2025 MRC Conference
shared currents: collaboration across water and community
If you have questions about the Conference, please contact Caitlyn Blair at our general Northwest Straits email address info@nwstraits.org.
day of the conference NEED-TO-KNOW
In order to reduce waste this year, we are encouraging attendees to bring their own water bottle and coffee/tea mug to refill at the conference.
Hotel & dining information
MRC Members & Staff | Commissioners & Science Advisory Committee
Draft agenda
Please visit the 2025 Speakers Page for more information on our amazing speaker lineup!
Day 1 – Friday, November 7th
9:00 AM – Registration Opens
10:30 - 11:15 AM - Opening Plenaries and Welcome
11:30 – 12:30 PM – Networking Lunch
12:30 – 2:30 PM – Networking Session
2:45 – 3:45 PM – Tribal Governance Panel Session
6:00 – 8:30 PM – Dinner at 6:00 PM, Keynote begins 7:00 PM
Day 2 – Saturday, November 8th
9:15 - 10:10 AM - Creating Messages that Drive Behavioral Change with Justine Asohmbom
10:15 – 11:30 AM – Land Use and Biodiversity Panel Session
11:30 – 12:30 PM – Networking Lunch
12:45 – 2:30 PM – MRC Collaborative Networking Session and Project presentations by MRC member
Keynote Speaker: Josie Iselin
An Artist's Journey into the Science of Seaweed and the Stories of the Kelp Forest
Josie Iselin is an artist, author, book designer, and ocean activist that has recognized the power of art and storytelling in scientific communications. She will take us on her journey from making algal imagery using her flatbed scanner, to writing and designing various books on seaweed, to her current project as partner of Above/Below, a collective committed to telling kelp forest, and most recently, oyster, stories. The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp is a web-based book that was released in November 2023, with a new Spanish and French translations and added kelp restoration content added in fall, 2025. Josie will walk us through her process for artmaking, research, and writing. She will end by discussing the development of the comprehensive web-based book about bull kelp, a monumental and collaborative project that has been viewed by over 25,000 kelp-curious learners, and she will share a preview of the newest Olympia oyster project.
Josie has spent years individually scanning seaweeds and kelps, using the transparency adaptor on her flatbed scanner to capture the translucent wonder of these foundational organisms of the oceans. Her intent is to elevate their stories, to increase recognition of the seaweed’s and kelp’s beauty and diversity of forms, and their ingenuity at thriving in the inter- and subtidal zones, a zone us humans can only try our hardest to understand. The remarkable diversity and abundance of seaweeds and kelps throughout the Pacific Northwest, BC, and Alaska need to be celebrated as the eco-engineers and primary producers that so many other organisms of our oceans depend upon.
Calling all Artists! Creative currents 2025 Digital Art Show
All 2025 MRC Conference attendees are invited to submit original, marine-themed artwork for a curated digital art show at the conference!
Top banner image: Late afternoon sunlight hits the waterfront La Conner Washington. Photo: Chris Boswell