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2024 Northwest Straits Conference

Hope Through LocaL Solutions

The 2024 Annual Northwest Straits Initiative Conference will be held at the Delta Hotel in Everett, Snohomish County from November 15-16, 2024. Please check this website for updates on the agenda, speakers, and other information related to the conference. Please check out the draft agenda below, with more updates will come leading up to the conference. We look forward to seeing you there! 

Registration is now closed. Please reach out to info@nwstraits.org to inquire about the possibility of late registration and a hotel room. 

Draft Agenda

Elin Kelsey, PhD, is a leading spokesperson, scholar and educator in the area of evidence-based hope. Elin’s work focuses on the reciprocal relationship between humans and the rest of nature, particularly in relation to the emotional implications of the narrative of environmental doom and gloom on children and adults. Her influence can be seen in the hopeful, solutions-focus of her clients including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and other powerful institutions where she has served as a visiting fellow including the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Passionate about bringing science-based stories of hope and multi-species resilience to the public, Kelsey is a popular keynote speaker and media commentator. In 2014, she co-created #OceanOptimism, a twitter campaign to crowd-source marine conservation solutions which has reached more than 95 million shares to date. In 2019 she served as a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University in the Graduate School of Education, bringing a critical emphasis on hope to an interdisciplinary think tank on environmental issues. As an Adjunct Faculty member of the University of Victoria School of Environmental Studies, she is spearheading the development of a solutions-oriented paradigm for educating environmental scientists and social scientists. She is a feature writer for Hakai Magazine and a best-selling Children’s Book Author. She enjoys serving as an author in residence in schools and leads environmental workshops for teachers, and kindergarten through university students, across North America and around the world. More about her and her work can be found at Elin Kelsey & Co.

Conference speakers

Telling Your Story: Communicating Science

This session will be concurrent with Advancing Climate Resilience Through Community Engagement.

Bellamy Pailthorp will bring her passion and experience to the communications panel session as the moderator. With experience in climate justice, human health, and food sovereignty, Bellamy’s work on the KNKX environment beat has consistently highlighted the stories that matter most for our collective future. Her career journey has taken her from Berlin to Seattle, and with a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, she brings extensive knowledge and a global outlook. Since joining KNKX (formerly KPLU) in 1999, Bellamy has covered everything from business and labor to how we power our future while ensuring our cities remain livable and our cultures thrive. Fluent in German and deeply committed to her craft, she’s set to guide the panel with insight and expertise.

Kari Neumeyer, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Communications Manager began working for the NWIFC as the North Sound Information Officer in 2006, and has been communications manager since 2021. NWIFC’s communications division is tasked with educating the general public about the natural resources and fisheries management work being done by the 20 treaty tribes in western Washington that were party to the U.S. v Washington case that led to the 1974 Boldt decision.

She oversees regional information officers who produce stories, photos and videos for publication on the Northwest Treaty Tribes website, social media and print magazine. Recently, Northwest Treaty Tribes produced the feature documentary film FISH WAR, which premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival. Neumeyer has a bachelor’s degree in cinema studies from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Justin Cox is the Communications Manager for the SeaDoc Society, overseeing strategic communications and media relations. He communicates the organization's mission across all channels including the website, newsletter, social media and more, telling impactful stories that move people to conservation action. He also hosts and produces the SeaDoc Society’s Pod of Orcas podcast (season two, episodes 8 and 9 discuss hope with Elin Kelsey) and assists in production of Salish Sea Wild. Justin studied multimedia journalism at Northwestern and spent the early part of his career as a reporter for various sites. In 2013 he took a job leading communications for the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center, which sent him to Orcas Island to report a few stories about the Salish Sea. Two years later he filled SeaDoc Society’s new communications role and moved with his wife and two kids to Orcas Island. 

Curt Hart is the communications manager for the Washington Department of Ecology’s Shorelands and Environmental Assistance Program and Office of Chehalis Basin. He represents the department on issues related to shoreline, wetlands and floodplain management, clean energy coordination, climate change resiliency, and flood damage reduction and aquatic habitat restoration in the Chehalis River basin. He started with Ecology in 1991 and during his career, he has also served as communications director for Thurston County, Washington, and the state Department of Enterprise Services. Besides working for local government and state agencies, Curt has been a newspaper reporter and editor in Texas, Iowa, and Washington and a classroom teacher in Washington. He earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1985 and education and history from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in 1988.

Engagement with Local Government 

Jamie Stephens 2024 Governor’s appointee to the Commission brings a wealth of experience in government and Puget Sound conservation. From 2010-2022 he served as a San Juan County Councilman representing Lopez, Shaw, and Decatur Islands, where he worked on the County’s Critical Areas Ordinance, Shoreline Master Program, and served as liaison to the San Juan MRC, Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council, Puget Sound Partnership Ecosystem Coordination Board, and the Governor’s Orca Task Force.

Kaylee Galloway is currently serving her first term on the Whatcom County Council representing District 1. Councilmember Galloway’s term ends January 2026. In 2024, Councilmember Galloway is Council Vice-Chairperson and Chair of the Climate Action and Natural Resources Committee. She is also a member of the Finance & Administrative Services Committee and Public Works and Health Committee. In addition, she represents the County Council on several community boards and committees, including the Lake Whatcom Policy Group, Climate Impact Advisory Committee, Council of Governments, Marine Resources Committee, Opportunity Council, Racial Equity Commission, Whatcom County Tourism Board, Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) Legislative Steering Committee, and the WSAC Timber Counties Caucus and Coastal Counties Caucus.

Melanie Bacon was elected Island County Commissioner in 2020, representing District 1, Whidbey Island south of Oak Harbor. She worked in Human Resources for 30 years, most recently as the HR Director for Island County. She has served the U.S. Army in military intelligence, been a consultant to tribal governments, a NOW leader, founding member of an educational endowment foundation, a prison chaplain, and chair of a planning commission and zoning board. She is the mother of two and grandmother of three.

Mark Ozias has been a Clallam County Commissioner since 2016 and in this role he represents Clallam County on a variety of regional Boards ranging from Clallam Transit System, to the North Olympic Development Council to the Salish Behavioral Health ASO. Mark also serves as the Second Vice President of the Washington Association of Counties. Mark sits on several community nonprofit Boards including the Olympic View Community Foundation and the Sequim Food Bank. His passion is working with others to identify and implement creative solutions to our most challenging community problems. Fun fact: Mark and his wife have driven across the United States six times in the last seven years, each Spring delivering many tens of thousands of lavender plants to budding lavender farms and farmers across the country, for a friend whose business helped make Sequim “The Lavender Capital of North America.”

Megan Dunn is the District 2 Councilmember on the Snohomish County Council. Megan has a 20-year work and volunteer background improving lives for working families and communities through thoughtful policy change. As a community leader, environmental health advocate, and proud mother of two Everett Public School kids, she has spent her career collaborating with community members to address complex issues facing Snohomish County. As a life-long advocate for protecting our environment, Megan is dedicated to ensuring that all of our communities have access to clean air to breathe, fresh water to drink, and clean soil for our agricultural needs. Megan has a bachelor’s degree in Biology-Geology from University of Rochester and a Master of Arts in Policy Studies from University of Washington-Bothell. She lives in Everett with her husband, their two kids, and a rescue dog named Zoe.

Heidi Eisenhower was Elected in 2020, Commissioner Eisenhour is an experienced non-profit executive having served locally as Chief Operating Officer at the Northwest Maritime Center, most recently, and Executive Director at Jefferson Land Trust previously. A longtime advocate of land and farmland conservation Heidi believes in access to healthy food and outdoor recreation. She also has many years of experience in food system work from running The Fountain Café, which her family owned, in Port Townsend to advocating for local and regional farms. Heidi grew up in a commercial fishing family on a 50’ troller in the Port Townsend boatyard and on the Pacific Ocean. Her family has lived in Port Hadlock since 1981. Heidi attended both Chimacum and Port Townsend Schools and graduated from the Evergreen State College with a degree in Environmental Science in 1994.

Science Advisory Committee Session

Dr. Julia Parrish is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, where she holds a Lowell A. and Frankie L. Wakefield Professorship in Ocean Fishery Sciences. She is a marine biologist, conservation biologist, and specialist in citizen science. She is also the Executive Director of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a citizen science program involving over 800 participants collecting monthly data on the identity and abundance of beach-cast birds and marine debris. 

Dr. Tom Mumford received a BA from Wabash College (1966) and served in the US Army from 1966-1969. He received a PhD in Botany from the University of Washington (1973) then spent three years at UBC on a postdoctoral fellowship before joining the Washington Department of Natural Resources in 1976. At WDNR he researched the cultivation of seaweeds for the production of phycolloids and food, and developed and managed programs for management and inventory of seaweeds and seagrasses on state-owned aquatic lands. He served on the Nearshore Science Team for the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project. Since his retirement in 2011, he is focusing on researching marine algal biodiversity, the role of kelp in marine ecosystems, on kelp restoration, and on teaching.

Dr. Anne Beaudreau and her team conduct research to understand how fisheries systems (fish + people) respond and adapt to environmental, regulatory, and social change. Anne integrates approaches and perspectives from multiple fields, including fisheries science, ecology, anthropology, geography, and policy science. Her work is largely place-based, with a focus on coastal communities and ecosystems along the North Pacific. Anne began her career at the New England Fishery Management Council, where she saw firsthand that the necessary ingredients for good decision-making are not only the ‘best available science,’ but also relationship-building, communication, and trust. Anne went on to earn a Ph.D. in aquatic and fishery sciences from the University of Washington (UW) and held a faculty position at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Juneau, AK, from 2012 to 2020. She has been an associate professor at University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs since 2021.

Dr. Ron Thom is a former Governor's appointee to the Northwest Straits (NWS) Commission and past chair of the Northwest Straits Commission’s Science Advisory Committee. Ron was elected president of Washington State Academy of Sciences and is an emeritus scientist at Pacific Northwest National Labs in Sequim, where he conducted research in coastal and estuarine ecosystems before retiring in 2013. His research spans everything from coastal ecosystem restoration to climate change and ecology of fisheries resources. He also serves as Senior Science Advisor to the Puget Sound Partnership.

Dr. Kathleen Wolf is a social scientist and recently retired from the University of Washington, College of the Environment. Her research, based on the principles and methods of environmental psychology, has explored public preference, perception, and behavior concerning urban forestry and green infrastructure. Recent work has turned to a focus on human health and wellness, and translating evidence about nature benefits to local government policy and planning.

Dr. David J. Trimbach is the Conservation Social Scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). He holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Dayton; M.U.S. in Community Development from Portland State University; and Ph.D. in Human Geography from the University of Kansas. He was previously a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Research Associate in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University, where he worked closely with the Puget Sound Partnership, a Washington state agency, as their in-house social scientist. He is an applied social scientist with experience in human geography and the human dimensions of fish, wildlife, and natural resource management. His research has largely focused on examining social science integration within environmental decision-making, people-place relationships, and human-environment interactions.

Dr. Kathryn L. Sobocinski is an applied marine ecologist focusing on fishes, fish habitats, and impacts of human disturbance and climate change in coastal ecosystems. Kathryn currently works on projects related to salmon survival in marine ecosystems, interactions between salmon and their prey and competitors, quantitatively assessing the cumulative effects of estuarine restoration for salmon, and marine ecology related to anthropogenic change within the Salish Sea and beyond. Kathryn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and the Marine and Coastal Science program at Western Washington University. She has a BA from Connecticut College, MS from University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, and a PhD in Marine Science from the College of William & Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. She completed post-doctoral work at Oregon State University and NOAA-Northwest Fisheries Science Center before joining the faculty at WWU.

insights from marine nearshore restoration

Jason Toft is a principal research scientist at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences in the Wetland Ecosystem Team. Since 2000, he has focused on nearshore restoration and effects of shoreline armoring in Puget Sound. The ecological interactions of juvenile salmon and invertebrates with estuarine systems is the underlying framework for most of his research. In addition to field-based research, other efforts include: 1) establishing standardized protocols as part of the Shoreline Monitoring Database, and 2) coordinating the PSEMP Nearshore work group to increase communication on nearshore issues in Puget Sound.

Hilary Hayford, Ph.D. is a nearshore ecologist with 25 years of experience in temperate coastal research. She is the Habitat Research Director for Puget Sound Restoration Fund, helping to develop and implement strategic, science-based plans for Olympia oyster and bull kelp habitat recovery.

Julieta Martinelli, Ph.d. is the Olympia Oyster Program Lead at WDFW since 2023. Prior to joining the agency to support state-wide restoration efforts of the native oyster, Julieta worked as a postdoc and researcher at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, for six years. She focused on leading projects to help the shellfish industry manage shell-boring worms and microplastics in Pacific oysters. Before moving to the PNW, Julieta carried out research on intertidal and benthic mollusk communities in Argentina, Australia, and Chile. She is passionate about connecting with humans and leveraging collective skills and efforts to make restoration projects happen.

Neil Harrington is an Environmental Biologist with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. In his twelve years with the Tribe his work has focused on harmful algal blooms, shellfish safety, native Olympia oyster restoration, invasive European green crabs, and outreach and education. Previous to working for Jamestown, he worked as a shellfish biologist for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and as the Water Quality Manager for Jefferson County. He earned a BA in Biology and a Master of Science in Biological Oceanography from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Advancing Climate Resilience Through Community Engagement 

This session will be concurrent with Telling Your Story: Communicating Science.

Guillaume Mauger is a research scientist at the UW Climate Impacts Group. He is also the Washington State Climatologist. Specializing in Climate Science, Guillaume works closely with communities across the Northwest to facilitate access to relevant climate science, grow the region’s capacity to use climate information and engage in collaborative user-driven climate research.

Mary Ann Rozance is a Senior Associate with Cascadia Consulting Group where she works directly with communities to support their climate action and resilience planning goals. Mary Ann’s expertise sits at the nexus of climate policy, resilience, and community co-development. She has supported climate and sustainability-related projects across many contexts, including with the Washington State Department of Commerce, the Puget Sound Partnership, the North Olympic Development Council, and others. Prior to joining Cascadia, Mary Ann was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center and the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington and a National Science Foundation Fellow at Portland State University. Mary Ann holds a PhD in Urban Studies from Portland State University, M.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Washington & a B.S. in Natural Resources Conservation from the University of British Columbia. 

Dr. Melissa Poe is a social scientist and the Assistant Director for Outreach at Washington Sea Grant. Melissa collaborates with Northwest Tribes and Indigenous communities of the Pacific on place-based cultural-ecosystems (such as clam gardens and herring spawn on kelp), climate and ocean change resilience, and food sovereignty. Melissa earned a PhD in Environmental Anthropology from the University of Washington, with a specialization in ethnoecology, Indigenous resource management, community-based participatory action research, food systems, and well-being.

Joe Williams is a member of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and a lifelong fisherman and former senator. He currently serves as the Swinomish community shellfish liaison - providing community outreach and advancing the goals of the Swinomish clam garden. Joe is raising twin teenagers, who are the next generation of stewards, and can often be found with him on the water or in the intertidal taking care of the clam garden and natural resources.