The UW’s 2019 Earth Day celebrations will be April 22, 2019, on the HUB Lawn, part of the larger Earth Week celebrations. Students who are interested in being a part of the Earth Day planning committee can email Toren Elste, UW Sustainability Program Specialist, at tee10@uw.edu. 

5-20 hours per week of seasonal employment as a Beach Naturalist (Ranger Naturalist I) with the City of Edmonds, WA. Under the direction of the Environmental Education and Sustainability Coordinator, Ranger Naturalists primarily promote marine conservation by interpreting marine ecology in classrooms and in parks, emphasizing awareness and protection of, and appreciation for the marine environment and the Puget Sound watershed. Some interpretive work also occurs in a forest setting.

Unique opportunity to work at the beautiful Oregon coast and be an important contributor to a team of marine reserves science professionals!

Participate as a member of ODFW’s marine reserves program, a six person interdisciplinary team responsible for leading the management and scientific monitoring of Oregon’s five marine reserve sites. Ecological monitoring is one of the key mandates set by the State Legislature for Oregon’s marine reserves. The Governor’s Office, Oregon Legislature, and constituents have significant expectations about the successful implementation of this work. This is a complex, multidisciplinary research effort with numerous monitoring and research projects conducted simultaneously designed to meet the state’s goals, objectives, and policy mandates for marine reserves. Assist with sample design and planning, leading collection of data at-sea, data entry, data analysis, data management, oral presentations, report writing, and outreach.

While SEA Semester programs are not run by the University of Washington, the UW School of Oceanography affiliates with their programs such that you can earn UW Oceanography credit (OCEAN 496) for their courses, and they can then be applied to degree program requirements. Ask the marine biology adviser for more information about how these courses can apply to your Marine Biology major requirements.

“Tide Bites” is the monthly newsletter of UW Friday Harbor Laboratories. This month, two of the instructors of the Marine Subtidal Ecology course Dive Officer Pema Kitaeff and Dr. Alex Lowe write about what it takes to be a scientific diver at the University of Washington. This course is currently scheduled to be offered in the summer of even years (the next offering will be summer 2020) at Friday Harbor Labs, and interested students are encouraged to contact the Marine Biology Adviser for more information.

When it comes to the well-being of coral reefs, for many years scientists focused on bleaching, an event that can endanger corals and the diverse marine ecosystems that they support. In bleaching, high temperatures or other stressors cause corals to expel Symbiodinium, the beneficial, brightly colored microbes that would normally share excess energy and nutrients with corals. Bleaching ultimately starves corals and endangers the entire reef ecosystem.

But over the last two decades, scientists have realized that other microbes are also critical for coral health, including communities of bacteria that live on coral surfaces and in their tissues. These bacteria constitute the coral microbiome. High temperatures — even below the threshold for bleaching — can disrupt coral microbiomes, leaving corals vulnerable to disease.

By examining the biogeography, evolution, and ecology of coral reefs, mangroves, and sea grass beds, provides an integrated overview of tropical-systems biology. Integrates ecological and physiological concepts in order to show how anthropogenic stressors such as increased temperature, pollution, and ocean acidification can impact the resilience of tropical marine ecosystems.

We are very excited as this is the first time that the MaST Center is hiring a non-faculty, full-time, living wage, with benefits job. Besides running our volunteer programs that currently consist of over 150 volunteers, this person will lead our educational programs and be developing educational pieces centered around the $500,000 man-made reef that the MaST Center is working with Washington SCUBA Alliance to create just off the end of our facility.

The Seattle Aquarium is hiring for two positions: a Philanthropy Events Coordinator and a Volunteer Engagement Manager. Click to read more details about qualifications and deadlines.

Andrew Chin, a senior double majoring in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Marine Biology shares his month-long experience sailing South Pacific with the SEA Semester program