Current Students
Rachel Aronson
Master’s Candidate
rsaronson@gmail.com
Rachel is a Master’s Candidate at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs (SEMA), University of Washington, with a BA in Biology and Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on place-based cultures and climate change in Alaska. Rachel's field research has been supported by science crowdfunding at Petridish.org and by the School of Marine Affairs Graduate Student Fellowship Award. She maintains a research blog at rachelaronson.net.
Laura Deighan
Master’s Candidate
ldeighan@uw.edu
Currently a Master’s Candidate at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs (SMEA), Laura holds a B.S. in Marine Biology from Florida Institute of Technology. While at SMEA, Laura hopes to expand her knowledge of marine species conservation and U.S. and international marine policy. She is especially interested in how these interplay within the fishing sector, with a strong interest in bycatch reduction and sustainable seafood policy.
Adam Kowalski
Master’s Candidate
akowalsk@uw.edu
Link to Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Before entering the School and Marine and Environmental Affairs (SMEA), Adam earned a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Although his previous research experience focused on coastal and underwater archaeology with an emphasis on anthropogenic impacts to marine ecosystems, Adam is currently interested in the use of learning networks and social relations research to better understand and solve environmental and socioeconomic problems facing coastal communities and our oceans. His proposed Master’s thesis will use social network analysis to examine how structural network characteristics influence the functionality of bridging organizations within a marine/coastal governance framework. This research will draw on a variety of theoretical areas, including boundary organization theory, stakeholder theory, and social influence theory.
Adam interned for the Center for Ocean Solution’s Fisheries Leadership and Sustainability Forum in Monterey, California. In addition to conducting research on resource optimization strategies for U.S. coastal fisheries, he plans to use the Center for Ocean Solutions as a case study for evaluating the functionality of a prominent bridging organization.
Chris Oliver
Master’s Candidate
coliverj@gmail.com
Chris is a Master's student at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs (SMEA). Before entering SMEA, he earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Washington. Having grown up in Alaska, Chris has long taken an interest in the natural world, especially the marine environment. He now seeks to augment his appreciation of natural science with an understanding of the processes behind natural resource management. He is particularly interested in fisheries management issues and their potential solutions.
Katie Thompson
Master’s Candidate
krthomps@uw.edu
Katie received a BA in Biology from Oberlin College. During her undergraduate career, she conducted research on a variety of topics, including the effects of ocean acidification on phytoplankton in Puget Sound, butterfly diversity on coffee farms in Costa Rica, and recovery patterns of mangroves in Mexico. She also worked at a local aquarium in her hometown of Bellingham, putting on public outreach programs.
After graduating from Oberlin, Katie was granted a Fulbright Fellowship in Costa Rica where she taught at the Universidad de Costa Rica and volunteered for sea turtle conservation organizations.
As a Master’s Candidate at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, she plans to focus on community-based marine resource management and conservation strategies both in the U.S. and internationally.
Read about past students involved with the Jenkins Research Team.
