I am an early career scientist who will be re-emerging into the job market sometime in the next few months. Luckily, I have been armed with a set of skills that were greatly boosted during my time as a Sea Grant Fellow.

As I begin to look ahead, I am finding it useful to focus on common threads that have tied my professional interests together thus far. It is my hope that by writing about this process, I will inspire others to consider how their long-standing interests tie into their career path.

I earned my BA at a small liberal arts school in central Arizona. I chose the university because course work was hands on and they offered students an opportunity to build their own degree program. I began my freshman year 100% certain that I would pursue a degree focused on sustainable agriculture and small business development. Food systems were a lens through which I hoped to explore how humans rely on the natural world to fulfill our most basic needs. I grew up in a neighboring landlocked state, so at this point agriculture was the most approachable vector for me to explore food systems.

On a whim, I spent my second semester of college at my university’s field station on the Gulf of California and quickly rerouted my degree path to focus on marine and coastal systems. My coursework shifted to technical field skills like conducting snorkel surveys and algae transects for the remainder of my degree program. The most meaningful part of this time in Mexico, however, was interacting with the nearby indigenous communities and fishing communities who relied very directly on the ocean for both sustenance and economic stability. Even though I had veered away from agriculture, I found myself gravitating back towards food systems.

I continued this thread in OSU’s Marine Resource Management M.S. program, where my research examined the coupled human-natural systems at play in Oregon’s fishing communities and commercial fisheries. After my successful thesis defense, my main career aspiration was to deepen my understanding of these coupled systems in coastal and marine environments.

As of August 2020, I am about ten months into my position as an Oregon Sea Grant Natural Resource and Policy Fellow at The Nature Conservancy (TNC). This position stood out to me because it offered an opportunity to delve into climate change impacts on West Coast communities (see my past post on scenario planning). During my time at TNC I have been deeply engaged in scenario planning, but I am also involved in a number of projects that integrate human needs and ecosystem needs and environmental uncertainty, and I am even serving on a committee that focuses on social-ecological systems.

This fellowship has taught me the complexities of balancing human and environmental needs at a far deeper level than academia could afford. As a Sea Grant fellow, my work has integrated state and federal policy processes, management and regulatory entities, as well as the ways in which stakeholders/communities, tribes, non-profits and researchers take part in the decision making process. It has been fascinating to see how all of these entities and processes tie back to marine food systems here on the West Coast.

Although I have transitioned from high desert farming to foggy fishing docks, my career thread still prioritizes the connections between humans and the natural world, through the lens of food systems. While I have thoroughly enjoyed a deeper dive into fishery policy and management, I have found a deep passion for building relationships with resource users and communities, particularly in the realms of education and collaboration. By clarifying my long-standing career priorities, my experience and the type of work that I really enjoy, it has become easier to target my next steps.

If you find yourself in a similar position to mine, it may be useful to ask yourself these questions as well:

What are some factors that have tied your educational and professional career together thus far?

Which experiences did you love, which you rather not repeat? How can you build on the great ones?

What type of work keeps you motivated and engaged, what type of work is more challenging for you?

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope you enjoy my blog for the week.

What I learned:

As my internship at the South Slough is winding down, I look back at my time there with great gratitude. I have had the opportunity to experience and learn many things! Here is just a condensed list:

• I have had the opportunity to learn about how the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve System (SSNERR) functions on an organizational level, how it receives funding, what branches it is made up of (and what they do), and what it means to be part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS).
• I have learned how to create educational materials and deliver outdoor/wildlife education to children.
• I now have an in-depth understanding of how to properly conduct plant-monitoring surveys in varying types of environments. 
• I have developed a much better understanding of estuarine environments and their watersheds.
• I learned how to properly kayak!
• My ability to identify local plants went from basically nonexistent to relatively extensive within the past two months.
• I have also had the opportunity to learn about a bunch of animals I never knew how to identify, from invasive ocean-dwelling crabs to colorful high-flying birds… and much in between!
• Luckily, I’ve also had the opportunity to work under great mentors who have shown me what it takes to foster a happy and productive team of people.

What surprised me:

I am shocked by how quickly this summer has passed. My time at the South Slough has been super fun and had great variety… and for those reasons it has felt like a blink of an eye. There were so many projects I was allowed to choose from at the beginning of the summer, and when I looked at them, I was confident I could complete them all! Boy, was I wrong! Between days of fieldwork, camp preparation, and actually helping lead the camps, I rarely had time to do anything else in the 2nd half of my internship. Am I disappointed about that? NO! Being busy has been awesome… especially provided the circumstances of our nation right now. This summer, my greatest surprise was that I felt more like an employee or a true part of the education team than an intern. I was still able to complete a relatively hefty plant guide as well as introduce new camp activities and materials, but much of my time was spent like helping the education and science teams with daily tasks. I loved it.

What I would have done differently:

I really enjoyed my time and got a ton out of it. I don’t know that I’d do anything much differently because I learned so much. If I knew what I do now, maybe I would’ve started earlier! In the past couple weeks, I have also become super interested in birds… So I guess I would’ve asked a lot more questions about birds! I feel I could have networked more, but I much prefer in-person interaction and have a difficult time networking with people virtually. I developed great relationships with the people I worked with in-person, but those that I never met in person were hard for me to connect with.

This blog is a bit of a throw-back, but an experience I’ve been meaning to document here for some time. Before COVID-19, during the week of September 30^th to October 4^th, 2019, I had the opportunity to join representatives from the West Coast Ocean Tribal Caucus, my supervisors from the West Coast Ocean Alliance (WCOA) and West Coast Ocean Data Portal (WCODP), and facilitators from the Udall Foundation on an exchange trip to British Columbia and First Nations territories.

The purpose of the trip was for Tribes and First Nations with territories along the West Coast of the United States and Canada to exchange ideas and experiences related to ocean management and planning, especially as they relate to coordination with state, federal and provincial governments. The exchange was hosted by the Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast (MaPP), which is a collaborative entity for marine planning between First Nations governments and the British Columbia provincial government.

Our first full day in British Columbia was spent in Vancouver, on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (most First Nations in British Columbia never ceded any of their land through treaties with the Canadian or British government). After an opening prayer and introductions, this day focused on identifying benefits of and methods for collaborating on ocean planning with other indigenous governments, stakeholders, and state, federal, and provincial partners. Presentations and panels included representation from the WCOA, WCODP, MaPP, the Nanwakolas Council, the Central Coast Indigenous Resources Alliance (CCIRA), the Coastal First Nations – Great Bear Initiative, and several Tribes, First Nations, and provincial and state governments.

While our first day in Vancouver offered a compelling discussion and exchange of information, the highlight of the trip was undoubtedly our visit further north, where we spent time in the town of Campbell River on Vancouver Island— and about 12 hours on the water exploring First Nations territories in the Central Coast Region.  

We flew to Campbell River on our second day in British Columbia, and after some additional presentations and a night of fresh seafood (Halibut! Prawns! Salmon! Clams! Crab!) and dancing as guests of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation, we departed on the boat trip early in the morning under the cover of classic Northwest clouds. The overarching purpose of this on-the-water trip was to share examples of different indigenous ocean planning projects on the Central Coast, and in particular to highlight the Indigenous Guardians Program— a program where indigenous ‘Guardians’ are employed in their territories to do ecological monitoring and protect cultural resources, and contribute to land and marine-use planning. We had a lot of stops to fit in, so while you can view our entire itinerary on the map below, I’ll just offer a few highlights in this blog.

• Tsatsisnukwomi (not pictured on map): This is a village site of the Da’naxda’xw-Awaetlala First Nation, where we ate lunch. This village was actually abandoned in the 1960s, after many children were relocated because of the devastating Canadian Indian residential school system, and the lack of other teaching and healthcare resources made the isolation of the area untenable. However, in the early 2000s, several people worked hard to make the village habitable again, and a new Bighouse was unveiled in 2004. We were able to visit the inside of this Bighouse and hear stories about the village and Da’naxda’xw-Awaetlala people from the Guardian onsite.

• Port Neville: This area was identified by the Tlowitsis First Nation as a special management zone, where Guardians are currently monitoring temperature and salinity as they conduct scallop aquaculture experiments. The Tlowitsis and other First Nations in this area are aware that increased mariculture is likely coming to the region—so why shouldn’t they be the first ones to derive that economic benefit? However, issues like transporting the scallops to markets for sale and seed security are issues that will need to be overcome before this becomes a full commercial enterprise.

• Compton Island, Village Island, and Kalogwis: These stops were all part of the Arch Pilot Project, a partnership between MaPP, the Nanwakolas Council and the province of British Columbia on Tlowitsis and Mamalilikulla First Nations territories. While the Provincial Heritage Conservation Act of British Columbia is supposed to protect archeological sites like those found in these areas, Elders had been concerned for decades that it was not working – and they were right. A sailor and kayaker myself, I love exploring lesser known inlets and waterways, and I was upset to hear of the way that coastal cruisers had passed on the location of these sacred spaces over the years, unearthed archeological sites, and taken artifacts and even bones for themselves as souvenirs. The goal of this pilot project is to increase protection over and improve public knowledge of the importance of these cultural resources, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Guardians program in stewarding these places and resources.

After our long day on the water concluded, we had a closing dinner in Port McNeill and a three-hour bus drive back to Campbell River. The next day, it was time to head back to Vancouver and then to Oregon. Altogether, this trip was a highlight not just of my fellowship, but of my early career thus far. Not only did this trip introduce management and planning approaches that our Tribal Caucus and state and federal partners can bring back to their work in U.S., but it gave me a front row seat to what collaboration between these different entities can achieve, and that is an example that I know will stay with me. All of the participants on this trip were so pleased with the outcomes that before it ended, we were talking about continuing the exchange in the future. We hope that next time, we can host our colleagues from British Columbia and First Nations on the other side of the international border.

This exchange was funded by the Marine Conservation Initiative of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. A detailed summary of the exchange, as well as a related guide for state and federal agencies working with West Coast tribes on ocean and coastal issues, will be publicly available via the West Coast Ocean Alliance later this year.

In summer 2019, at the request of West Coast Ocean Alliance (WCOA) members, the West Coast Ocean Data Portal (WCODP) began preliminary work on the creation of a West Coast Ocean Health Scorecard. The WCODP had been seeking direction on data activities from the WCOA for some time, and this project offered a way to focus the efforts of WCODP, and complement similar efforts being undertaken by the states of Washington and California. A primary goal for this scorecard effort is to define standards and critical thresholds concerning priority ocean health issues across the region, and to present a cohesive picture of what West Coast ocean health looks like to the public.

For the first several months of this project, I spent time reviewing existing ocean health tools, including scorecard products and frameworks. Examples I looked at include the Ocean Health Index, NOAA’s Integrated Ecosystem Assessment, and the Condition Reports of National Marine Sanctuaries. I wanted to see how other groups had organized indicators and tackled some of the challenges inherent to a project of this scale, e.g., how goals and baselines were agreed upon and how results were presented clearly to different audiences.

After looking at what different examples had to offer, I set to work on creating a framework for what the WCODP scorecard could look like. With the help of my supervisors, the co-chairs of the WCODP, I created a nested framework of about 15 indicators that fit into three larger topics: stressors, ecosystem health, and human use. During this process, I received regular input on monthly WCODP Coordination calls, and in December of 2019, I presented our framework and ideas for a scorecard tool at a full-day data workshop, as part of the larger WCOA Annual Meeting.

While WCOA members had feedback on the goals, audience, and organization of the scorecard, they were in general agreement of moving forward on the project. It was decided that with initial funding from the NOAA Regional Data Sharing Initiative, we would move forward with three ‘proof of concept’ indicators for development in 2020. The indicators decided upon were beach water quality, ocean acidification, and kelp.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has delayed some of this indicator work in 2020, but we do have three concurrent efforts going on for which I’ve been able to help with scopes of work, grant management, and contracts as well as research. Heal the Bay, a California-based nonprofit, is leading the work on a beach water quality indicator, and NANOOS (Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems), in cooperation with the other West Coast IOOS (Integrated Ocean Observing System) Regional Associations, is leading work on the ocean acidification indicator. I am currently leading work on the kelp indicator, and have spent the last few months researching different methods for examining canopy-forming kelps’ extent, persistence and quality— including remote-sensing, aerial overflight surveys and in-water surveys. In the next few weeks, the WCODP will begin a comparison study of these methods on specific giant kelp beds in Southern California, in order to inform our scorecard effort.

Altogether, the West Coast Ocean Health Scorecard will be a three to five year effort before its first iteration is complete. In the next few years, we are hoping to continue developing the framework and user interface for the public to interact with the scorecard, and to continue developing individual indicators. I am currently planning to stay involved with the project once my fellowship has ended, and have learned a lot from seeing how a longer-term venture like this develops and evolves from the beginning. Here’s to hoping for a successful project, and a healthy West Coast ocean!

Since I last posted two weeks ago there has been quite a bit of progress, and a few changes, in my two projects for the summer. The copper boat paint project has started taking shape, with the identification of a potential funding source for a small pilot testing program to measure copper concentrations at various sites around Oregon. The testing will likely focus on heavily used marinas and boatyards, where high concentrations of copper from antifouling paint are more likely to occur. These tests could help shed light on the the extent of copper contamination, and if the results indicate an unhealthy level of copper at a particular sites they could serve as starting points for a discussion between stakeholders to decide how to remedy the problem.

The OASE video is also going well, and I have been able to visit Connor Noland at Port Orford Sustainable Seafood and Alexi Overland at Defunkify and shoot some video of them at work. It’s been fun to learn about the projects they’re involved in, and it’s also been a great excuse to get out of town for a little bit :)

Aside from these trips out of town, my work life has settled in to a pretty standard routine. Once the sun is up I’ll head out to the back yard with a big cup of coffee to check new emails, look at my day planner, and watch the furious activity of the honeybees at the flowering mint plant by my chair.

The rest of my morning is filled with reading articles, planning my projects and writing in my notebook, and phone calls and zoom meetings. I usually take a break every hour or so to say hi to my wife, who’s been hard at work in her first term at graduate school. And of course, I can never resist giving a scratch between the ears to our dog Mesa, who seems to have permanently installed herself on our couch since we got her a few months ago :)

In the afternoons I’ll usually have a late lunch, again usually in the back yard to take advantage of all the nice weather we’ve been having.

Later on in the day is when I’ll take care of things around the house, run errands and go shopping, and hang out with my wife and take the dog for a walk. I’ve found that I start to feel most creative when the sun goes down, and I’ll spend most nights editing away on my OASE video project.

The Covid-19 pandemic has, of course, meant a huge change in my life, but at this point I feel that I’ve mostly gotten used to the changes and have made the best of the current situation. I miss being able to go to the library and coffee shops to work. Most of all, I miss being able to interact with people and do all the simple things that I used to take for granted like attend a lecture or meet someone for a cup of coffee. However, being able to make my own ours and work from home has its advantages, and I really love being able to spend lots of time with my family and work my projects when I’m feeling the most energized and inspired.

I hope everyone else is also having some positive experiences this summer, and I will check in with you all again in a few weeks!