On 16 September 2024, the newest faculty member will join SAFS, Assistant Professor Carter Smith. Carter is an interdisciplinary coastal ecologist whose interests lie at the intersection of multiple disciplines including community ecology, conservation and restoration science, and coupled human natural systems research.

We’re happy to announce this year’s Faculty Merit Award winners, given annually to graduating students at all ranks in recognition of exceptional achievement and contributions to the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. This is by far the most prestigious of the many awards conferred by the School to students, where the nominations come directly from SAFS faculty.

How is our food system shaped by the choices of consumers, retailers, farmers, and fish harvesters?
If you’re interested in food and food policy, NUTR 490/FISH 497B Special Topics: Economics of Food Systems is a new undergraduate course offered in autumn 2024 by UW SAFS, in conjunction with the Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health Program in the School of Public Health, which explores the economic forces that shape individual decisions and overall outcomes in our food system. 

Part of the SAFS PhD program, Chris Mantegna has been named as one of the Husky 100 for 2024. Students are chosen for actively connecting what happens inside and outside of the classroom and applying this learning to make a difference on campus, their communities, and for the future.

As much as she loves research, Marjorie Wonham, the newest faculty member in the UW Marine Biology program at UW, is passionate about teaching. 

Join us every Wednesday at 3.30pm for coffee, treats and community conversation this Winter 2024 Quarter!
Take a break from your busy week and join your fellow SAFS community – students, staff, researchers, faculty – every week.
Wednesdays, 3.30pm, SAFS third floor kitchen 

Joining SAFS as Assistant Professor in January 2024, Jessica Gephart brings to the school her expertise in global food trade systems. Always having an interest in scientific problems, Jessica started off her career in aquatic ecology and modeling before becoming involved in a side project in her lab at the time, focused on food systems and food trade. “I was interested in the modeling approaches that parallel these systems and realized that a lot of studies didn’t look at fish at all. 

This year’s Outstanding Staff Award has been presented to two exemplary colleagues who went above and beyond in their work in the face of a UW-wide financial system transition: Kenyon Foxworthy and Taylor Draper.
Based in the SAFS admin suite, Kenyon is the Operations Finance Manager and Taylor is the Front Desk and Fiscal Supervisor. Both have been recognized for their patience and perseverance with the roll-out of the new UWFT system. 

From corals, birds and salmon to microplastics, otolith microchemistry and fisheries management, join us for a day full of grad research from around the world. 

The National Diversity in Stem Conference (NDiSTEM) organized by the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) is the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the U.S., serving to equip, empower, and energize participants for their academic and professional paths in STEM.
At the 2023 event held in October in Portland, SAFS graduate student, Nicole Doran, won the research presentation prize for Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation in the field of Ecology and Evolution, and recent Marine Biology graduate, Olivia Anderson, won a Native American/Indigenous Student Research Abstract Award.