Congratulations to recent SMEA graduates Clay McKean, Caroline Potter, Kelsey Rudes and Jacquelyn Shaff on being selected as Sea Grant Fellows!
Clay McKean was one of thirteen early-career scientists and professionals to have been selected for the 2022–2023 class of Alaska Sea Grant State Fellows. The group comprises the largest fellowship cohort in the program’s history. The year-long paid fellowship matches soon-to-graduate or recently finished graduate students with hosts in Alaska-based state or federal agencies and nonprofits where they acquire on-the-job experience in marine science and policy positions. 

SMEA Alum Bobbak Talebi is currently a senior coastal planner for the Washington State Department of Ecology. He and his wife Bridget Talebi are two of five UW alumni recently profiled for following their passion to make our planet’s environment healthier, more just and more resilient. As stated in Bobbak’s profile “With a love of the outdoors and a natural inclination toward public service, Talebi was drawn to environmental policy.”
Bobbak’s current role includes helping protect more than 3,000 miles of shoreline through the State Coastal Zone Management Program. 

US Coast Guard Vice Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan ’00  was nominated to head the US Coast Guard, as announced by the Biden Administration on Tuesday, April 5th, 2022. Adm. Fagan would become the first woman to lead a branch of the US military.
Fagan is a graduate of the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, completing a thesis entitled “Improving the quality of information in the marine transportation system: an exercise in risk reduction”. 

The Washington Coast Resilience Action Demonstration Project (RAD) was a two-year (2019-2021) partnership between the Washington State Department of Ecology and Washington Sea Grant that provided multi-organizational hazards assistance to communities on the Pacific Coast of Washington and laid the groundwork for future coastal resilience efforts. Bobbak Talebi ’15, Tressa Arbow ’19, and Henry Bell ’20 from the Washington State Department of Ecology, and Jackson Blalock with Washington Sea Grant spearheaded the development of this joint project. 

School of Marine and Environmental Affairs alumna Jean Flemma ’93 recently co-authored an op-ed piece for the Seattle Times last week examining the effectiveness of a US ban on Russian seafood. As one of the most frequently globally traded food commodities, seafood is difficult to trace, and a ban on the sale of Russian seafood may prove ineffective.  Read the full piece here: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/russian-seafood-ban-is-meaningless-without-real-traceability/ 

Thesis work on marine conservation tourism and public engagement programs with the Giant Pacific Octopus has evolved into an accepted article for the journal Regional Studies in Marine Science. SMEA alum Manjari Misra ’20 and her advisor Professor Marc Miller developed the draft following the completion of Misra’s thesis work. Misra reports, “this paper was regarding the marine conservation tourism programs at the Seattle Aquarium. 

SMEA alumna Abigail Keller ’21 recently published her thesis work in the journal of Ecological Applications. Her work as a SMEA student focused on utilizing eDNA data to detect the presence of the invasive European green crab in Puget Sound waters. Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team was integral in providing comparative data from trapping efforts, and Keller’s faculty advisor SMEA Professor Ryan Kelly is listed as a co-author on the piece. 

SMEA alumna Megan McKeown ’20 shared her experience and a behind-the-scenes look at the legislative process for the Knauss Fellow Blog hosted by the NOAA Sea Grant website. McKeown has been serving as a marine policy fellow in DC working for the House Science Committee.
While studying at SMEA, McKeown authored the thesis “Carbon Trading & Environmental Equity: Evidence from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (2000 – 2019)”. 

If you’re looking for a last-minute holiday gift for an inquisitive kid in your life, you might consider a copy of the recently published  “The Rockfish Kids Book”, a beautifully illustrated book designed to connect children of all ages in the Puget Sound with an important marine species. The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs has had a long history in helping to shape the scientific knowledge about rockfish, and has produced many alumni who have been critical to their recovery in the Puget Sound. 

Career News:
New graduate Katy Bland ’21 recently accepted a position with NERACOOS and New Hampshire Sea Grant as the Engagement and Research Associate.
The Puget Soundkeeper Alliance has a new Corporate Giving and Events Manager, as James Roubal ’18  assumed the role in November 2021. James previous worked as a Program Coordinator with Washington CoastSavers and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.