As part of the Trout Unlimited annual awards, SAFS Professor Tom Quinn has received the Jack Williams Award for Applied Conservation Science. Read about why Tom was selected for this award in the write-up below, reposted from Trout Unlimited.

Recently retired from full-time teaching and research at the University of Washington, Professor Tom Quinn deserves massive thanks for the huge body of research and writing on Pacific Rim fisheries and especially on salmon and trout of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. 

New study uses integrated population models to predict extinction risk for Cook Inlet beluga whales and lend insight into factors limiting the recovery of protected populations.
Sparse monitoring data and persistent knowledge gaps can hamper conservation efforts aimed at recovering depleted wildlife populations. In a new study, researchers from the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS) set out to tackle this issue for federally endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales by developing an integrated population model that capitalizes on all available information to understand factors that may be affecting survival, reproduction, and population viability. 

Welcoming the newest SAFS Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the College of the Environment, we spoke with Corey Garza. He shares his plans to enhance College diversity, what he’s most excited about by joining SAFS, and insight into his world of research using drones.
What plans do you have for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as Associate Dean? 

Nesting season on Protection Island is a busy time for SAFS Masters student, Liam Pendleton. Home to tens of thousands of pigeon guillemots and rhinoceros auklets, Liam travels to Protection Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca every week from May to September to conduct research and monitoring of these seabirds.
Working in the Quantitative Conservation Lab, led by Sarah Converse, Liam is studying the link between breeding success, and marine environmental conditions. 

In a post-doc focused on modeling climate change effects in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), Alberto Rovellini is part of the Punt Lab at SAFS. Beginning in 2020, Alberto’s work is on this area of Alaska which is facing big implications as a result of climate change, from negative economic implications for important fisheries to adverse ecological impacts on plankton, fish, mammals, and seabirds. 

New research led by the University of Washington uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how seabirds have fared in recent decades. The paper, published July 6 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, shows that persistent marine heat waves lead to massive seabird die-offs months later. 

A new study produced by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the University of Washington (UW), with the lead researcher from SAFS, provides the first-ever nationwide assessment of non-federally managed fisheries in the United States. 

Another year, another fantastic day of bringing science to life at the UW Aquatic Sciences Open House. Featuring 30 booths, each with an interactive activity dedicated to specific research underway in the world of water, this year’s Open House welcomed more than 600 visitors.

Making aquatic science accessible to all is one of the driving forces behind the Open House. The event is hosted by the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, which sits on the south campus of the University of Washington and just across from Portage Bay. 

The UW Aquatic Sciences Open House was featured in a 2-minute segment on FOX 13 Seattle, showcasing the breadth of research and highlighting the importance of Open House events for accessibility and inspiring a new generation of scientists. 

Tiny pieces of plastic in the ocean might seem innocuous on their own, but their growing presence is a frustrating issue facing marine ecosystems. The particles’ small size makes them difficult to clean up, and it also allows them to easily burrow into marine environments or even get ingested by ocean organisms.