In rural communities across the tropics, a parasitic disease called schistosomiasis that is carried by freshwater snails currently infects more than 220 million people, rivaling malaria in its prevalence. Capable of residing in an infected human for more than 30 years, the Schistosoma parasite can cause debilitating and often-fatal health complications, including liver failure, bladder cancer, and an increased risk of AIDS. An estimated 280,000 people in Africa alone die each year from the disease. Despite 50 years of medical intervention and the availability of a relatively inexpensive and effective drug, the disease has stubbornly resisted eradication efforts, largely due to the ease with which the parasite reinfects its human hosts.

The Ocean Modeling Forum (OMF) is a University of Washington program run through the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences that aims to bring together interdisciplinary scientists, modeling experts, decision makers, and other people invested in ocean resources. The OMF helps managers frame questions, understand the strengths and limitations of different models, and learn how to incorporate models in their work. 

I grew up in southern California, but spent summer vacations in the Pacific Northwest. These trips convinced me that there were more desirable places to live than the urban–suburban sprawl of Los Angeles and Orange counties. I always loved fishing and science and was intrigued by what influenced the behaviour and productivity of trout—melding my interests into a career in fish biology seemed natural. 

The ink was drying on my PhD as Jan and I loaded three small kids into a VW van for the trip north to Seattle and our new life. Dean Doug Chapman had called me 7 months earlier to express regrets that I didn’t get the invert fishery faculty job, but said my interview went well. Two weeks later, he called again to ask if I still wanted it, choice #1 had backed out. 

My career in fisheries started after I finished my degree in Ecology in Brazil (State University of Sao Paulo, UNESP) and decided to change my research field from myrmecology to fisheries. Although working on ant ecology under the great Harold G. Fowler sparked my scientific curiosity and brought me joy, I soon realized that very few people in the world ate ants… Also, as an undergraduate, the quantitative ecology classes of Miguel Petrere captivated my interest. 

I first visited SAFS in February 2000. With a Fulbright scholarship in my pocket, I was “shopping” PhD programs in fisheries stock assessment. I felt instant chemistry with SAFS. The new building had just been inaugurated, and the atmosphere was so friendly. A stroll around the beautiful UW campus was the first of many that I would come to enjoy. There was also the U-district, where brilliant minds from the four corners of the world come to share their experiences. 

Even as a kid growing up in the eastern Washington desert, I had a fascination with water. I tell my friends that I was the first kid to fall in the mud puddle in the spring and the last to crawl out in the fall. Maybe it traces back to grade school in Annapolis where my Dad taught at the Naval Academy and I spent a lot of time along the Chesapeake Bay. 

I joined SAFS (then called the College of Fisheries) in summer 1974 as a fisheries biologist after completing my MA degree research at California State University, Long Beach. I was accepted into the PhD program in 1976, under Ken Chew. Ken had a project that involved understanding the effects of the five sewage discharges on the shallow water biota in central Puget Sound, and he needed someone to work on the seaweeds. 

When I think of SAFS, the first words that come to mind are friendship, resilience, and collaboration— all of which I was very lucky to gain as a graduate student in SAFS, and still carry with me. The journey to SAFS was one of many detours, a few dead ends, persistence (or perhaps stubbornness?), and serendipity. My love for aquatic systems, invertebrates, plants, and the outdoors in general began as a kid visiting lakes outside Bogotá (Colombia) with my family. 

My interest in fish and marine mammals started young. While other kids were memorizing baseball card statistics or the pathways on Super Mario and Zelda, I was memorizing fish identification books. My interest was driven by the fact that my father was a fisheries and marine mammal biologist, and I was fascinated with fishing and fish in general.
During my childhood, I had many opportunities for my love of fish and marine mammals to grow.