October 7, 2025
Congratulations to our new WSG Puget Sound Science Research Fellows!
We are excited to announce that Gabe Diephuis and Isaac Olson have been awarded the new WSG Puget Sound Science Research Fellowship!
Launching this year, the WSG Puget Sound Science Research Fellowship aims to support graduate students conducting research that advances Puget Sound recovery and to prepare them as the next generation of science leaders in the region. WSG administers and manages the fellowship program with funding from the Puget Sound Partnership, and fellowship research projects must align both with WSG’s focus areas and Puget Sound Partnership’s Science Work Plan Priority Science Actions.
Learn more about our first two WSG Puget Sound Science Research Fellows below!
GABE DIEPHUIS
Gabe grew up in Whatcom County, Washington. He raised and released salmon fry at his high school’s salmon hatchery for the nearby Nooksack River tributary, which developed his passion for marine science and conservation. He graduated from University of Washington with a B.S. in Oceanography. At the UW, he worked in the Puget Sound Zooplankton Monitoring Project lab and completed a thesis on the growth rates of nanoplankton and grazing rates of microzooplankton in the east equatorial Pacific. This year he started a Master’s degree in environmental science at Western Washington University, studying the impact of porewater heterogeneity on sedimentary denitrification rates in Puget Sound. He is excited to contribute his research towards the Washington Sea Grant and Puget Sound Partnership’s missions to monitor the impacts and fate of pollution in Puget Sound as a Puget Sound Science fellow.
ISAAC OLSON
Isaac Olson is pursuing a master’s degree through the University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. He is from Snohomish, Washington, and previously earned bachelor’s degrees at the UW in Oceanography and Environmental Studies. He researches and communicates how human-driven changes are affecting the oceans and the communities that depend on them, with a focus on driving societal change through outreach, education, and policy. He has experience studying and communicating a variety of anthropogenic ocean threats, including ocean acidification (OA), microplastics, harmful algal blooms, and anoxia. As a student assistant for WSG, he is working on communicating the impacts of changing carbon chemistry, including OA. As a Puget Sound Science Fellow, he intends to work on a master’s thesis researching the public perception of OA, how OA is communicated in informal marine education centers like aquariums, and how to overcome information gaps to drive local action to protect at-risk communities such as Puget Sound.
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Washington Sea Grant, based at the University of Washington, helps people and marine life thrive through research, technical expertise and education supporting the responsible use and conservation of coastal ecosystems. Washington Sea Grant is one of 34 Sea Grant programs supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in coastal and Great Lakes states that encourage the wise stewardship of our marine resources through research, education, outreach and technology transfer.
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OCT
2025