By Jackie Shaff

Typically in STEM fields, research is published behind paywalls in scientific journals that require subscriptions for access. When articles are open-access, the bigger picture can become lost behind jargon and data-heavy explanations written for those with previous background knowledge on the subject. Without an effort by the authors to communicate their findings outside of their published articles, that work often remains inaccessible to the general public.  

By Nicolette Worrell

 
In an age of climate change, Arctic Indigenous communities around the world are working to sustain their rich land and sea-based food traditions, while also navigating the inequalities of retail food markets[1].  Northern communities from Scandinavia and Russia, to Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, geographically remote communities throughout the Arctic often receive external groceries by air, ice road, sealift, or barge. 

By Gabi Carr and Leah Huff

 
Throughout history cities have been built along the water, and this tendency persists in the United States today: about 33 percent of Americans live in coastal regions and 10 percent of Americans live along the Great Lakes. Yet despite the many benefits of shoreline living, which can include access to fisheries, trade, transportation, and drinking water, changing water conditions under climate change are increasingly making shoreline life difficult. 

By Clover Park Upward Bound Students Alaiyah, Arianie, Dili, Isaiah, Kalani, Merick Dave, Radman, Triccie, Venyete and SMEA student Jenny Liou. Introduction by Jenny Liou

 
Alaiyah, Arianie, Dili, Isaiah, Kalani, Merick Dave, Radman, Triccie, and Venyete are students in Clover Park High School’s Upward Bound program at Pierce College. Upward Bound is a nation-wide pre-college program that serves students from low-income families and students who will be first generation college attendees. This year, the Clover Park/Pierce College summer program blends language-learning, English, science, math, and culture, loosely organized around the theme of “wayfinding.” I’ve been getting to know these high school scholars because while I am a Master’s student at SMEA, I’m also an English professor at Pierce College where one of my roles is teaching in this Upward Bound program where we’re focusing on culturally inflected storytelling. 

By Raven Benko

 
Doctoral student Ashley Townes has traveled the world working with Indigenous groups and immersing herself in new cultures. She has arm-wrestled fishermen in Kochi, India and helped to raise a traditional Chinese fishing net and sort out the catch. She has broken bread with the only marine mammal researcher in Sri Lanka, Asha de Vos, discussing how to increase the representation of women and minorities in biological and fisheries sciences. 

By James Lee

 
Malina is a disease ecologist now finishing her second year as a master’s student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). Before VIMS she worked for California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and the UC Davis One Health Institute at Bodega Marine Laboratory, investigating withering syndrome in the critically imperiled white abalone. Her current research is on infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), a pathogen that causes mortalities in salmonids, including commercially farmed species. 

By James Lee

 
Exactly twelve years ago on this day, I was in my tiny apartment watching Roger Federer complete a career grand slam in tennis. School was far from my mind: just a year prior, I’d resolved to take a break from college because I was burned out, stressed, constantly worried about money, and frankly uninspired by my experiences interacting with an overwhelmingly white and exclusive group of students and faculty in the marine science circles at my previous university. 

By Raven Benko

 
Ashley Townes is a born communicator. Despite having to navigate the awkward space of a virtual interview made so common by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ashley’s demeanor made it feel like we were chatting over a cup of coffee like old friends. 
Ashley is a linguist, a social scientist, a cross-cultural communicator, and most recently, a fisheries scientist. After her undergraduate degrees in International Studies and Japanese at Tufts University, Ashley spent twelve years traveling around the world, working to solve the environmental challenges that were faced by the diverse peoples she met. 

By Katy Bland

 
It’s always been easy for me to get lost in the enchantment of fieldwork. Most of my fieldwork experience has been underwater, in kelp forests, where the pulse of social media and the urgency of modern communication get replaced by the oscillations of the waves. In this state, I always felt fully present with my thoughts. But while I was engrossed in the details of the kelp forest, I was detached from the bigger picture of the relationship between marine sciences and the communities onshore. 

By Leah Huff

 
Racism, discrimination, and violence against Asian Americans has been around for centuries. But why are we just talking about it now? Why wasn’t there more outrage from the public or coverage by the media when Asian Americans faced a surge in hate crimes after the COVID-19 pandemic began? The truth of the matter is that “Asian hate” has become all too common in America and the current crisis has made it more evident. 

By James Lee

 
I met Malina Loeher when we were both taking a summer course at Friday Harbor Laboratories as new graduate students. The course was on the ecology of infectious marine disease, and Malina is a disease ecologist now finishing her second year as a master’s student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). Before VIMS she worked for California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and the UC Davis One Health Institute at Bodega Marine Laboratory, trying to work out the mechanics of withering syndrome in the critically imperiled white abalone. 

By Gabriela Carr

Although I am now a graduate student in marine affairs, I rarely spent time at the ocean as a child. My introduction to the ocean early in life was primarily through a museum. At the American Museum of Natural History, one of my childhood haunts, the beautiful dioramas in the Hall of Ocean Life have labels naming each organism, neatly on display for visitors. 

By Jackie Shaff

 
Dr. Stephanie Norman, a veterinarian and wildlife epidemiologist, studies diseases in marine species, ranging from the smallest coral polyps to large predators, like marine mammals. She embraces a “One Health” perspective in her work, where human, environmental, and animal health are inextricably linked. Her recent crowdfunding project on antibiotic resistance in the Salish Sea looked at the intersection of marine environments, aquatic organisms, and human health and wellbeing. 

By Christina Madonia

 
In the last year we’ve seen a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and a growing movement against anti-Asian hate, against the backdrop of mental health, social, economic, and racial issues that were all exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Communities are organizing to resist the violence of systematic racism, not only pushing for systematic changes in policing but moving beyond that to challenge the very roots of our history and the injustices which our nation was built upon and which continue to impact so many. 

By Lindsey Popken

 
Sea otters: adorable, fluffy, and their pups lay on their stomachs. Is there anything cuter? I certainly don’t think so! My love for sea otters was a random result of watching Finding Dory, where short clips of sea otters nuzzling while Dory yelled, “Cuddle party!” captured my attention and heart. This relationship remained rooted in an appreciation for their cuteness until my first quarter at UC Davis. 

By Olivia Zimmerman

I distinctly remember the moment last quarter when I felt completely defeated by grief. It was during a week when my coursework had aligned to cover the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the myriad anthropogenic impacts that have depleted whale populations, and the ongoing battle for Tribal nations to have their fishing treaty rights upheld by Washington State. I was toggling between my law book discussing the numerous mortalities of dolphins in the 1960s due to the yellowfin tuna industry, a marine mammal biology textbook reviewing mass cetacean culls, a book reviewing the data that explores the capacity for orcas to experience heartbreak, and a news article on the severity of destroyed salmon habitat in the Pacific Northwest. 

By George Thomas Jr.

 
The narrative surrounding our region’s hydroelectric power often includes the words “renewable,” “cheap,” and “green.” And as climate scientists continue to sound the alarm about the climate emergency and the need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the need for green power generation is clearly critical. In such a context, the hydroelectric dam-building craze of the last century seems almost prescient, even if the dams were built before the climate emergency was common knowledge. 

By Nikki Canning

 
Back in the depths of a long forgotten past, by which I mean the early 2010s, little plastic spheres called microbeads were a hugely popular ingredient in skincare and grooming products. Microbeads were commonly used for cleaning and exfoliation because their tiny size and rounded shape (under five millimeters in diameter by law, but usually under a millimeter in practice) made them great for scrubbing. 

By Edits and introduction by Abby Keller

All living things leave traces of their DNA, the genetic instructions they carry, in the places they live. This DNA, called environmental DNA (eDNA), is increasingly used by researchers to understand our present and past. We could collect a bottle of water from Lake Union and detect many of the fish, crabs, and bacteria currently living in the lake that have left their DNA behind. 

By Gabriela Carr

Job creation, carbon sequestration, nutrient runoff capture, oxygenation, storm surge protection, ecosystem restoration, food security: just a few of the selling points and ecosystem services promised by the champions of regenerative ocean farming. So what is this type of farming, and what’s so special about it?
 
Regenerative ocean farming (ROF) is a “polyculture farming system [that] grows a mix of seaweeds and shellfish…[and] require[s] zero inputs…while sequestering carbon and rebuilding reef ecosystems.” I first heard the term from a friend in SMEA, and then again in a How to Save a Planet episode focused on the ROF nonprofit GreenWave.