In a StoryMap bringing to life the challenges faced by Pacific salmon, SAFS graduate student, Amirah Casey, dives into the role of urban stormwater runoff and climate change in hindering salmon recovery.

While conducting early detection monitoring for invasive European green crab (Carcinus maenas), Washington Sea Grant Crab Team discovered a non-native shrimp Palaemon macrodactylus, hitherto unreported along Washington’s portion of the Salish Sea. By examining prior data, and tracking this species closely over subsequent years, the team which included researchers from SAFS, were able to consistently monitor the spread and increase of this species across the region.

It’s not just fish being studied at SAFS. Undergraduates get to learn about a huge range of species, from teeny tiny parasites and insects, to seabirds and the largest mammals on Earth. And it’s not just animals either. It’s all the habitats in which these animals live and depend on. For Stevan Pekich, his capstone project is exploring how urbanization and insect health are affecting riparian-obligate bird species in our local King County.

Climate change threatens the health of polar bears across the Arctic. A study published in Conservation Physiology on March 5, introduces a new approach to measuring the health of polar bear populations, drawing inspiration from a well-known concept in human medicine: allostatic load. The lead author of the study is SAFS PhD student, Sarah Teman, working with UW Professor, Kristin Laidre, and scientists from USGS and Fish and Wildlife Health Consulting.

What inspires our undergraduates to pursue a degree all about aquatic and fishery science? We caught up with Eli Nettlebeck—a junior at SAFS, a transfer student from Seattle Central College, and someone who loves fish—to find out why.

Scanning through the rows and rows of preserved fish housed in the UW Fish Collection, it’s easy to get lost trying to figure out what each fish is, especially to the untrained eye. Fish identification is a necessary step when preserving specimens from the wild, which deliver key insights for researchers delving into the untold secrets of fish. For SAFS undergraduate Liam Aston, his capstone research involves looking at Cottus specimens in the Fish Collection, a group of freshwater sculpin found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

10 years ago, the UN declared 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. On this 10th anniversary at the University of Washington, we’re celebrating our women in aquatic and marine science: women who are leaders in their fields, women who are aspiring to be the next generation of fisheries scientists and marine biologists, women who are uplifting and supporting other women in science.

Interdisciplinary. Providing mentorship. Community-focused. These are just some of the terms that come to mind for Chris when she describes what it means to be a Black scientist. “When we think about being a non-majority community in STEM – and in this instance Black in STEM – we are tasked with a three-pronged responsibility because this is a lived experience for so many of us: being inherently interdisciplinary, mentor others, focus on your community”. Chris Mantegna is currently a graduate student at SAFS, after earning her bachelor’s degree in UW Marine Biology in 2021.

Walk along any beach, and you’re likely to find snail shells dotting the sand. In the Bering Sea, more than 200 species of sea snails exist. They’re an important source of prey for fish and walruses, playing a vital part in the Bering Sea food web. Working with a 50-year-old shell collection sourced from NOAA trawls from the mid-late 1970s, Jasper Nevis is looking at community structure in Bering Sea snails in collaboration with the Burke Museum Malacology Collection.