currenttidings2024-1
Current Tidings
Shannon Point Marine Center
Volume 2024, Issue 1
This spring brought changes to important staff positions at Shannon Point. We bid farewell to Kelley Bright who has been a valued member of the SPMC community longer than anyone else currently at the facility. Though Kelley worked primarily in the laboratory of Dr. Suzanne Strom, she contributed to many of our programs and to the research activities of scores of undergraduate and graduate students over many years. Her expertise and willingness to help wherever she could will be greatly missed.
Our second change came when we welcomed Liz Hjelmseth to SPMC as our new Academic Services Manager. This critical position supports the activities of researchers, faculty, students, and visitors at Shannon Point. We are grateful to have Liz running things in the front office and behind the scenes with enthusiasm and positivity.
The third change came when we formalized our association with Mira Lutz, who has been connected with the lab for many years. Mira first took undergraduate classes at SPMC then took a position as the SPMC Public Education Specialist. She next worked on her M.S. research at the lab, then later brought her own classes of students to visit here. She has now joined our staff as a full-time, permanent marine technician serving the new WWU Marine and Coastal Science program. Welcome back, Mira
Mira Lutz, Marine Technician: A winding path through marine science and education
This spring we were fortunate to be joined by Mira Lutz, who brings a deep background in marine science and education to her new job as Marine Technician at Shannon Point. Driving boats, maintaining and deploying instruments, facilitating classes and research - Mira’s many roles in this newly created position will be ably supported by her past experiences with schools, students, and marine science.
An Anacortes resident for over two decades, Mira worked for many years teaching science to grade-schoolers in a parent-partner homeschool program at the Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory. When the school closed, she moved to elementary science teaching at Fidalgo School in Anacortes, then (in one of her many intersections with WWU!) served briefly as a public education specialist at Shannon Point. In 2018 Mira completed a Master’s of Science degree in Environmental Science at WWU. Her thesis research, advised by Dr. John Rybczyk and Katrina Poppe, centered on organic carbon storage in Padilla Bay seagrass beds*.
Following her Master’s program Mira joined the SeaDoc Society staff, where she developed curriculum including instructional units to accompany each chapter of the book, “Explore the Salish Sea: A Nature Guide for Kids”. (Also see the story on ROV day, below). Most recently she’s been teaching classes through WWU’s Salish Sea Institute and will continue part-time in that role through summer 2024.
When Mira’s not engaged in her busy and multifaceted professional life (which includes even more than the impressive bio above!), she enjoys backpacking in the mountains, paddling our area waters, and gathering with family. Most immediately, that includes her son and her husband Matt, a manager for the Samish Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources. She’s also deeply engaged in caring for her mother. Mira, we are fortunate to have your talents and experience as part of the Shannon Point team!
*Lutz, M. D. 2018. A search for blue carbon in central Salish Sea eelgrass meadows. M.S. thesis, Western Washington University, 60 pp.
Liz Hjelmseth, Administrative Services Manager: “I am so lucky!”
The next time you come to Shannon Point, you’ll likely be greeted by Liz’s smile from her office just inside the front door. Liz brings a lifelong love of marine biology to her new position supporting any and all programs, people, and processes at the marine center.
Liz is a sixth-generation Montana native who grew up in the tiny town of Manhattan, Montana. Her father’s high school biology classroom, lots of time outside in the Tobacco Root mountains, and some chance encounters with books (including one by former WWU biology prof Jerry Flora!) fueled her childhood love for biology. She and her husband Jon moved to the Pacific Northwest shortly after high school, where she took marine biology classes at Shoreline Community College and then transferred to Western for a marine-focused Biology degree. Life had other plans for Liz, though - she and Jon started their own construction company building houses in the Bellingham area. This crash course in administrative skills led to a lengthy career in the construction and machining industry. Most recently, Liz was the product and office manager - as well as the motivational ‘cruise director’- for Gray Mold Company, which makes tools for the investment cast industry. She’s excited to be back in the midst of a salty environment, full of students eager to learn about marine science.
Liz has a strong urge to make a difference in the world, as evident in her long-term work for gun violence prevention. She’s been to Olympia many times to testify on legislation related to safe gun storage and other issues. She’s been the area chapter lead for Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the pre-eminent organization nationally for passing gun legislation, and is a national spokesperson for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. At home in Bellingham Liz is a paper-maker who has also published some small press runs of her own poetry. She and Jon have one daughter, a recent college graduate. They share their home with a menagerie including dog Tilly, cat Karma, and several tanks of fish. Welcome to Shannon Point, Liz - we are even luckier than you to have your impressive skill set as part of our community!
Kelley Bright, Research Technician: A very fond farewell!
Mid-March marked the end (at least for now!) of Kelley Bright’s long career at Shannon Point. Some of you might remember that, long long ago in a galaxy far far away, Shannon Point leased space to NCASI, a research branch of the U.S. and Canada pulp and paper industry. After a degree from WWU in Environmental Science, Kelley began her research career as a technician for the small Anacortes-based NCASI group. In the mid 1990s she was lured away from NCASI by Suzanne Strom, with whom she was then to collaborate for almost 3 decades. Kelley’s contributions to plankton ecology and biological oceanography are multitudinous. Some of her many special skills have been in instrument-based chemical and optical measurements (HPLC, GC, flow cytometry), isolation and maintenance of protists for our culture collection, and a range of microscopy techniques. Kelley has been an amazing colleague, with mad experimental design skills and a willingness to jump into new (and sometimes only half-baked) project ideas. She’s also been a trusty sea-going scientist off and on, as needed, throughout her research career. It’s almost overwhelming to flip through the piles of notebooks and realize just how many separate projects and experiments she’s helped to make happen. There are also many, many students who can trace their skill acquisition to Kelley’s careful tutelage.
Never one to sit idly, Kelley has already embarked on a new career path. She’s acquired a long-arm sewing machine and, with husband Kevin, transformed a bedroom in their home into a workspace. She’s embarked on a new business ‘Kelley Quilts’, building on her considerable skills as a seamstress and textile artist. This should also allow Kelley and Kevin the flexibility to travel in their camper with dog Pepper, tend their bountiful garden, and keep up with their two active adult children. Kelley, we can’t thank you enough for your contributions to Shannon Point and marine science over the decades, and we wish you all the best with your new endeavors!
Top photo: Kelley aboard the R/V Sikuliaq. Middle photo: Kelley and Kevin are truly impressive gardeners. Bottom photo: Megan O'Hara, Suzanne Strom and Kelley break for a photo while at sea.
La Conner middle schoolers explore marine science through engineering
Shannon Point hosted a large and enthusiastic group of La Conner middle schoolers on June 5th, immersing them in marine science through hands-on work/play with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). This multifaceted experience was supported by the Steve and Shelley Sulkin STEM Immersion Project, a fund shaped by the Sulkins’ passions: increasing diversity in science and sharing STEM with middle school students. La Conner’s ROV day at Shannon Point was led by students in the WWU Science Education course, “Teaching and Learning about the Salish Sea”. Undergraduates taking this course, taught by Mira Lutz, have learned about teaching ocean technology and engineering through Mira’s ‘Explore the Salish Sea’ curriculum. The pedagogy merges modern approaches (How do you engineer your own ROV?) with traditional ocean engineering knowledge used in our area waters since time immemorial. On June 5th, the undergraduates were able to employ their recently acquired, culturally responsive teaching techniques with the La Conner middle schoolers. The ‘engineering since time immemorial’ challenge was: How can you engineer a beach to produce 4x the number of clams? This challenge elicited amazing engagement and knowledge-sharing in the Swinomish middle schoolers who were part of the La Conner group! The widening ripples of this project will extend to summer 2024 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) participants. They’ll help build ROV kits for future grade-schoolers to use, in the context of a workshop on deep-sea biology with Shannon Point scientists Shawn Arellano and Ahna Van Gaest.
Top photo: Employing teamwork to launch ROV prototype #1 to pick up floating marine debris. Middle photo: Team identifying weight and balance issues in prototype #1. Bottom photo: Off to launch ROVs in the Salish Sea! Top two photos by Debi Hanuscin, bottom by Mira Lutz.
Motorboat operator course at SPMC
A highly successful course in motorboat operations was held at SPMC over four days in mid-May. Taught by staff members Derek Smith, Nate Schwarck and Mira Lutz, the course offered training to 8 novice boaters including several from the Swinomish tribe’s Department of Environmental Protection. Tribe scientists need to use boats for eelgrass and noxious weed surveys, aquaculture projects, and other maritime activities. Course participants had limited previous boating experience so they were offered a full spectrum of training opportunities including trailering, docking, launching at Washington Park’s boat ramp, and maneuvering while underway in Burrows Bay. Confidence-building was a big part of the experience, according to instructor Derek. The new boaters brought their own small craft, as well as using Shannon Point’s whaler and the larger Magister. In addition to skills and confidence, participants went away from the experience with a Washington State boater card and are well on their way to the Department of the Interior’s state/federal Motorboat Operator Certification.
Motorboat operator course participants pause to have their photo taken at SPMC.
Awards:
Environmental Sciences graduate student Joyce Block (advisor: Brian Bingham) recently received two years of funding through NOAA’s Davidson fellowship. She’ll be researching green crabs in Padilla Bay, a project she developed with the aid of Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve scientists Nicole Webster and Sylvia Yang (who both have former and/or current connections to Shannon Point!). Congratulations, Joyce!
Conferences:
Two students who conducted diving-supported research at Shannon Point last summer presented their findings at the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) Diving Symposium in Fort Pierce, Florida. Jessica Garcia-Pantoja, an AAUS-sponsored One World diving intern, participated in underwater surveys to map seastar wasting disease. Mary Schneider, an REU participant, compared underwater survey methods to assess potential bias.
Top photo: Jessica (in white shirt) with friend in front of Harbor Branch’s submersible. Bottom photo: Mary presenting at the AAUS Diving Symposium.
There was a strong showing by WWU/Shannon Point students at April’s Pacific Estuarine Research Society (PERS) conference Nanaimo, BC, Canada. Numerous students presented posters or gave talks. Award winners Alexis Jordan (Honorable Mention, undergraduate poster) and Ian McBride (First Place, graduate talk) were profiled in the Fall 2023 issue of this newsletter for their work with Sylvia Yang’s Team Seagrass. Davidson Fellowship recipient Joyce Block (see above) received Honorable Mention for her poster presentation, while undergraduate Emma Beck received a First Place poster award.
Numerous students who’ve worked at Shannon Point presented their research at Western’s in-house Scholars Week poster session. These included Joy Cobb (MACS) and Galexie Clelland (Biology), both advised or co-advised by Brady Olson; Jack Gates and Will Penrose (Biology), advised by Shawn Arellano; and graduate student Jaime Blais (Biology), advised by Suzanne Strom.
Recent Publications:
Beinart, R.A., Arellano, S.M., Chaknova, M., Meagher, J., Davies, A.J., Lopresti, J., Cowell, E.J., Betters, M., Ladd, T.M., Plowman, C.Q., Rice, L.N., *Davis, D., †Heffernan, M., *Jimenez, V., *Beaver, T., Becker, J., Bergen, S., Brunner, L., Calhoun, A., Hauer, M., Taradash, A., Giachetti, T., Young, C.M., 2024. Deep seafloor hydrothermal vent communities buried by volcanic ash from the 2022 Hunga eruption. Communications Earth & Environment 5, p.254. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01411-w
*Johnson, J., Olson, M.B., †Parker, I., †Hoffmeister, I. and Lemkau, K., 2024. Widespread production of polyunsaturated aldehydes by benthic diatoms of the North Pacific Ocean’s Salish Sea. Journal of Chemical Ecology, pp.1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-024-01496-9
Ladd, T.M., Selci, M., *Davis, D.J., Cannon, O., Plowman, C.Q., Schlegel, I., Inaba, A., Mills, S.W., Vetriani, C., Mullineaux, L.S. and Arellano, S.M., 2024. Faunal colonists, including mussel settlers, respond to microbial biofilms at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 208, p.104314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104314
*Lowin, B., Strom, S., Burt, W., Kelly, T., Rivero-Calle, S., 2024. Temporal variability in the relationship between line height absorption and chlorophyll concentration: a case study from the Northern Gulf of Alaska. Optics Express 32, 20491-20502. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.521758
*O’Daly, S.H., Hennon, G.M.M., Kelly, T.B., Strom, S.L, McDonnell, A.M.P., 2024. Strong and efficient summertime carbon export driven by aggregation processes in a subarctic ecosystem. Limnology and Oceanography 69, 1187-1203. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12561
The Strom group’s recent paper on protist mixotrophy was highlighted in a short Scientific American piece by science journalist Ian Rose: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/neither-plants-nor-animals-these-ocean-organisms-protect-their-ecosystems/
*Graduate student; †Undergraduate
Newsletter content prepared by Suzanne L. Strom (stroms@wwu.edu) unless otherwise specified.