing his experience as a commercial fisherman to serve and advise on various fishing, research and education entities in Alaska and internationally. 

In the last few years, the U.S. Federal and Washington State governments significantly focused on climate action. In addition to re-joining international climate efforts, President Biden directed U.S. agencies to incorporate the social cost of carbon in their decisions, developed ambitious renewable energy targets, and released the Ocean Climate Plan. In 2022, the U.S. Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which included significant support for energy innovation, carbon storage, and energy efficiency. 

Congrats to SMEA’s 2023 Knauss fellows!
Devon Lombard-Henley

Diana Perry

Leslie Nguyen

To read the SeaGrant announcement: https://seagrant.noaa.gov/2024-knauss-finalists-announcement/ 

Seattle Times: Native nations on front lines of climate change share knowledge and find support at intensive camps
Tribes suffer some of the most severe impacts of climate change in the U.S. but often have the fewest resources to respond. This inspiring story shows how tribes are working together to make a difference.  SMEA student Michael Buck is prominent in pictures and video.  

Former SMEA students Caroline Potter, Luke Hiserman, Gregory Papp, Harshitha Viswanathan, and Leah Huff co-authored a recent publication in Frontiers in Education: “Student-led documentation of COVID-era education: A study of graduate programs on the human dimensions of oceans.
 
First and foremost, we would like to sincerely thank those students who participated in the study and we appreciate your insight about your graduate school experiences during COVID-19. 

SMEA graduate James Lee (’21) and accompanying authors recently published an article in the Marine Molecular Biology and Ecology section of Frontiers in Marine Science. The article is titled, “Characterizing host-pathogen interactions between Zostera marina and Labyrinthula zosterae.”
Meadows of eelgrass (Zostera marina) are crucial to coastal ecosystems but have been declining rapidly due to global warming and other anthropogenic stressors. 

 
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. 

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.