New molecular tools for reef conservation and climate resilience
New research has revealed that certain protein particles distinguish resilient corals from those that succumb to bleaching, offering new molecular tools for reef conservation and climate resilience. “Some corals are very resilient and very robust. To improve reef restoration efforts, we performed studies to determine how to identify and select resilient coral for propagation purposes and to assure they would have offspring,” said Brook L. Nunn, research associate professor in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Part of the research team was SAFS Associate Professor, Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño. “The work provides a blueprint for identifying corals most likely to survive future bleaching events, offering critical insights to predict and enhance reef resilience in a rapidly warming world,” she said.
Tracking two invasions for the cost of one
International Pacific Halibut Commission Hiring Summer Intern
The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) is seeking to hire an undergraduate or recently graduated intern for Summer 2025 to work at the IPHC Headquarters (HQ) located in Salmon Bay, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
Overview
The Internship Program is designed to provide interns exposure to a variety of tasks associated with the management of an international fisheries resource. Each intern is assigned a research project that involves work in the IPHC Biological Laboratory but that can also include work in other areas relevant to IPHC activities. The intern will work closely with a supervisor to ensure continuing progress toward work goals and with other staff members on the various tasks assigned.
Who May Apply: Undergraduate students entering or in their fourth year of study at an accredited University or College OR recent graduates of a qualified undergraduate bachelor’s degree program who have graduated within the current academic year (2024–2025). Eligible fields of study include fisheries, marine biology, biology, ecology, environmental studies, fisheries oceanography, or other aquatic or biological-related science. Eligibility also extends to quantitative or computer sciences for candidates interested in applications to fisheries.
Major duties and responsibilities
Work term may include but is not limited to:
- Work in the IPHC Biological Laboratory assisting in efforts to identify the sex of commercially landed Pacific halibut by genotyping;
- Work in the IPHC Otolith ageing laboratory learning otolith aging techniques, lab protocols, and the uses of determined ages;
- Contributing to the automatized ageing of otoliths using artificial intelligence (AI) and other AI applications across IPHC research activities;
- Assisting with compilation of fisheries data supporting management process;
- Assisting with dockside sampling on the U.S.A. West Coast, British Columbia, or Alaska. Participating in field work on an IPHC research vessel;
- Assisting the Secretariat with other tasks as assigned;
- Reporting project results through a written report and an oral presentation to the Secretariat at the conclusion of the internship.
Qualifications
Required:
- Applicant must be in (or beginning) fourth year of undergraduate study at an accredited University or College OR must have graduated within the 2024/2025 academic year. Eligible fields of study include fisheries, marine biology, biology, ecology, environmental studies, fisheries oceanography, or other aquatic or biological-related science. Eligibility also extends to quantitative or computer sciences for candidates interested in applications to fisheries;
- Applicant must possess good communication skills and enthusiasm for engaging in a range of assigned tasks. The role requires collaborating with other IPHC Secretariat team members in various roles. Applicant must be self-motivated and work well with limited supervision;
- Must be proficient with MSWord, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook software;
- Must be motivated and willing to work in various settings, including fishing ports and aboard IPHC chartered fishery-independent setline survey (FISS) vessel in the open ocean if the work includes these tasks;
- A cold-water survival at sea course (scheduled and paid for by the IPHC after hire) must be completed prior to deployment on a research vessel. Basic swimming skills will be needed to successfully complete the course.
Preferred, but not required:
- Completion of at least one basic statistics course;
- Previous experience in a laboratory setting (work or classroom);
- Basic proficiency in programming, particularly in languages relevant to data analysis (e.g. R or Python);
- Data collection experience in the field (work or classroom);
- Previous education and/or experience in fisheries species identification and sampling protocols.
A note about field work:
The work term may include sea and/or port activities. These are often the highlight of the internship but can also be challenging. At sea, the intern is typically one of three scientific personnel on board a chartered fishing vessel along with 5-6 professional vessel crew members. All applicants need to be aware that these vessels are relatively small, ranging in length from about 60 to 90 feet, and quarters tend to be cramped. Although every individual has his/her own bunk space, the rooms containing the bunks are shared and may be co-ed. The vessels go to sea for several days at a time without coming to shore and the work at times can be physically challenging. Being able to lift live fish weighing up to 40 pounds without assistance is a necessary requirement for sea-duty.
Port work is typically conducted at processing plants located in somewhat remote locations in Alaska, British Columbia, or the U.S.A. West Coast. Close attention and compliance with plant safety protocols is a must. Being able to climb/descend ladders and lift 40-pound Pacific halibut without assistance are necessary requirements for port work.
Administration
Salary will be paid at IPHC-GS-5.1 which is US$3,813.60/month.
Employment term: May – August (approximately 12 weeks duration – start date negotiable if working around an academic schedule)
While in Seattle, office hours are Monday through Friday, eight hours per day plus ½ hour for lunch. Field work may consist of longer or shorter workdays and weekends.
Criminal background check: Employment with the IPHC requires the ability to freely cross the U.S.A./Canada border. All prospective employees must submit to a criminal background check. A conviction for DUI/DWI, Breaking and Entering, Assault, Drugs, or Theft may prevent you from crossing the U.S.A./Canada border and this may result in the IPHC not being able to consider your application.
Obtaining school credit: This internship may serve in the fulfillment of school credit if desired. This must be arranged by the student in advance in which case the student’s IPHC supervisor will work with the student and the school to complete assessments or other requirements as needed.
Application
All applications must be submitted online through the link on the IPHC webpage.
Materials required for application:
- Letter of introduction explaining why you wish to work for the IPHC and what you can offer, what you hope to gain from the experience and how this internship fits into your academic program of study and/or future goals;
- Resume complete with at least three listed references (must provide e-mail addresses) who can speak to your ability to complete projects and/or interpersonal skills. Letters of recommendation are also acceptable;
- Copy of college transcripts. Unofficial transcripts are sufficient.
Upload your documents to the application portal where indicated. If necessary, you can also e-mail additional documents to the portal.
All completed applications received no later than 5 PM (PST) on Monday, 21 April 2025, will be considered. A short list of candidates will be compiled, and those applicants will be contacted for interviews. Interviews will be conducted via remote meeting or over the phone. Selection will be made no later than 12 May 2025. All applicants will be notified of application status. If you have any questions, please contact the IPHC Secretariat at secretariat@iphc.int.
How can real-time monitoring improve fisheries management?
New study shows non-native species drive the global loss of freshwater fish beta-diversity
Without a trace: How is Russian seafood ending up on US plates?
Whether it is food or clothing, people care about where their products come from, for a myriad of reasons. Seafood is no different. Governments, retailers, and customers care about the source of the seafood on their plate as it is an important factor for evaluating the product’s sustainability and whether it aligns with their values. In a new perspective piece published in npj Ocean Sustainability on Feb. 27, 2025, Jessica Gephart worked with a team of researchers to look into a specific case of seafood traceability in relation to US imports after sanctions on Russia.
Seafood was a target of import restrictions imposed by Russia following the first round of sanctions in response to the 2014 invasion of Crimea. The US responded with a Russian seafood import ban as a result of the current war in Ukraine. What the team found was perhaps contrary to what you might expect as a result of international sanctions. “We found that while Russian imports of seafood products from sanctioning countries declined by nearly 60%, this was substituted with increased imports from other countries. Meanwhile, exports of Russia’s own seafood were essentially unaffected, with intermediary countries playing an important role,” said Jessica Gephart, assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (UW SAFS).
Furthermore, they showed that prior to the US ban on Russian seafood imports, 96% of Russian seafood consumed in the US was imported from a country other than Russia, primarily China. This means that vast majority of Russian seafood destined for the US would likely not indicate that it was harvested by Russia under the current country of origin labeling rules, without additional reporting requirements.
This scenario of how complex trade patterns can elude enforcement efforts in the case of trade restrictions against Russia was revealed using the Aquatic Resource Trade in Species (ARTIS) database, which estimates aquatic food flows by origin and species while accounting for foreign processing. “A key challenge is that when seafood undergoes processing in an intermediate country, such as being processed from a whole fish into a fillet, it becomes a product of the processing country under current rules,” Jessica said. “Without additional requirements to retain information on the harvesting country, we therefore generally lose that information.”
The question remains: how is Russian seafood entering the US after sanctions? The team quantified the pathways through which Russian-harvested products move into the US, revealing that 89% of Russian seafood continued to move through China, with the majority, by volume, being Alaska pollock, Atlantic cod, or pink salmon.
“We chose this trade path because it was, and remains, a current issue. Various stakeholders were calling to close the ‘processing loophole’ for Russian seafood, but what we show is that the processing loophole is substantial in this case, but the existing tools are insufficient for closing it,” Jessica noted. “Through this case, we illustrate the broader traceability challenge for policies aimed at other goals, such as sourcing from sustainable stocks or eliminating illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing from US supply chains, for which knowing who harvested seafood is a critical piece of information.”
Some of the recommendations for strengthening traceability and regulation of seafood imports that emerged from this research include expanding the coverage of existing programs such as the US Seafood Monitoring Program (SIMP). Currently, this program only covers around half of US seafood imports. “The US has been a leader in promoting sustainable fisheries and SIMP represents an important step for ensuring our imported seafood is sourced legally so that our domestic fisheries are competing on a level playing field. Yet, to strengthen the effectiveness of the program, we recommend expanding the program to cover all seafood products, expanding support for the implementation of SIMP, making at least some of the SIMP data publicly available to enable government-researcher collaborations, and coordinate with other nations’ seafood import programs to align data collection so that we can better target seafood import inspections,” Jessica said.
The team involved in this study included four professors from the University of Washington—Jessica Gephart (UW SAFS), Christopher Anderson (UW SAFS), Lorenz Hauser (UW SAFS), and Tabitha Mallory (Jackson School of International Studies)—and scientists from American University, Duke University, John Hopkins University, Simeone Consulting, and University of Florida.
Roberts Lab Hiring Undergraduate Research Assistant
The Roberts Lab in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences is seeking a motivated undergraduate student to assist with general lab maintenance, logistical support, and shellfish husbandry. Responsibilities will include maintaining a clean and organized lab environment, preparing and restocking supplies, assisting with routine equipment maintenance, and supporting ongoing research projects by caring for live shellfish, monitoring water quality, and ensuring proper system functioning. This position offers hands-on experience in a research setting and is ideal for students interested in marine biology, environmental science, or laboratory operations. Applicants should be detail-oriented, reliable, and comfortable working both independently and as part of a team. No prior research experience is required, but a willingness to learn and follow lab protocols is essential. The position is for 10–19.5 hours per week, with a time period of Spring Quarter, and offers a pay rate of $21.57 per hour. Interested students should send a brief email to Steven Roberts (sr320@uw.edu) outlining relevant interest and experience and attach a 1 page resume.
- Lab: Roberts Lab
- Position: General lab maintenance, logistical support, and shellfish husbandry
- Position supervisor: Steven Roberts
- Appointment start and end dates: Spring Quarter (exact dates TBD)
- Weekly time commitment: 10–19.5 hours
- Wage: $21.57/hour
- How to apply: Send a brief email to Steven Roberts (sr320@uw.edu) outlining relevant interest and experience and attach a 1 page resume
- Deadline to apply: April 1, 2025
- Questions: Dr. Steven Roberts (sr320@uw.edu)
Birdsong, insects, and streams: How are King County’s riparian habitats faring?
It’s not just fish being studied at SAFS. Undergraduates get to learn about a huge range of species, from teeny tiny parasites and insects, to seabirds and the largest mammals on Earth. And it’s not just animals either. It’s all the habitats in which these animals live and depend on. For Stevan Pekich, birds are his thing. “I have always been a huge fan of birds and have done as much as possible to integrate them as much as I could into my SAFS major,” he said. Stevan is an undergraduate in his senior year, double majoring in SAFS and Environmental Science. “This led me to working on Giordano (Gio) Jacuzzi’s project within the Olden Lab last year where I was helping identify bird calls.” Using the skills he picked up while volunteering on Gio’s project, Stevan is now working with Gio as his partner and mentor on his capstone project.
Gio Jacuzzi
For Stevan’s capstone project, which is the final research step for an undergraduate before majoring in aquatic and fishery sciences, he is exploring how urbanization and insect health are affecting riparian-obligate bird species in our local King County. “Riparian habitat refers to transitional areas between land and water, such as rivers and streams. Riparian habitat typically includes rich soil, lush vegetation, and abundant aquatic insect populations that are important for many species,” Stevan said. “Riparian-obligate species are ones that require riparian habitat at some point in their life history, such as for nesting or foraging, and are often heavily affected by destruction or degradation of riparian areas.”
Stevan’s research includes species such as Willow Flycatchers and Wilson’s warblers that rely on riparian areas for habitat and insects to eat. He is examining if the health of insects and level of urbanization are affecting whether or not these birds are visiting King County’s riparian habitat. Although only 2% of King County is classed as riparian habitat, over 50% of the wildlife in Western Washington use riparian habitat frequently.
Visiting 30 different sites in the summer of 2024 along streams in King County, Stevan and Gio set up microphones to gather acoustic recordings. These acoustic devices were scheduled to record periodically during the times of the day that birds are most vocal. “The sites represented a gradient of high-low levels of insect health measured by the King County Department of Natural Resources, as well as a gradient of high-low levels of urbanization measured using GIS tools and datasets to identify impervious areas around each site,” Stevan said. The term high-low levels means the sites represent a range of insect health and diversity, ranging from poor levels where there are low levels of insect health to high levels where aquatic insect species are abundant. And the same for urbanization: high urbanization refers to sites with a high percentage of impervious surfaces and low urbanization meaning there is not much impervious surface around the site.
Gio Jacuzzi
After the summer monitoring period was over, Stevan returned to collect each of the acoustic recording units, with the next step to conduct a deep dive into the audio data. “Using a model that is able to parse through the recordings and pick out and identify bird calls, one of my tasks is to make sure the model is accurately identifying the calls,” Stevan said. “To do this, I will be going in and manually listening to a few of the segments to make sure at least one of each bird species identified is present at each site.” Currently working on this stage of the project, we wondered how Stevan was able to identify which bird made which call. “I am able to identify the birds by their calls by looking at the spectrogram of the call and comparing it to known spectrograms of other recordings. I compare the shape and range of frequency of the spectrogram and can determine from there the species,” he shared. “Many bird species have multiple different calls and sounds that they make, so this can be a bit time consuming if I have to search through all the different types of songs and chirps.”
The findings of Stevan’s research—i.e. what birds were present where, and how many—will be important in the conservation and restoration of riparian habitat and riparian-obligate species. “Knowing just how much urbanization and insect health are contributing to habitat usage will be key in gauging success in stream restoration projects and riparian-obligate conservation plans,” Stevan shared. One of the programs Stevan and Gio came across in their background research was the King County Small Habitat Restoration Program, which restores streams by planting native vegetation, removing fish migration barriers, and removing invasive plants.
The capstone projects available to undergraduates completing their majors at SAFS are vast and varied. They also present a wide array of opportunities from working in the field on data collection to working in the lab on data analysis. For Stevan, his favorite part was the fieldwork. “I really enjoyed being able to go out into streams around King County to set up the microphones. Even though it got a bit thorny bushwhacking through blackberries, it was very cool to see the shift from how very urbanized streams look versus more natural and pristine ones, and what sort of vegetation and wildlife was there,” he said. “Also, being a huge birder, I was definitely a fan of listening to the bird recordings we got—it was like bird watching in 30 different places at once over a whole summer.”
Gio Jacuzzi
One piece of advice we hear time and time again from students who have studied at SAFS is to make use of the academic and advising resources available, which provide connections and networking opportunities that lead to research. “The advising and academic resources available to me are what led me to find prior research opportunities that have helped me pursue my capstone. Building knowledge in quantitative analyses and ecological processes has been especially helpful throughout my capstone,” Stevan said. “With my double major, I feel that each makes me more specialized and able to pursue research and career opportunities in a variety of different fields in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.”
So, what’s next for Stevan when he graduates in Spring? “I hope to move back home to Anchorage, Alaska where I grew up to pursue a career in natural resource management. I know that my experiences in SAFS have made me uniquely qualified for many of the management projects in Alaska and I’m excited to get started with managing terrestrial and aquatic resources. My capstone has helped me a lot with developing some of the technical skills with GIS and quantitative analyses via R-Studio that will be applicable to a career in natural resources,” he said.
Working with Gio and working on his own capstone project is not the only research experience that Stevan has been involved in while an undergraduate at SAFS. “Last summer I was an intern with Defenders of Wildlife helping on their conceptual plan to reintroduce southern sea otters to northern California and Oregon,” Stevan shared. “ I think that being in SAFS really set me apart from the other applicants, as the role required working with commercial fishery catch and species data. I have found that this internship has set me up for success as I am pursuing career opportunities up in Alaska, and I owe a large part of that to the opportunities and experiences I pursued in SAFS!”
Curious to read what other undergraduates are up to during their studies? Check out their stories:
Seattle City Light Hiring Conservation Hatchery Biology Intern
Seattle City Light is recruiting for an internship based at the Native Salmonid Conservation Facility (NSCF) in Usk, WA, in Pend Oreille County. It provides a hands-on learning experience focused on conservation-based native fishery restoration, supporting Boundary Dam FERC licensing obligations. The 2025 Hatchery Internship offers students an opportunity to develop entry-level biological data collection and animal husbandry skills within an environmental restoration context. Interns will engage in structured learning projects under the guidance of the Hatchery Supervisor, Operator, and Technician, gaining direct experience in conservation practices and ecological monitoring.
Job Responsibilities
Through this internship, students will:
- Develop field research techniques and environmental data collection skills.
- Gain hands-on experience in the care and rearing of native wild westslope cutthroat trout.
- Apply husbandry, monitoring, and data collection methods to support healthy ecosystems and fishery restoration efforts in the Pend Oreille Basin.
Interns will actively participate in conservation-focused projects that support ecological restoration and fishery management. Tasks may include:
- Assisting in preparing feed and feeding fish, ensuring fish health and safety.
- Cleaning fish rearing vessels and facility operations to maintain optimal conditions.
- Supporting fish spawning, incubation, and maturation processes.
- Conducting environmental surveys alongside SCL field staff, including:
- Water temperature monitoring and aquatic habitat assessments.
- Daytime backpack electrofishing surveys and nighttime boat-based electrofishing surveys.
- Remote telemetry station maintenance and mobile telemetry surveys.
- Netting and handling fish in streams and reservoirs.
- Participating in snorkeling surveys to observe and document fish behavior and habitat conditions.
- Learning to operate a backpack electrofishing unit in accordance with conservation protocols.
- Downloading and recording instrument data, as well as manually entering field observations.
This internship is designed to provide students with hands-on training in environmental conservation, field research, and native fish species restoration, preparing them for future careers in fisheries biology, environmental science, or related fields.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Undergraduate students will need to maintain a 2.0 GPA or above throughout the internship.
- Current Washington State driver’s license or evidence of equivalent mobility.
Areas of Study:
- Enrolled in an accredited certificate, 2-year or 4-year undergraduate program during their internship.
- Enrolled in an academic program with focus on fisheries, fish ecology or physiology, aquaculture, natural resources, biology, zoology or related field.
Desired Qualifications:
- Understanding of basic water chemistry and water quality parameters important to sustaining aquatic organisms.
- Demonstrated effective verbal and written communication skills.
- Demonstrated experience at a fish hatchery, conducting fish surveys, data collection and management.
Additional Information
This internship requires onsite work at the Native Salmonid Conservation Facility in Usk, WA. City Light does not provide housing; however, services may be available through the US Forest Service Newport Ranger district. Upon request, contact information can be provided during the interview process.
The full salary range for this position is $21.78–$21.78 per hour.
Internship Duration and Hours: Summer only. The timeframe of this internship will be three months in duration, with either a May (semester schools) or June (quarter schools) 2025 start date. The candidate can work up to 40 hours/week during the summer. The estimated schedule is 7:30am–4:00pm Monday through Friday, with the occasional weekend shift.
On-Site Work: This position is expected to be working on-site at the Conservation Fish Hatchery is Usk, Washington or in the field in another outdoor setting.
Application Process
To complete your application, submit the online form with the following attachments:
- Resume
- Cover letter explaining how your coursework, activities, and experience qualify you for this internship.
- Your unofficial transcript – including current coursework, next term registration (if available at the time of application), and cumulative GPA.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
To learn more and apply, please see the official Conservation Hatchery Biology Intern job posting.