Visitors to the Anchorage Museum can explore Arctic marine science through a new exhibition featuring SAFS Professor and CICOES Director John Horne, whose work demonstrates how acoustic technology helps scientists observe life beneath the ocean surface.

A new study co-authored by SAFS Professor Corey Garza highlights how structural barriers limit access to California’s coast and outlines pathways toward more equitable coastal management.

As the Trump administration moves to repeal the Roadless Rule, Dr. Julian Olden, the study’s lead author and Professor of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at University of Washington, said “it is difficult to overstate the importance of roadless areas for people and nature,” warning that weakening the rule could threaten both clean water and outdoor recreation.

Our very own Professor Daniel Schindler was elected to the 2026 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in recognition of his groundbreaking research on climate change, freshwater ecosystems and fisheries. Professor Schindler’s work has helped advance understanding of salmon habitats, watershed health and ecosystem resilience across Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

In a new study, University of Washington scientists eavesdropped on Cook Inlet belugas, recording more than 1,700 calls representing 21 different behavioral encounters. This work builds on a 2023 study showing that noise from commercial shipping, the primary industry in the region, masks common beluga calls. Although many marine mammals rely more on sound than sight, our understanding of acoustic communication among these animals is limited. 

Most rivers in the United States flow with little real protection, even though they supply drinking water, support wildlife, and shape our landscapes. New research co-led by Julian Olden finds that nearly two-thirds of U.S. rivers lack safeguards for water quality, habitat, and biodiversity. The findings show how much of the nation’s river network remains exposed and how much work still lies ahead.

Long baleen whale mothers are more likely to have female calves than males, according to a new study led by the University of Washington. The findings, published by UW QERM student Zoe Rand and Professors Trevor Branch and Sarah Converse, contradict a popular evolutionary theory postulating that strong mammals benefit more from birthing males.

Fullbright Scholar, Science contributor, freshwater biologist. These are some of the ways to describe Aashna Sharma, who is currently working with Dr. Julian Olden at SAFS as part of her two-year postdoctoral fellowship. From the foothills of the Himalayas in India, Aashna was recently inspired by the Past as Prologue feature in Science that highlights how different scientists from around the world are shaped by their family and background, and submitted a piece herself.

Until now, no one knew what caused the sea star wasting disease which wiped out populations along the West Coast starting in 2013. But an international research effort including scientists from the University of Washington has finally revealed the cause: a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida.

Seeking to understand the impacts of environmental stressors on Pacific oysters is the driving force behind a years-long research project involving scientists from the University of Washington and NOAA, and in collaboration with the oyster industry. Critical in aquaculture, Pacific oysters are the dominant oyster species grown on the US West Coast, with the industry in the Pacific Northwest alone valued at over $270 million a year.