Building community among the different student groups at SAFS and Marine Biology—undergraduates, graduates and postdocs—the SAFS Undergrad Community Building Event was held was held for the fourth year running.
Taking place on 13 May, undergraduates were invited to walk around and speak to grads and postdocs about different topics including grad school, what life looks like after graduation, and finding your way in science.
Organized through the SAFS DEI Committee, the event was inspired by the graduate student peer mentoring program and the desire to build a community within SAFS that includes undergrads.
Taylor Triviño
SAFS undergrads were invited to walk around and talk to different graduates and postdocs.
Graduate student, Taylor Triviño, who helped to organize the event, shared her thoughts:
“This is my second year helping to organize the event and I find it very rewarding connecting our undergraduate students and graduate students in the department. I overheard great conversations about life after graduation, what grad school looks like, and stories about finding your path in science. Academia can be a tricky place to navigate especially as a first-generation student, so being able to share my experience can reveal some of the hidden curriculum that no one tells you about but expects you to know. The graduate students in SAFS come from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and disciplines where we each can speak about how we got to Seattle and how different each of our paths have been. I’m hoping to continue to organize this event each spring to strengthen our community, uplift the undergraduates, and share how amazing the work we do here at SAFS is.” – Taylor Triviño
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, mentoring others, focusing on your community”. Chris Mantegna is currently a graduate student at SAFS, after earning her bachelor’s degree in UW Marine Biology in 2021.
University of Washington
Chris Mantegna on Yellow Island during her 2024 mentorship program.
She is also a founding board member of BWEEMS (Black Women in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Science) and created their first foundational mentorship program, has been a part of BIMS (Black in Marine Science) since its beginnings as a tweet in 2020, and collaborates with many other BIPOC-focused organizations such as Sea Potential and NABS (National Association of Black Scuba Divers). “One of the many things I love about the Black community in marine science is we’re all connected. So many organizations and groups work together – be it Sea Potential, BIMS or BWEEMS – because our numbers are so small, and water touches all of it,” Chris said.
The experience of being an excellent scientist while also shouldering the responsibility of enhancing representation and uplifting others in your community can be a challenge, but a rewarding one. “The experience of trying to be the best, while walking into a space which doesn’t always value the experience, knowledge, and lessons you’re bringing, is tough. I love Black excellence, but we also need to give ourselves the space to make excellence whatever we want,” Chris shared.
A key part of Chris’ mentorship programs, such as the Yellow Island NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergrads-Blinks internship, is to highlight that each student brings a different lived experience and view of science to the table. “A lot of us are navigating the different environments in which we grew up in, or currently live and work in, and therefore bring a different understanding to science and research,” she said.
Chris Mantegna
Chris with her 2024 Yellow Island summer interns. L-R: Benjamin Brown, Galen June, Darian Pierre, Chris Mantegna, Kai Miller, Noah Krebs and Luis Hurtado.
Marine and aquatic science has been filled with pioneering contributions from Black scientists – from the first Black marine biologist, Ernest Everett Just, who pioneered understanding of cell physiology, embryonic development and fertilization, to Joan Murrell Owens, who shed light on the evolutionary relationships of corals.
This legacy continues but there is a lot of work to be done to continue the effort to increase representation in STEM and create a space where Black and other minority groups feel welcome, valued, and safe in the spaces where science is conducted: both inside and in the outdoors. “We can’t recruit students to a place that isn’t ready for them, so we should look to retain and support the students who are here,” Chris shared. “Retention starts with representation across all departmental levels and course content coupled with action-oriented allies.”
We asked Chris what a more inclusive future would look like? “I would love to see syllabi changed at the university level to include more Black scientists – be they from the US or from the Global South,” Chris said. “We need to change the way we teach to encourage more young Black scientists, and make sure the pipelines are in place from middle-school and even earlier, as that’s one place where we’re losing our future scientists”. Building community partnerships is a crucial aspect of this change that Chris would like the future to hold. “Our communities have a different lived experience, and I would like to see that acknowledged, celebrated, and brought into research and science in ways where students can see knowledge coming from the communities that resemble them”.
A global syllabus, more interrogation of teaching styles to demonstrate it can be done differently, embracing creativity around scientific the process, including community, art, and geography – these are all actionable ways that Chris shared that can make science more inclusive.
This Black History Month, Chris is sharing an important message: “Give yourself time to rest and rejuvenate. Revisit some of our strongest, most creative, or marginalized thinkers, such as Tricia Hersey (Rest is Resistance) and the writings of Octavia Butler, June Jordan and Audrey Lorde to support our imaginations in creating what can be. For more marine related writing – Pauline Alexis Gumbs and Jasmin Graham. And remember: let’s be gentler with ourselves in 2025”.
Want to learn more about some local and national organizations dedicated to celebrating and amplifying the work of Black scientists in marine and freshwater science this Black History Month? Visit:
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 SAFS DEIJ and Community Service Recognition Award: Julia Indivero and Claire Vaage.
Julia Indivero (PhD)
Julia was nominated for contribution to this year’s DEIJ activities and her attention to fellow graduate student’s concerns and needs. As a member of the SAFS DEI Committee, she led the third annual Undergraduate Community Building Event, which created a space for undergraduate students in aquatic sciences to meet with graduate students and postdocs in SAFS. As one of the FINS treasurers, she ensures funds for research communication and conference attendance are distributed to students in an equitable manner. Additionally, she frequently takes initiative in participating in department events, encouraging other students along the way and fostering a sense of community. Beyond SAFS, Julia is also an active committee member for UW’s Sustainability Fund, whose mission is to create an environmentally and socially engaged campus by funding student led projects.
Claire Vaage (MS)
Claire was also nominated for her leadership and demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion for students at every level. As the FINS Social Chair, she has created many quarterly events that are accessible and reproducible for years to come. She has also been instrumental in reigniting the Student Chapter of the American Fisheries Society here at UW, and through this renewed student chapter, she has facilitated educational workshops for professional development. Her support of undergraduate students also includes empowering them to participate in regional AFS meetings and volunteering for events like the Hollings Scholar Workshops. Beyond SAFS, Claire’s position on the SEAS board has allowed her to work with fellow students on improving, creating, and sharing lesson plans for students in the Seattle area who have been historically excluded from STEM fields.
The work that these awardees have done increases access, equity, and inclusion in aquatic sciences by giving opportunities, resources, and mentorship to students who may not have it. We are delighted to honor Julia and Claire for their hard work and dedication to making SAFS a more equitable and inclusive institution. The DEI Committee would also like to thank everyone who has contributed excellent and important work to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice at SAFS.
