Spring 2024 Symposium Schedule: May 22nd and May 28th
The Program on the Environment will host the Spring 2024 Capstone Symposium on Wednesday, May 22nd (online) AND on Tuesday, May 28th (in person) at the UW School of Aquatic Fisheries & Science. All are welcome to attend and support students as they present on the culmination of their hard work over three quarters.
The Capstone Course Series is a highlight for many students, and serves to catapult some into their first jobs or even their dream careers. Through internships, research, and social media training, students come out of the experience well equipped to communicate about the problem they sought to solve, and to tie their academic learning with specific research questions.
This event is open to the public, and we encourage students interested in learning about the Capstone, as well as members of the community, to join us.
The following links provide: Event Program, Video Presentations, and All Student Abstracts.
Spring 2024 Symposium Schedule
DAY 1: Online Poster Symposium (Wed. May 22nd)
4:30 PM – 4:40 PM Welcome & Session Overview
4:40 PM – 4:50 PM Session A Speaker Intros
4:50 PM – 5:50 PM Poster Session A – Natural science, business, & sustainability
| Jeron Atlas (Room #1) – Listen Up! Remote Acoustic Bird Monitoring for Assessing Forest Management Actions. Site Partner: The Great Peninsula Conservancy (Jeron’s page) |
| Dray Banfield (Room #2) – Snowpack and Snow Water Equivalent: Monitoring in a Washington Forest Treated by Thinning. Site Partner: Northwest Natural Resource Group (Dray’s page) |
| Forrest Baum (Room #3) – Using Data To Bring UW Air Travel Emissions Down To Earth. Site Partner: UW Hydro-Biogeochemical Research Group (Forrest’s page) |
| Chelsea Bressler (Room #4) – Act Now? Evaluating Local Perception and Implementation Limitations of Assisted Plant Migration. Site Partner: Friends of Lincoln Park (Chelsea’s page) |
| Mara Bridwell (Room #5) – Advancing Healthcare Sustainability: UW Medicine’s Energy and Waste Dashboard. Site Partner: UW Medicine (Mara’s page) |
| Sierra Briggs (Room #6) – Surf, Sand, and Sediment: Forage Fish Sediment Surveys as a Case Study for Responding to Insufficient Datum. Site Partner: Nisqually Research Nature Center (Sierra’s page) |
| Joe Bruun-Jensen (Room #7) – Brilliant Biomethane: Opportunities of Renewable Natural Gas in Propelling a Sustainable Future. Site Partner: AgroFora Bioenergy Systems (Joe’s page) |
| Taylor Clementz (Room #8) – Threatened Green Sturgeon: How Video Analysis Can Be Used To Quantify & Reduce Bycatch. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Taylor’s page) |
| Dylan Fourneir (Room #9) – Adaptive Sampling Strategies to Capture Shifting Fishery Stocks in the Eastern Bering Sea. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Dylan’s page) |
| Errol Funk (Room #10) – Snow Problem: How Forest Adaptation Strategies can Mitigate the Effects of Warming Winters. Site Partner: Northwest Natural Resource Group (Errol’s page) |
| Valerie Gwyneth (Room #11) – Sustainable Business Communication: Strategies for Effectively Conveying Sustainability Efforts to Consumers. Site Partner: Perennial Zero Waste (Valerie’s page) |
| Eric Holmquist (Room #12) – Analyzing Western Hemlock Decline in Seward Park. Site Partner: Friends of Seward Park (Eric’s page) |
| Jason Kung (Room #13) – Evaluating Social Infrastructure’s Impacts on Community Networks to Build Resilience. Site Partner: Climate Impacts Group (Jason’s page) |
| Tabitha Lederer (Room #14) – Forage Fish Distribution Across Tidal Elevations: Implications for Habitat Management. Site Partner: Nisqually Research Nature Center (Tabitha’s page) |
| Lena Lewis (Room #15) – Measuring the Sustainable Impact of a Construction Tool Reuse System. Site Partner: Seattle REconomy (Lena’s page) |
| Colin MacDonald (Room #16) – How Invasive Blackberry Affects Soil Conditions and the Implication for Ecological Restoration. Site Partner: City of Sammamish (Colin’s page) |
| James Moy (Room #17) – Visualizing a Path Towards Sustainability: A Model of Data Management for the Future. Site Partner: UW Medicine (James’ page) |
| Lia Pecunies (Room #18) – Strategic Alignment in Information Systems and Corporate Sustainability: A Knowledge Management Perspective. Site Partner: Harborview Medical Center (Lia’s page) |
| Timothy Reagan (Room #19) – Sustainability Within Hospitals: How Hospitals like Harborview Medical Center Can Become More Sustainable By Using Sustainability Frameworks to Track, Benchmark & Find Solutions. Site Partner: Harborview Medical Center (Timothy’s page) |
| Jacob Smith (Room #20) – What are We Wasting: A Deep Dive Analysis into Public Waste Receptacles and Waste Characterization. Site Partner: City of Renton Public Works Department (Jacob’s page) |
| Maya Smith (Room #21) – The Power of Purchasing and Partnerships: Government Money Makes Sustainability Go ‘Round. Site Partner: Perennial Zero Waste (Maya’s page) |
| Miriam Stearns (Room #22) – Evaluating the Impact of Invasive European Green Crabs on Native Fish Abundance and Size in Willapa Bay. Site Partner: Washington Sea Grant (Miriam’s page) |
| Grace Stevens (Room #23) – Red Beets? Try Green Beats: Sustaining Melodies, Harmonizing Futures. Site Partner: UW Bothell and Cascadia College (Grace’s page) |
| Muwei Zhang (Room #24) – Life and Death: How Does Western Hemlock Mortality in a City Park Affect Pileated Woodpecker Livelihoods? Site Partner: Friends of Seward Park (Muwei’s page) |
5:50 PM – 6 PM Break
6 PM – 6:05 PM Session B overview
6:05 PM – 6:15 PM Session B – Speaker Intros
6:15 – 7:15 PM Poster session B – Agriculture & Food systems, education & outreach, policy & regulation
| Hibo Abdi (Room #1) – Go RainWise: Outreach and its Impacts on Community Perception of Green Stormwater Infrastructure. Site Partner: Sustainable Ballard (Hibo’s page) |
| Gracia Anderson (Room #2) – Why Should we Consider them a Stakeholder Group? Increasing Youth Engagement with Complex Waste Management Policies. Site Partner: Environment Washington (Gracia’s page) |
| Bella Bartlett (Room #3) – To Seed or Not To Seed: How A Community Garden Can Combat Food Deserts. Site Partner: Cactus Park Elementary School (Bella’s page) |
| Abigayle Cariño (Room #4) – The Complexity of Inequity: Investigating Accessibility to Environmental Education Resources for Underrepresented Students. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Abigayle’s page) |
| Kitto Davison-Kunhardt (Room #5) – Tracking the Eco-Pulse, Community Environmental Awareness and Light Rail Development. Site Partner: Seattle Subway Foundation (Kitto’s page) |
| Brandon Espiritu (Room #6) – Redefining Impact: Unlocking the Transformative Power of Individual Environmental Action. Site Partner: Friends of Lincoln Park (Brandon’s page) |
| Graham Gaimari (Room #7) – Living in a City Doesn’t Have to Mean Living Disconnected from Nature. Site Partner: Weed Warriors, Nature Stewards Program (Graham’s page) |
| Jayce Gilles (Room #8) – Growing a Better Tomorrow: Exploring the Role of Community Gardens in Promoting Sustainability and Community Well-Being. Site Partner: Weed Warriors, Nature Stewards Program (Jayce’s page) |
| Grace Glisson (Room #9) – Diving into Marine Science: Using Telemetry to Teach Ecological Responsibility. Site Partner: NOAA Marine Mammal Laboratory (Grace’s page) |
| Kayla Lay (Room #10) – Compostable Products: Breaking Down Barriers and Building up Solutions. Site Partner: Compost Manufacturing Alliance (Kayla’s page) |
| Faith Murray (Room #11) – Healing from the INside OUT: a Research Study on the Impacts of Outdoor Environmental Learning on Overall Student Well-Being. Site Partner: Sound Salmon Solutions (Faith’s page) |
| Emily Muterspaugh (Room #12) – Modernizing Environmental Education: Integrating Telemetry Data into Academic Practices. Site Partner: NOAA National Marine Mammal Laboratory (Emily’s page) |
| Quynhnhu Nguyen (Room #13) – Evaluating Outreach Opportunities within RainWise to Increase Participation in Homeowner Green Infrastructure and Support Clean Water Goals. Site Partner: Sustainable Ballard (Quynhnhu’s page) |
| Miranda O’Herron (Room #14) – Farming in the Desert: Equitable and Sustainable Agriculture in Arid Climates. Site Partner: Cactus Park Elementary School (Miranda’s page) |
| Zola Ontiveros (Room #15) – Eat Dirt, It’s Good For You: An Analysis of Early Childhood Environmental Education. Site Partner: Chrysalis Forest School (Zola’s page) |
| John Romano-Olsen (Room #16) – Interdisciplinary Environmental Education: A Solution for Educational Inequities and Climate Inaction. Site Partner: Partner in Employment (John’s page) |
| Brit Skolnik (Room #17) – Breaking the Sound Barrier: Promoting Marine Environmental Outreach Across Formal and Informal Settings. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Brit’s page) |
| Ayla Stone (Room #18) – Centering Environmental Justice: Fostering Equitable and Sustainable Communities in the Classroom. Site Partner: Basilica Bio (Ayla’s page) |
| Keara Taylor (Room #19) – How Hospitals Can Focus On Health In Regards To The Environment. Site Partner: Harborview Medical Center (Keara’s page) |
| Lauren Williams (Room #20) – Protecting Seattle’s Urban Canopy: Policy Revisions & Education. Site Partner: Cascadia Climate Action (Lauren’s page) |
| Jasmine Yu (Room #21) – Exploring the Gifts of Community Gardening: Environmentally, Economically, and Socially. Site Partner: Weed Warriors, Nature Stewards Program (Jasmine’s page) |
7:15 – 7:30 PM Closing remarks
DAY 2: Oral Presentation Symposium & Celebration (In-Person, Tues. May 28th)
UW School of Aquatic Fishery & Sciences | 1122 NE Boat St, Seattle, WA 98105
4:30 PM – 4:40 PM Welcome & Housekeeping (Lobby)
4:40 PM – 5:10 PM Poster Highlights** & Refreshments
5:10 PM – 5:20 PM BREAK
5:20 pm – 5:25 PM Session introduction
| 5:25 – 5:35 | Rexford Curtiss – Skyrocketing Social Media for Small Businesses: From Ground Zero to Success. Site Partner: Whidbey Island Grow Cooperative (Rexford’s page) |
| 5:35 – 5:45 | Jillian Evans – Moving Beyond the Like: Crafting Captions for Meaningful Environmental Engagement. Site Partner: Program on the Environment (Jillian’s page) |
| 5:45 – 5:55 | Sydney Belden – Transportation Transformation: How Seattle Wants the Link Light Rail to be Fixed and Why. Site Partner: Seattle Subway Foundation (Sydney’s page) |
| 5:55 – 6:05 | Maddie Keating – Exploring Personal Food Sovereignty: The Relationship Between Perception and Action in the Food Justice Movement. Site Partner: Whidbey Island Grow Cooperative (Maddie’s page) |
| 6:05 – 6:15 | Lizzie Hackett – Who’s Been Touching Your Food? An Analysis of Local Food Systems and their Impact on the Community, Economy, and Environment. Site Partner: Carnation Farmers Market (Lizzie’s page) |
6:25 pm – 6:35 pm intermission
| 6:35 – 6:45 | Kiley Foster – Oysters Gone Wild: Exploring Pacific Oyster Naturalization in the Salish Sea. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Kiley’s page) |
| 6:45 – 6:55 | Ruby O’Malley – Playing for Keeps: Multimodal Learning in Outdoor Environmental Education. Site Partner: Sound Salmon Solutions (Ruby’s page) |
| 6:55 – 7:05 | Isaac Olson – Wellbeing Over Waste: Engaging Youth on Addressing Plastic Pollution. Site Partner: Environment Washington (Isaac’s page) |
| 7:05 – 7:15 | Stephanie Schmidt-Pathmann – Fostering Youth Engagement in Sustainability; Discovering Motivating Factors and Pathways to Action. Site Partner: Sustainability Ambassadors (Stephanie’s page) |
| 7:15 – 7:25 | Midori Sylwester – Carbon, Communication, and Climate: How We Can Reach Net Zero with Less than 1000 Acres. Site Partner: Northwest Natural Resource Group (Midori’s page) |