Alongside two student researchers from her lab, SAFS Assistant Professor Amy Van Cise has been out on the Puget Sound for a few days conducting killer whale research. Working with a team comprised of UW students, Wild Orca, and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, they’re assisted in locating fecal samples from the whales by Wild Orca’s poop-sniffing dog, Eba.
Amy Van Cise, with student researchers Sofia Kaiaua and Mollie Ball, were aboard the Wild Orca boat with Research Director Dr. 

Working for more than 15 years in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, SAFS PhD student Sarah O’Neal, recently published a new paper in BioScience examining the gap between ecological science and environmental management. Sarah’s article focuses on indirect ecological effects and how these are often defined differently in regulatory decisions.

A meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG) was held at SAFS on 10-14 June 2024, co-chaired by Professor Kristin Laidre.

Over the last two decades, there has been huge growth in the availability of different ‘omics methods used to study marine mammals. A new paper published in Marine Mammal Science, involving 19 scientists from around the globe, has laid out best practices for collecting and preserving marine mammal biological samples in the ‘omics era.

Swimming around tropical coral reefs in a colorful array are an ever-changing multitude of fishes, some in schools of hundreds, others in pairs, and ones that prefer their own company. These are the fishes divers see on a heathy coral reef, but they are often only half of the diversity found in the reef’s fishes. The “hidden half” are the cryptobenthic fishes.

From microplastics to seabirds, and everything in between, Tetiaroa offers new insights on tropical ecosystems for UW Professors and researchers.

The number of people diving into aquatic sciences during the 2024 Open House on 18 May more than doubled this year, with 1,200 visitors of all ages joining us for a day of hands-on activities.

Eric Essington, UW Biology senior, has been working on his independent research project in the Roberts Lab for the past year, looking into a familiar hard-shelled mollusk: the oyster. Why? To simulate temperature changes associated with climate change and explore the impact on Pacific oysters.

In a lot of ways, deep reefs are understudied. Too deep for divers to reach and only accessible by submarines, this zone of ocean habitat is often overlooked. We spoke to SAFS master’s student, Sarah Yerrace, about her research focused on one thing in particular: lionfish.

As part of a video series profiling the science and scientists behind some of the environment’s most unexpected research, Grist visited the Wood Lab at SAFS, to find out about Chelsea Wood’s parasite research.