SEFS assistant professor Francisca Santana to co-lead Louisiana Tribal climate adaptation grant

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SEFS assistant professor Francisca Santana is co-PI on a grant from the Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to support Tribal climate adaptation efforts in southeastern Louisiana.

The team, co-led by researchers from Louisiana Sea Grant and members of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe (“PACIT” or “Tribe”) in southeastern Louisiana, was awarded $780 thousand. PACIT members were fishers, hunters, or farmers historically, and climate-related hazards have impacted their livelihoods and ability to thrive. Increased tropical storm impacts, including Hurricane Ida’s devastating impacts in August 2021, have resulted in the loss of their traditional lands, greater storm surge, and more frequent flooding.

The Tribe is identifying community-based strategies to improve their resilience to future storms, including mitigating coastal erosion, flooding, storm surge, and winds that threaten the community’s property, sacred sites, and fishing areas. These strategies will focus on nature-based solutions (NBS) that integrate local and traditional ecological knowledge of Tribal members and provide co-benefits to ecosystem services and broader restoration goals.

Santana will lead the effort to understand and incorporate local ecological knowledge (LEK) of PACIT members into the development and design of the proposed nature-based solution, a network of living shorelines. This will include conducting interviews with local knowledge experts and leading participatory mapping focus groups to create opportunities for Tribal learning and input in the design and siting of living shorelines in the community.

SEFS faculty and alumni appointed to newly established Northwest Forest Plan Federal Advisory Committee

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The USDA Forest Service announced the formation of a new Federal Advisory Committee to advise on a climate-informed approach to landscape management across national forest lands in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. These forests constitute the Northwest Forest Plan area, which provides a coordinated management direction for the lands administered by the USDA Forest Service and the USDI Bureau of Land Management in the region.

Among the appointed members are SEFS Professor Emeritus Dr. Jerry Franklin, who was a major contributor to the initial development of the Northwest Forest Plan, and Dr. Ryan Haugo, SEFS alumnus and current Director of Conservation Science with The Nature Conservancy.

The committee will make recommendations on modernizing the Northwest Forest Plan with the latest climate science to create sustainably-managed national forests that are resilient to wildfire, insects, disease, and other disturbances, while meeting the needs of local communities and incorporating traditional ecological knowledge. In particular, the committee will work to provide guidance to the Forest Service on reducing wildfire risk, restoring fire resilience, and enabling long-term ecological integrity for people, communities and natural resources.

SEFS students Max Perkins and Jonathan Kwong recognized in the 2023 Husky 100

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Two SEFS undergraduate students in the Environmental Science and Resource Management major were recognized for their passion, leadership and commitment in the UW community as part of the 2023 Husky 100 list this week. Congratulations!

Maxwell Perkins

B.S. Environmental Science and Terrestrial Resource Management; B.S. Biology, Quantitative Science; History; Interdisciplinary Honors

maxwell perkins

SEFS student Max Perkins is dedicated to addressing ongoing climate injustices through interdisciplinary research, nature-based solutions, and building community.

“I decided to pursue ESRM because I care deeply about climate change and its uneven impacts on marginalized communities. I had learned about this in high school and wanted to take classes to understand the ecological and sustainability principles behind climate action. I’m really grateful to ESRM for allowing me to explore these concepts in interdisciplinary contexts,” said Perkins.

As a coastal science intern at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Perkins has worked to map coastal hazards and resilient landscapes in Puerto Rico. Perkins also founded a fundraising organization at UW, Domino Effect, which hosts gaming events to raise money and awareness for climate justice. “In just one year, the events I organized raised a total of $15,000 for the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, and they succeeded in raising awareness for climate justice in the gaming community. Some of my ESRM classes helped me a lot with growing Domino Effect into an effective organization, like Environmental Econ and Sustainable Finance,” said Perkins.

After graduation, Perkins will join the UW School of Marine and Environmental Affairs as a graduate student, where he’ll continue his coastal resiliency and climate adaptation research.

Jonathan KwongJonathan Kwong

B.S. Environmental Science and Resource Management, American Indian Studies, Oceanic and Pacific Islander Studies

SEFS student Jonathan Kwong is working to make environmental science accessible and equitable, and uplift traditional ecological knowledge within the field. 

“As a product of my communities, I am a trans-disciplinary thinker who is guided to decompose systems of oppression by centering queer people of color through storytelling and communal caring. In the conservation field, I am constantly reimagining with others how environmental scientists will work collaboratively with communities of color. Being a steward of safe spaces, I connect with people through my artistic and interstitial practice that involves poetry, creative writing, painting, weaving, and carving,” said Kwong.