Congratulations to José Guzman and Sarah Converse who were recognized by the UW College of the Environment for Exceptional Mentoring of Undergraduates and Outstanding Diversity Commitment, respectively

SAFS’ Julian Olden has been named a 2022 fellow of the Ecological Society of America

Parasites play an outsize role in balancing ecosystems, and some species may be in danger. Read the article from Scientific American featuring SAFS’ Chelsea Wood.

The SAFS community shares thoughts on what it’s like to be back on campus after nearly 18 months of mostly remote instruction and administration.

After a decade of serving as director of SAFS, André Punt is stepping down to focus on his teaching and research. Over the past ten years, he has navigated the School through challenging times, such as the ongoing pandemic, as well as historic highs, like the Centennial Celebration in 2019. Please join us in thanking André for going above and beyond as SAFS Director.

After more than a year of research, planning, and advocacy by grad students, staff, and postdocs, SAFS completed its first-ever DEI Assessment (or “Equity Audit”) in autumn quarter 2021. SAFS contracted with WhitworthKee Consulting, who held focus groups and developed a survey instrument to assess the School’s climate and opportunities for growth.

On July 30, 2021, Lynwood Smith, SAFS professor emeritus, passed away at the age of 92. During his time at the School of Fisheries and as member of the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), Lynwood’s research focused on real-world issues and opportunities. His publications included contributions to fish physiology and the effects of environmental stress on fish.

SAFS Associate Professor Chelsea Wood is the recipient of a 2022 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This prestigious award will support Wood’s novel research on the historical ecology of parasitism and will allow her to create an active-learning, open-access version of her undergraduate parasite ecology course.

This will be my last “From the Director” letter as my 10-year tenure as SAFS director is drawing to a close. It has been an exciting, enjoyable, challenging, and at times exhausting decade. We have seen numerous transitions in the School’s faculty, staff, and students, resulting in major changes in research, teaching, advising, and administration.

The UW College of the Environment is pleased to announce that Professor Tim Essington has agreed to serve for a five-year term as director of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, effective July 1, 2022. Essington is a fisheries ecologist, whose research focuses on the application of ecological knowledge to sustain fisheries and ecosystems. He has an active research program in Puget Sound examining consequences of climate change, hypoxia, and nearshore restoration on food webs, and he is also well known for his global syntheses of fish and fisheries data to reveal ecosystem responses to fishing.