Director’s message: Autumn 2025
Normally I spend much of this “From the Director” celebrating the various successes, innovations, and discoveries by our School’s talented faculty, students and staff. This time, I also want to acknowledge the difficult circumstances we face. Like many of our peer institutions, SAFS and the UW are facing serious challenges: a state budget deficit, shifts in federal spending priorities, and rising personnel costs. These realities have created a budgetary “perfect storm.”
In these challenging times, I remind myself that the School has been here for over 100 years and has withstood much in that time: the Great Depression, World War II, recessions, and most recently, COVID-19. These periods left their mark, but each time we carried forward by adapting and staying true to our mission. That same mission, delivering world-class teaching, research, and community engagement to sustain aquatic ecosystems, fisheries, and species for today and the future, will guide us through once again.
Amid these challenges, there is also exciting news to celebrate. Starting in Autumn 2025, SAFS will launch a new undergraduate degree in Aquatic Conservation and Ecology (ACE). This degree was many years in the making, and I’m grateful for the contributions by faculty, students, and our student advising staff that made it happen. I especially thank Luke Tornabene and Kerry Naish who contributed much to the final product. This degree will be a a perfect complement to the highly successful Marine Biology B.S. degree, providing a degree pathway for students interested in the stewardship of aquatic systems and fisheries.
I am also pleased to welcome Assistant Teaching Professor, Andrea Burton to SAFS! Andrea will play a vital role teaching SAFS courses that support the Marine Biology program. She is an outstanding instructor who I’m sure will soon make her mark in a program long known for teaching excellence. We’re lucky to have you, Andrea.
And of course, our students and community continue to inspire. Please take a moment to celebrate the terrific achievements of the Class of 2025, and to read about the ever-successful SEAS Open House, which this year welcomed more than 1,000 visitors into the Fisheries Building for the second year in a row. My thanks to the organizers who have grown this event into such a remarkable success.
Thank you all for your continued support of the School—whether through volunteering, contributing to our gift funds, or just checking in to see how we’re doing. It all helps us continue doing the things that make the School so special.