Student Directory

Ben has worked for Forterra (formerly the Cascade Land Conservancy), collecting field data for land management planning, developing techniques for carbon offset estimates, and analyzing water permit and pollution data for potential pilot projects. He would ultimately like a career that combines his interests in applied science and environmentally sound decision-making.

Areas of interest: coastal ecology, habitat restoration, and marine environmental protection.

Raz has been a Peace Corps volunteer in both Ghana and Jamaica, where he participated in several environmental projects that included writing a children's book to promote consumption of invasive Lionfish, developing an interpretive center at the University of the West Indies Port Royal Marine Lab, and collaborating with NOAA to develop a curricular program for teaching marine debris mitigation to kids and fishermen.  He is interested in effective management of marine resources, balancing the pressures of development against the losses that can result without intervention and adoption of realistic environmental strategies. Raz grew up in Seattle and as a diver, sailor, and skipper of stones he spends as much time in, on, and near the water as humanly possible.

Areas of Interest: international ocean governance, science communication strategies, international development and human rights.

Tess most recently worked as a Satellite Oceanographer for NOAA’s National Oceanographic Data Center where she processed, archived, and created products from satellite-derived oceanographic data sets.  Other work experiences include summer fellowships at Woods Hole, NOAA’s AFSC, and teaching and research assistantships at Cornell. She is very interested in bridging scientific data and marine policy, specifically related to the regulation of urban coastal development. Tess is pursuing a concurrent masters’ degree in Urban Planning from the UW.

Areas of interest: urban waterfront development and coastal zone management.

Thesis: The first heavy commercial exploitation of rockfish in Puget Sound began in the mid-1970s in response to dramatic political and economic changes taking place in other Washington fisheries. However, this exploitation proved unsustainable given the exceptionally long lives and highly variable recruitment unique to this group of organisms. As a result, rockfish catch declined dramatically, and in 2009 three rockfish species were listed on the Endangered Species Act for Puget Sound.

Conservation and management efforts have long been hampered by a fundamental lack of data on rockfish. Poor catch reporting methods compounded with rampant misidentification mean that the majority of available data on the first three decades of the fishery are of very limited utility. An underutilized study  from 1973 – 1977 represents the oldest known instance of a rockfish sampling survey that accurately identified species in Puget Sound. 

In her thesis, Hilary is interested in analyzing this data set using multivariate statistics, in order to derive some information about pre-decline rockfish populations.  She is particularly interested in their historical distribution and how this might have related to reproduction. Data taken from this analysis may also be used in the construction of a comparable modern cooperative research project that would allow us to compare differences in distributions from the historical and contemporary surveys.

Areas of Interest: historical ecology, statistical methods, and cooperative research programs.

David is interested in marine transportation as it pertains to the environment. He has been involved with research related to arctic oil development, marine spatial planning, and the permitting of port facilities and terminals.  For his thesis, David is currently conducting a feasibility study for a green commercial ship disposal facility located in Grays Harbor Washington.

Areas of Interest: international ocean governance, coastal zone management, and seaport management.

Since 2008, Stacey has supervised the Federal On Scene Coordinator during oil spills, chemical releases, and spill response drills for the Coast Guard 14^th District (Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa).  She also participated in the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, coordinating logistics for the vessels conducting offshore skimming operations. She wants to become one of the Coast Guard’s top officers in the Marine & Environmental Response community, and also become involved with developing international standards for adoption by the International Maritime Organization.

Areas of Interest: marine environmental protection, marine pollution management, and fisheries management.

For the last two years Laura has worked at the Virginia Aquarium as an aquarist assistant, participating in public education, animal collection, water quality analysis and supervising volunteers. She also volunteered with the aquarium’s Stranding Response Team.  She would like to work in fisheries management and marine conservation and specifically research by-catch reduction in fisheries and over-fishing of endangered populations.

Areas of Interest: fisheries management, marine environmental protection, marine protected areas.

Kathryn interned with the National Park Service at Sandy Hook, NJ, doing public outreach about water safety in the bay. She also was a Coastal Restoration intern at Save the Bay, RI, where she worked to restore and monitor coastal wetlands of Narragansett Bay. She loves traveling, and studied abroad in New Zealand and Costa Rica. She would like a career that promotes positive changes that are mutually beneficial to ecosystems and to the people that rely on them.

Areas of Interest: ecosystem-based management, coastal ecology, marine protected areas.

Haley is a third year concurrent student with the Evans School of Public Affairs, and held an internship with the National Wildlife Federation at the Pacific Regional Center in Seattle, where she assisted efforts to reform floodplain management policy around the Puget Sound to better protect salmon and orca. She has also assisted SMEA professor Kiki Jenkins on research with the Sea Around Us project, conducting a historical catch reconstruction of the US West Coast fisheries. From 2006-2008, Haley was a Peace Corps Volunteer and worked as an Environmental Education/Awareness Agent in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, West Africa. Her thesis work will focus on co-management arrangements between indigenous peoples and government institutions when applied to marine resource management, particularly in the Puget Sound region.

Areas of Interest: co-management and marine resource management.

During the past year, Mei Hui has been a Graduate Non-matriculated Student at Univ. of N. Dakota in Geography.   She learned about public affairs and the process of making policy when she worked with the Department of Household Registration and Minister of the Interior, developing slogans for raising the birth rate in Taiwan.  She would like to pursue a career in hazard assessment and international marine policy.

Areas of Interest: coastal zone management, ecosystem-based management, and international ocean governance.

Chelsea was an intern for the Central Caribbean Marine Institute where she collected growth rate data from coral reefs surrounding Little Cayman. She also was the editor for a monthly environmental newsletter at Rutgers University from 2009-2012.  She is interested in developing a career linking natural sciences and social sciences, and also communicating marine resource policies.

Areas of Interest: public education/outreach, marine environmental protection, and climate change impacts.

Before entering the School and Marine and Environmental Affairs (SMEA), Adam earned a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Although his previous research experience focused on coastal and underwater archaeology with an emphasis on anthropogenic impacts to marine ecosystems, Adam is currently interested in the use of learning networks and social relations research to better understand and solve environmental and socioeconomic problems facing coastal communities and our oceans. His proposed Master’s thesis will use social network analysis to examine how structural network characteristics influence the functionality of bridging organizations within a marine/coastal governance framework. This research will draw on a variety of theoretical areas, including boundary organization theory, stakeholder theory, and social influence theory.

This past summer, Adam worked for the Center for Ocean Solution’s Fisheries Leadership and Sustainability Forum in Monterey, Calif. In addition to conducting research on resource optimization strategies for U.S. coastal fisheries, he will use the Center for Ocean Solutions as a case study for evaluating the functionality of a prominent bridging organization.

Areas of Interest: social relations, learning networks, governance systems, and social network analysis.

Over the last two years, Melissa had internships with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory where she assisted in studying arsenic contamination in groundwater in Bangladesh and Vietnam, and with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute determining the pH of marine pore water from sulfide signals in deep-sea sediments. Through volunteer work and scuba diving in areas such as Central America and Southeast Asia, she is very interested in the socio-ecological dimensions of marine resource management and marine protected areas in the developing world, and ideally would like a career working for a governmental organization such as USAID or for an international NGO.

Areas of Interest: marine protected areas and community based marine resource management.

Kyle served in the US Army from 2007-2011, where he served as the speechwriter for the Commanding General of Fort Hood, was a Company Executive Officer at Fort Hood, and served as a platoon leader in Iraq.  His ultimate goal is to work as a senior policy manager at a governmental agency ensuring critical habitat is protected and that the country’s natural resources are effectively stewarded.

Areas of Interest: ecosystem-based management, coastal zone management, and fisheries management.

Zachary has worked as a Zooarcheology Lab Technician and Staff Archeologist for Indiana University, processing field artifacts, surveying, mapping, and excavating field sites. He also trained in underwater archaeology research techniques and helped in creating a “living museum of the sea” in the Dominican Republic. He has studied and worked extensively in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Bighorn Canyon National Park. He is interested in studying how to best protect marine historical sites and marine habitats.

Areas of Interest: historical maritime archaeology and preservation, marine recreation/tourism, and coastal zone management.

Working Thesis: Cultural Resource Management and Marine Affairs: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Shipwrecks in Lake Union, Seattle  WA.

Elizabeth’s masters’ thesis studied Indopacific nudibranchs of Southeast Asia. Since graduating, she has worked for the California Academy of Sciences on a seahorse research and conservation program and on elementary level curriculum development. She is most interested in studying the application and implementation of scientific data into conservation practice, particularly with regards to local community impact.

Areas of Interest: marine protected areas, ecosystem-based management, and public education/outreach.

Experience & Interests:  Laura has been working on both coasts for educational programs on tall sailing ships for the last five years, teaching marine ecology, biology, oceanography and nautical science. She was primarily working for the Sea Education Association, a college semester at sea program, but also worked for programs that worked with students as young as second grade.  She wants to remain in the maritime industry, working for a governmental or non-profit agency that manages ocean resources or marine protected areas, and continue to work as an educator.

Areas of Interest: marine protected areas, marine recreation/tourism, and public education/outreach.

Trevor is a Lieutenant in the US Coast Guard, and has served in many capacities and locations for the USCG including most recently as a Marine Safety Detachment Supervisor in American Samoa. He has experience in waterways management, vessel inspections, marine casualty investigations, and search and rescue. He is interested in studying policy making, especially related to marine transportation and ports, in preparation for career advancement within the USCG.

Areas of Interest: transportation management, seaport management, and marine environmental protection.

Jocelyn has worked in journalism as a reporter, freelance writer, copy editor and news editor. While working in northern California, she developed a strong interest in marine affairs after covering news stories related to the diversion of water from the Klamath River to agricultural use and the resulting aftermath on migrating salmon. She would like to combine her experience as a journalist with a strong body of marine affairs knowledge to ultimately become a communications specialist in government or non-profit organizations.

Thesis: A comparison of media coverage of the Klamath River basin conflict.

Areas of Interest: public education/outreach.

Throughout her career, Courtney has worked to vastly improve and shape the fisheries and law enforcement programs of the Coast Guard.  After focusing on management and conservation of living marine resources, and public policy governing protected species and marine ecosystems, she wants to assume a leadership role in the Coast Guard Fisheries & Marine Protected Species Law Enforcement program.

Areas of Interest: fisheries management, marine environmental protection, and seaport management.

For almost a decade, Brit has worked with Seattle's nonprofits, private foundations and large corporations to manage, preserve, and protect important environmental and cultural resources both locally and nationally. She has served as an Engagement Manager to Microsoft's Art Collection and has supported the grants management and programmatic work of the Campion and Brainerd Foundations. An ardent scuba diver and civic science participant, Brit has served as a volunteer beach naturalist with Seattle Aquarium since 2006.  She has studied at Friday Harbor Marine Labs and served as an oil spill policy intern for People for Puget Sound. Brit's work with SMEA will further hone her hard science, economics and environmental management skill set.  

Areas of Interest: role of foundations & philanthropy in environmental systems change, environmental policy development, marine environmental protection, and international ocean governance.

Since 1989, Jeffrey has been a Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians – Timber, Fish & Wildlife Program Director, where he specializes in serving as a forests and fish endangered species recovery specialist, and as a forest cultural resources protection advisor.  He has nearly 30 years work experience with the freshwater aspects of salmonid ecosystems.  He wants to continue to work closely with local tribes to integrate cultural resource protection values and local ecosystem-based management, and integrate human/non-human global change responses with the needs of local tribal communities and governments.

Areas of Interest: fisheries management, ecosystem-based management, and climate change impacts.

Britta has worked extensively in the outdoors: from being a river guide in Montana, field technician (including a grizzly bear genetics study in Glacier National Park, surveying riparian species assemblages on Montana's major rivers, and Soundscape ecological studies on Washington's urban lakes), outdoor educator, to coordinator of a field course in Brazil, and gardener. She is most interested in studying climate change adaptations that increase resiliency of coastal watersheds and local communities. Currently that entails evaluating how restoration projects can better address future climate change. Britta would like to pursue a career promoting conservation and sustainability at home in the northwest U.S. and internationally.

Areas of Interest: ecosystem-based management, climate change adaptation, TEK, and water resources.

Brett has been a commercial fishing captain in Bristol Bay, Alaska since 2009 but has fished throughout the state his whole life. He is the appointed representative for the commercial fishermen of Bristol Bay with their political advocacy against the proposed Pebble Mine. Brett has policy experience developing new fisheries in the Aleutian Islands and has also fished there for salmon, halibut, herring and mackerel. He expects his studies at SMEA will give him a policy maker’s perspective on issues such as the halibut IFQ and catch share programs, which he can use within the commercial fisheries industry.

Areas of Interest: fisheries management, international ocean governance, and marine environmental protection.