Staff

Listed below are School of Marine and Environmental Affairs staff who assist in the school's administration and student-related matters. All staff can be reached on the SMEA general office line at 206-543-7004. See individual profiles below for specific email addresses. We welcome your questions and look forward to helping you!

Michele Berg, Graduate Program Advisor

Michele Berg is SMEA’s Graduate Program Advisor. She has worked with students at the School since 2000 and at the University of Washington since 1998. Her responsibilities include advising prospective students on the SMEA program and applications, supervising the admissions process and organizing new student orientation. She advises current students on the program of studies, course registration, and graduation requirements. Michele also works closely with faculty to plan course schedules each quarter, room assignments, and the awarding of scholarships. She works part-time Monday through Friday with primarily morning hours. Michele’s office is in the SMEA main office, room 107 of the Marine Studies Building. You can also reach her at 206-543-7004 or mpberg@uw.edu. When not at work, Michele can be found at her other job managing her husband’s medical practice, sailing aboard the yacht ‘Duet’, cooking for friends and relatives, and volunteering with Rotary.

Suanty Kaghan, Administrative Specialist

Suanty Kaghan is SMEA’s Administrative Specialist. She has been with the School since 1989.  Her primary responsibilities at SMEA involve fiscal and administrative management and include budgeting, purchasing, travel, proposal submission, payroll, work-study supervision, and building coordination. Suanty’s office is in the SMEA main office, room 105 of the Marine Studies Building. She can be reached at 206-543-7004 or skaghan@uw.edu. When not at work, Suanty can be found at local ice cream shops and Indonesian restaurants with her son, or at home listening to KUOW, watching Masterpiece Theater and Rick Steves (to help her imagine what her world-travelling daughter is experiencing), or tennis matches and basketball games with her husband.

Megan Russell, Assistant to the Director

Megan Russell is SMEA’s Assistant to the Director. She joined the staff in October 2010. Prior to coming to the University of Washington, Megan worked at a variety of educational, government, and nonprofit organizations and institutions, and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Seattle University. Her primary responsibilities at SMEA include program planning and research, communications, advancement, special events, and other projects to assist Director Tom Leschine in the administration of the School. Megan works part-time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Her office is in the SMEA main office, room 113 of the Marine Studies Building. She can be reached at 206-543-7004 or russellm@uw.edu. When not at SMEA, Megan can be found at her other job as a mother to two small children.

Nick Wehner, Computing Services Coordinator

Nick Wehner is the SMEA Computing Services Coordinator and a recent graduate of SMEA. He is a native of the great state of Delaware, and graduated with a degree in Biology from the University of Delaware. As SMEA’s resident IT guru, Nick is responsible for the SMEA student computer lab, school servers, office computer systems, web site, and thesis database. He is also our resident IT problem solver. Nick can be reached at nwehner@uw.edu. When not working at SMEA, Nick can be found studying marine debris, reading nerdy science books, and taking care of his pet bunny.