Director's Report

By Professor Billie J. Swalla, Director of FHL

The trees are budding and birds are singing; it’s spring in the Pacific Northwest! We’ve had some beautiful sunny days and a wet winter, causing the madrones to bloom a cacophony of white flowers across the FHL campus. It has been one of the warmest springs on record, with sea water and air temperatures averaging 3°C higher than normal. Climate change is happening, and FHL is monitoring those changes in the air and seawater and researching how to mitigate severe changes. In the midst of this, 2015 was a very good year for FHL and 2016 is shaping up to be even better.

2015/2016 Fundraising Priorities:
1. Student Support — We have a variety of student support
    funds and thank all of our very generous donors who have
    raised >$100,000 this year for student support.
2. R/V Centennial refit — The Centennial's hull and deck were ultrasound tested and
    found to be solid, so we’ve invested over $100,000 upgrading the equipment and
    installing a new generator. We again thank our supportive donors for coming through
    with more than $70,000 for necessary work to make the Centennial seaworthy again.
3. Education Center — We are planning on building a new community center at FHL,
    which will house a lecture hall, welcome center and selected research centers. Focus
    groups to define FHL needs and priorities will begin this summer.

2015 FHL Top Fifteen – It was a busy year!
1. Bernadette Holthuis hired as new FHL Program Coordinator in January 2015.
2. $686,000 Fernald basement remodel - Freshwater drains and seawater tables were
    replaced and upgraded.
3. $349,000 NSF Grant for an FHL Ocean Observatory moves forward. Ken Sebens, PI,
    and co-PIs Alex Gagnon (Oceanography), Daniel Grunbaum (Oceanography), Jan Newton
    (APL) and Billie Swalla (Biology & FHL).
4. $100,000 Seaver Grant to Victoria Foe for her research on Colliding Polymerases.
5. $337,000 Karl Liem Morphology Bioimaging Facility at FHL established with FHL
    supporter donations and matching money from UW faculty, the College of the
    Environment and the College of Arts and Sciences.
6. Flo McAlary established an Adopt-A-Student Endowment and challenged the FHL
    Advancement Board to a $25,000 matching challenge.
7. Stephanie Crofts (Adam Summers) finished her PhD and moved to a postdoc in New
    Jersey.
8. Joe Bizzarro (Adam Summers) finished his PhD and moved to a postdoc in California.
9. Colette Feehan arrived in September 2015 as the new FHL Postdoc.
10. Megan Dethier and Jennifer Ruesink (Biology) were funded by Washington Sea
     Grant.
11. Kevin Turner (Ken Sebens) finished his PhD and moved to WSU.
12. Laura Newcomb (Emily Carrington) finished her PhD and moved on to a postdoc in
     Washington, D.C.
13. Dennis Willows established a Marine Life Faculty Scholarship with a UW
     matching fund.
14. Carolyn Haugen set up a Planned Gift Annuity to support FHL's K-12 Program.
15. Mark Tetrick hired as new FHL Administrator in December 2015.

2015-16 Four Successful Ph.D. Defenses — Congratulations on a job well done!!

2016 New Principal Investigators on FHL Campus!
Jason Hodin has transferred an NSF grant from Stanford University on the biomechanics of larval settling in sea urchins. You can find Jason working in Lab 1.

Anne Gothmann has received a JISAO Postdoctoral Fellowship for her work on ocean acidification and how our local soft corals are being affected. Anne’s mentor is Alex Gagnon in Oceanography, and she will be a mentor herself in the Blinks/REU/BEACON internship this summer at FHL. Anne has space to do her research in Lab 11 and also in the OAEL (Ocean Acidification Environmental Laboratory).

Jim Truman and Lynn Riddiford will be arriving from Janelia Farms in May to continue their work on the endocrinology and neurobiology of the Pancrustaceans.

Welcome to these new PIs on the FHL campus!

We also had a Fullbright Fellow at FHL this winter and spring! Chona Vince Cruz, who is from the Philippines and is working in the Swalla lab for six months. Her husband, Brian Cruz, is an artist that worked in the Whiteley Art Studio, repurposing lab waste into colorful nudibranchs (see photos above and below).

Thanks to you all who make Friday Harbor Laboratories a great place to visit, to work, to learn and to do research!! Your input and energy are very much appreciated.


Brian Cruz worked in the Whiteley Art Studio to repurpose lab waste into these colorful nudibranchs.
That's a lot of pipette tips!