Date: Friday, February 9th, 2024

SMEA’s Community Reception at Renaissance Seattle Hotel was fabulous! Special thanks to everyone who attended. We look forward to future SMEA events and chances to connect with alumni, supporters, faculty, students and post-docs! 

By Dave Fluharty and Leah Gerber
Purpose of this Feature: SMEA likes to recognize the contributions our graduates are making.  We’d like to feature everyone but with nearly 900 alumni that is not realistic.  Let us know when you are ready to contribute your accomplishments and failures so we can learn.

Leah Gerber graduated from SMEA in 1993.  Her Master’s Thesis was titled, Endangered Species Act Decision Making in the Face of Scientific Uncertainty: A Case Study of the Steller Sea Lion with Professor Warren Wooster as her committee supervisor.  

Please join us this Thursday, May 16th, from 12-1 PM in FSH 203 or on Zoom for our third SMEA Speaker Series: Careers in Marine and Environmental Affairs. This week we will be hearing from three SMEA alumni, Valerie Cleland, James Lee, and Devon Thorsell, who will be sharing their experience working with non-profits and advocacy organizations.
Zoom: https://lnkd.in/dPa4uAQG
Meeting ID: 927 8726 9100
Passcode: seminar 

Please join us for our SMEA thesis and capstone presentations on both Friday, May 10th and 17th in MAR 168 or on Zoom. Each presentation will be followed by a short Q&A.
Zoom link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/7379570075
Full presentation schedule is posted below. We hope to see you there! 

The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Thursday, May 2, at 12:00 pm. Please see below for location details:
Ocean Sciences Building (OCN) Room 203 or via Zoom using the information below:
https://washington.zoom.us/j/98174117556?pwd=V1JQeldTdTFRRFlKc0E4Q3FSMEo2dz09
Meeting ID: 981 7411 7556
Passcode: 563969 US (Seattle)
A copy of the meeting agenda is provided. Please contact Kiley Pazcoguin (kpaz@uw.edu) with any questions or for more information. 

Please join us this Thursday, April 25th, from 12-1 PM in FSH 203 or on Zoom for our second SMEA Speaker Series: Careers in Marine and Environmental Affairs. This week we will be hearing from four SMEA alumni, Henry Bell, Alex Erzen, Kirsten Feifel, and Bobbak Talebi who will be sharing their experience working with state and local governments.
Zoom: https://lnkd.in/dPa4uAQG
Meeting ID: 927 8726 9100
Passcode: seminar 

SMEA alumni, Olivia Zimmerman (’22) and Tanya (Eison) Pelach (’22), recently published a paper in Frontiers in Climate: “Addressing inequities and meeting needs of Indigenous communities in floodplain management” that emerged from their capstone with The Nature Conservancy.
This work examined the degree to which the Washington State Floodplains by Design (FbD) program met the needs of Washington Tribes. The research found that while FbD was meeting some needs, there were areas where it could better support Tribal communities and address inequities. 

SMEA alum, Andrew Kenefick (’23), has been appointed to the Roundtable on Plastics Committee established by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide as a forum for examining issues associated around national efforts to reduce plastic pollution.

The Roundtable will serve as a collaborative platform for federal agencies and cross-disciplinary experts in academia, industry, and non-governmental organizations to discuss research initiatives. 

The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs will hold its next faculty meeting on Thursday, April 4, at 12:00 pm. Please see below for location details:
Ocean Sciences Building (OCN) Room 203 or via Zoom using the information below:
https://washington.zoom.us/j/98174117556?pwd=V1JQeldTdTFRRFlKc0E4Q3FSMEo2dz09
Meeting ID: 981 7411 7556
Passcode: 563969 US (Seattle)
A copy of the meeting agenda is provided. Please contact Kiley Pazcoguin (kpaz@uw.edu) with any questions or for more information. 

SMEA Professors Ryan Kelly and Terrie Klinger have published their second book, Between the Tides in California: Exploring Beaches and Tidepools. This remarkable book is a follow-up to their first publication, Between the Tides in Washington and Oregon: Exploring Beaches and Tidepools, which was published in December 2022.
Book overview:
“The vast and diverse California coast is an awe-inspiring place of exploration and discovery, full of life forms that are shockingly unfamiliar. 

SMEA alum and affiliate faculty member, Eric Laschever, recently published an article in the Natural Resources & Environment, a quarterly print magazine of informative articles for environmental law practitioners within the American Bar Association. The article titled, “Coastal Resiliency and the Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Acts” discusses how artificial intelligence systems will drive the future of environmental health and safety.