Congratulations to SMEA student Kristin Hayman on being awarded a Population Health Initiative Tier 1 Pilot Research Grant Award. The funds will go towards Kristin’s work with public health practitioners and natural resource managers to systematically identify locations across the Puget Sound region where protection and restoration of urban green space have the greatest potential to enhance human health, abate health disparities, and further environmental resilience. 

On Thursday, June 9, 2022 the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs held its graduation ceremony.
A welcome was given by SMEA Director, Nives Dolsak, followed by opening remarks from the College of the Environment Dean, Maya Tolstoy, and special keynote speaker David Mendoza, Director of Advocacy and Engagement for the Washington chapter of Nature Conservancy, joined as well. Graduating student Greg Papp was nominated as the class of 2022 student speaker. 

Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs?
When applying to graduate school, I was interested in studying climate change from a social science perspective. This is something that I started researching during my undergraduate studies and I was interested in finding a graduate program that would allow me to continue that research.
Describe your experience in applying to and selecting a graduate program. 

Grace Morris ’22 has been using her time as an MMA student in the School of Marine and Environmental Sciences to explore environmental justice for underserved communities in floodplain areas. At SMEA, she’s been a student in Dr. Cleo Wölfle-Hazard’s Freshwater Ecologies lab.  Her work alongside a team of other University of Washington students won 1st place and a $1000 scholarship at the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) 12th Annual Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Orlando, Florida on Thursday, May 19th! 

School of Marine and Environmental Affairs student Catalina Burch ’23 was awarded a competitive Graduate Student Research Award from the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB). “To encourage students to pursue scientific and scholarly research addressing ecosystem and fisheries management issues”, is what NPRB aims to accomplish with their graduate student funding. Since 2008, NPRB has funded 68 students through the program. 

The College of the Environment at the University of Washington is slated to recognize its award recipients at a college-wide celebration on Tuesday, May 3rd.  Among those recognized will be two students with ties to the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs; current first-year student Bryce Lewis-Smith and incoming student Aina Hori.
Lewis-Smith is being honored with the Outstanding Community Impact award, for which nominees can be faculty, staff, or students from across the College. 

In just a few weeks, the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs will showcase an impressive slate of presentations featuring the hard work SMEA students have put into their theses, as well as a final Capstone Presentation for a group whose work was impacted by the pandemic. The thesis presentations happening on Friday, May 13th will be offered in a hybrid format, so people who are on campus can participate in MAR 168, while folks who need to join online can do so. 

Current SMEA student, Andrea Richter-Sanchez ’23 will be spending her summer with the Surfrider Foundation, an organization “dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves and beaches, for all people, through a powerful activist network”.
Richter-Sanchez will be serving as the Coasts and Climate Graduate student intern, and will hold the position for the duration of the ten week internship beginning in June and ending in August, before returning to SMEA for Fall Quarter. 

Seattle’s Bryant Elementary Science Fair features teams of 5th graders who have worked with mentors to formulate a hypothesis, develop appropriate experiments, analyze results, and draw/communicate conclusions. Current SMEA students Asiya Hussein and Jenna Rolf provided leadership, enthusiasm and expertise as they developed a scientific investigation for the teams of 5th graders that they each mentored.
 
 
The Bryant Elementary Science Fair is one way that current SMEA students give back to the local community, and is important for introducing STEM to elementary students in an exciting, engaging, and interactive way. 

Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Marine Affairs?
I have wanted to study marine science since I was a young child. My dad took me fishing with him quite often when I was young so I was exposed to the ocean and marine life quite early. I was also exposed to fishing regulations at that age because I was tasked with translating fishing regulations for my dad since he couldn’t read or speak English.