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. 

Three School of Marine & Environmental Affairs Capstone Project teams will present a synthesis of their work and the findings to their client(s) on Friday, February 25th, 2022. Capstone presentations are the culminating experience of a team project that begins early in the first-year of the MMA. Students are selected to projects based on their preferences and interests, and work closely with a client and faculty advisor to tackle a real-world, practical problem or issue to produce a final report for the client. 

Describe your experience in applying to and selecting a graduate program.
I decided to get my master’s through reading postings for jobs with the Washington Department of Ecology. I knew it was the sort of work I wanted to transition into and saw that a master’s would help make me more competitive for entry-level positions and give me an edge as my career progressed. 

Current School of Marine and Environmental Affairs first-year student, Adrien Glenn Owens was recently published in the February 2022 edition of Marine Policy. She was a co-author on the paper “Lessons learned from a natural resource disaster: The long-term impacts of the Long Island Sound lobster die-off on individuals and communities”. A result of the research she conducted while earning her Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology at the University of New Haven. 

Every year, the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs (SMEA) awards financial support to students with varying interests and research focuses. These awards are made possible by our generous donors, which include alumni, faculty, staff, industry and community members. Many of these funds are established in memory of beloved members of the SMEA community. Awardees are identified by SMEA leadership and faculty based on fund availability, student focus, and financial need. 

How did SMEA first come across your radar? What were your impressions of the program?
SMEA first came across my radar while I was on campus to attend a symposium for the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program in the fisheries building. My boss at the time invited someone from the university to come talk to the interns from Quinault about opportunities at UW, which also included graduate school. 

To-Nhu “Leslie” Nguyen, student in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, has been selected by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) for the Next Generation Fellowship, an opportunity that gives financial and academic support to Earth system science students from historically underrepresented groups. Nguyen was selected as the program’s public policy fellow.
“I am pleased to welcome this year’s cohort of fellows,” said UCAR President Antonio Busalacchi.