WSG News Blog

Restorative aquaculture: the science behind increasing subsistence access to basket cockles for the Suquamish Tribe

September 29, 2025

By Mel Lemke, WSG Science Communications Fellow

Basket cockles (Clinocardium nuttallii) are saltwater clams native to the Pacific Northwest. With their charismatic ruffled shells and colorful banding, they are easily recognizable at low tide, peeking out from their fine-sediment habitats among eelgrass beds. These clams are more than just beautiful: as a preferred First Food (a food gathered and consumed since time immemorial), they hold significant cultural and nutritional value for the Suquamish ...

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Photo story: Training future seafood farmers

September 22, 2025

For more than 20 years, Washington Sea Grant’s NOAA Science Camp has offered hands-on science-learning opportunities for middle and high school students. This year NOAA Science Camp looked a little different: find out more about this year’s aquaculture spin with the following photo story.

Find the original post on NOAA Fisheries.

By Megan Ewald, NOAA Fisheries

Embark on a visual voyage with 50 Seattle-area middle schoolers at the first-ever NOAA Aquaculture Science Camp.

Everyone in the aquaculture industry was once a ...

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WSG welcomes inaugural cohort of Coastal Resilience Fellows

September 17, 2025

Congratulations to our new WSG Coastal Resilience Fellows!

We are pleased to announce that recent graduates Anabel Baker, Elyse Kelsey, Madeleine Lucas and Rich Desanto have been awarded the Washington Sea Grant (WSG) Coastal Resilience Fellowship for 2025–2027.

This is the inaugural cohort of the new WSG Coastal Resilience Fellowship, a unique educational opportunity for early or shifting career professionals to provide additional capacity for coastal communities around coastal resilience. A two-year, paid fellowship ...

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Supporting community-led coastal resilience on the Lower Willapa River

September 5, 2025

By Sydney Fishman, WSG Coastal Management Specialist

The Lower Willapa River, including the cities of Raymond and South Bend, is beloved by its residents for its access to nature, sense of community, and small-town charm. The Willapa River and nearby Pacific coastline support a variety of commercial and recreational activities. Yet there are tradeoffs to living in this low-lying part of Washington state. While waterfront challenges like flooding and erosion have always been a fact of life ...

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Three recent graduates selected for the 2025-2025 WSG Hershman Fellowship

September 2, 2025

Congratulations to our new WSG Hershman Fellows!

We are pleased to announce that recent graduates Delaney Cyphers, Cirque Gammelin, and Courtney Skalley have been awarded the Washington Sea Grant Hershman Fellowship for 2025–2026. This fellowship places highly motivated, qualified individuals with marine and coastal host offices throughout Washington, providing fellows with a unique perspective on building marine policy and allowing them to share their academic expertise with the host offices. 

This year’s host offices are ...

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Removing the barriers to salmon recovery

A new tool weighs the multifaceted factors involved in efforts to improve habitat

From the Summer 2025 Sea Star

By Brian McGreal, WSG Science Communications Fellow

In 2018, in a case brought forth by 21 Northwest Tribes, the Supreme Court ruled that Washington State has a duty to protect tribal treaty rights by preserving fish runs. The main focus of this case was replacing culverts — infrastructure that allows streams to pass underneath a road or path, and ...

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The Salmon and Climate Initiative brings a broader perspective to recovery efforts

From the Summer 2025 Sea Star

By Jess Davis, WSG Science Communications Fellow

Chinook salmon underwaterBig actions often start with simple dreams. Nearly 40 years ago, many Washington state salmon fishermen began noticing declining stocks in salmon populations. Livelihoods impacted, a group of these fishermen felt a sense of urgency to initiate an effort to reinvigorate Washington salmon fishery ...

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Summer 2025 Sea Star

The newest issue of our biannual magazine is here!

August 21, 2025

Cover of Summer 2025 Sea StarWashington Sea Grant (WSG) is excited to share about our research, outreach and education programs through Sea Star, our biannual magazine.

The summer 2025 issue is, unofficially, the “salmon issue,” with five feature stories highlighting the rich variety of WSG’s work through the ...

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Terrie Klinger reflects on her year as WSG’s interim faculty director

July 24, 2025

Kate Litle stepped into the role of WSG interim director as of July 1

One year ago, I assumed the role of interim faculty director at Washington Sea Grant (WSG). This represented a new leadership model for WSG, and my goal was to pilot the new model for 12 months while actively helping to recruit a permanent director from among the UW faculty. A second goal—no less important—was to expand the role of WSG ...

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Kate Litle, WSG interim director, nominated for Washington Governor’s Outstanding Leadership Award

July 18, 2025

WSG is thrilled to share that Kate Litle, WSG interim director and deputy director, was nominated for the prestigious 2025 Washington Governor’s Outstanding Leadership Award. 

The award recognizes state managers who “not only met high standards of leadership, but who also advanced innovation, equity and continuous improvement in the work they do every day,” Washington Governor Bob Ferguson wrote in the call for nominations. Kate embodies all of these qualities, and more. 

Since joining ...

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From drifters to drivers: How moon jellyfish are reshaping marine ecosystems

A WSG-funded project unravels how moon jellyfish aggregations are causing ecosystem-wide impacts in Puget Sound

July 14, 2025

Seattle, WA – Moon jellyfish blooms are a stunning sight to see, their white and translucent colors making them appear light and delicate. However, these jellyfish are hidden predators lurking for their next meal. A research paper published in Marine Ecology Progress Series found that moon jellyfish (Aurelia labiata) ...

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Washington Sea Grant welcomes Community-Engaged Intern Ava Vaughan

July 1, 2025

Ava Vaughan

WSG is excited to welcome Ava Vaughan as the Community-Engaged Intern! In her role, Ava will work with community engagement specialist Sanpisa Sritrairat, coastal hazards specialist Ian Miller, and partners at Washington Emergency Management Division to support coastal hazard mitigation planning and social vulnerability assessments.

Ava is currently pursuing a ...

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Robyn Ricks, WSG creative director, retires

June 24, 2025

Headshot of Robyn RicksFor twenty-seven years, Robyn Ricks has shaped how the outside world sees Washington Sea Grant. As the program’s creative director, Robyn has brought her visual branding and graphic design skills to produce materials from websites to the Sea Star print magazine to formal presentations. She brings an element of magic to everything she touches, turning even the most bureaucratic of documents into something beautiful. 

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