People

Started: Fall 2025

Hometown:  Lewiston, MT and Petersburg, AK

Undergraduate Degree: BS, Western Washington University

Master's Research: Aleutia is using otolith chemistry to identify the natal origins of juvenile Chinook salmon and quantify population mixing in Whidbey Basin’s estuaries. Used in conjunction with genetic stock identification and habitat use data, otolith microchemistry can provide a means for assigning natal origins and determining which populations are using estuarine habitats. This approach will enhance understanding of population mixing and non-natal estuarine habitat use, thus informing the management of a complex, migratory species.

Science Interests: Marine and estuarine fish ecology, fisheries science, indigenous fisheries management, and climate change impacts

Life Interests: Skiing of all kinds, running, flyfishing, and reading

Favorite Critter: Sturgeon Poacher

Started: Fall 2024

Hometown:  Wichita, KS

Undergraduate Degree: BS, Western Washington University

Master's Research: Delaney will be working with the Salish Sea Research Center to develop a stomach content analysis for longfin smelt, also called Hooligans. Longfin smelt are an anadromous forage fish species that are also a culturally important species for Lummi Nation. Having a better understanding of the feeding ecology of the Nooksack River population of longfin smelt could assist with our understanding of where they spend their time in the estuarine environment.

Science Interests: Indigenous natural resource management, fisheries science

Life Interests: Mountain biking, Gardening, Snowboarding, Reading

Favorite Critter: Starry flounder

Started: Fall 2023

Hometown: Reno, NV

Undergraduate Degree: BS, University of Washington

Master's Research: Jon is studying how juvenile Chinook salmon feed on aggregations of crab larvae in the Whidbey Basin by comparing ambient crab larvae densities to fish diets. Completing this project will allow us to apply a bioenergetics model on a spatial scale, identifying hotspots of potential salmon growth throughout the basin. Determining where growth potential is highest is important for understanding how salmon grow during their critical growth period to avert size-selective mortality.

Science Interests: Salmonid ecology, age and growth, marine survival, food-web interactions 

Life Interests: Model building, paddleboarding, running

Favorite Critter: Spotted Ratfish

Started: Fall 2023

Hometown: Lacey, WA

Undergraduate Degree: BS, Western Washington University

Master's Research: Anthony is quantifying the available estuary rearing habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon within the Whidbey Basin resulting from estuarine restoration projects that have occurred since the early 2000’s. This project will examine the changes in habitat availability and connectivity from a fish-eye view, as well as quantify habitat metrics that affect juvenile Chinook salmon accessibility to rearing habitat (opportunity metrics) and those that influence juvenile Chinook salmon productivity (capacity metrics). Following the examination of these factors influencing rearing habitat of juvenile Chinook salmon, the potential carrying capacity of these restoration project sites, estuaries, and the Whidbey Basin will be examined. This work will ultimately be used as a framework for future statistical and spatial analyses of estuarine restoration projects in relation to juvenile Chinook populations and their response to restoration. 

Science Interests: Fishery Science, Ecology,

Paleontology, Paleoecology, Habitat and Species Recovery, Habitat and Data Analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Life Interests: Hiking, Fossil Hunting, Tide pooling,

Reading 

Favorite Critter: Ammonite

Started: Fall 2023

Hometown: Portland, OR

Undergraduate Degree: BS, University of Puget Sound

Master's Research: Sean is collecting invertebrates across restoration areas in the Snohomish estuary to obtain the energy density of prey available to juvenile Chinook salmon during their spring outmigration. His work will highlight how factors such as habitat type,  restoration stage, and tidal cycle influence prey availability. A better understanding of how estuary restoration impacts prey availability will allow managers to better target their planning of future restoration projects to maximize benefits for juvenile Chinook salmon during a critical life stage. 

Science Interests: Fisheries biology, Restoration ecology, Climate change impacts, Food web interactions

Life Interests: Mountain and gravel biking, downhill and xc skiing, sailing and birding

Favorite Critter: River Otter

MS, Graduated Fall 2023

Thesis: Visual characteristics of walleye pollock and Chinook salmon: Modeling theoretical visual space and target contrast of trawling materials in the Bering Sea

MS, Graduated Fall 2022

Thesis: Avian and Shallow Water Community Response to Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) Spawn Events

Undergraduate Degree: University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo

MS, Graduated Fall 2022

Thesis: Species Distribution and Abundance of Bering Sea Tunicates with Implications for Coastal Food Security

Undergraduate Degree: BS, Michigan State University