College of the Environment Newsletter - Fall 2025
From the Dean’s Desk
As we near the end of 2025, I am excited to highlight some key moments from this year. There are many great things happening at the college.
We launched a summer undergraduate research program designed for first-generation college students interested in science. Eight highly motivated students achieved remarkable results in a very short time.
This fall, Western received a generous gift from alumnus Lee Whittaker, whose donation of properties in the Methow Valley will support our Sustainability Pathways program, strengthen Western’s presence in the area, and positively impact more students and community members in the future.
Over the past year, faculty from every department and institute contributed to our expanding research footprint by earning external grants that support work that positively impacts our region’s environmental health and creates career-building opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. Notably, our Department of Environmental Sciences led Western in grant expenditures!
Your connection and partnership are invaluable as we focus on educating the next generation of environmental leaders. I’ve had the opportunity to meet more of our alumni at recent gatherings, and it is inspiring to see the diverse paths that radiate out from our college. I look forward to meeting more of you in the coming year. In the meantime, please stay in touch. Together, we are stronger.
I am proud of our students, staff, and faculty, and so excited to share these stories and successes with you. Thank you for your continued interest and support in the College of the Environment.
Teena Gabrielson,
Dean of the College of the Environment
College News
WWU alumnus leaves the University a legacy of sustainability in the Methow
Photo: Lee Whittaker (upper right in pink shirt) talks with the 2023 Sustainability Pathways cohort. Whittaker has been interacting with students in the Methow Valley each summer since the program began in 2020.
Driven by a deep commitment to sustainability and community, WWU alumnus Lee Whittaker, ’68, has long championed intergenerational community building, land stewardship, and ecological and cultural education.
Now 79, Whittaker is looking to the future — and to the next generation — with a transformational land gift to Western that will deepen the university’s roots in the Methow Valley and help grow WWU’s Sustainability Pathways program.
Since 2020, Sustainability Pathways has brought Western students to the Methow and Okanogan valleys to work on local sustainability projects, gain hands-on experience, and learn through community collaboration. Whittaker’s gift includes 12 acres along the Methow River, where Western envisions future student housing and a small field station. Nearby, two additional properties already support students in the program.
Through this gift, Whittaker is helping future generations of WWU students learn from and care for the lands that sustain us all. Read the full story at the link in the comments.
RISE program gives undergrads valuable research opportunities
Photo: Kea Lani Diamond, left, and Selihom Habte, who both started their third year at Western this fall, worked in Assistant Professor Ian Moran’s ecotoxicology lab over summer quarter.
Last summer, eight undergraduates dove headlong into RISE — Research Immersive Summer Experience — a new faculty-mentored research program in the College of the Environment designed to build confidence and connection.
In this pilot year of the program undergraduates who had completed one or two years at Western and showed an interest in STEM and environmental and energy research received paid hands-on research experience.
The program matched students with one of four faculty advisors in energy studies, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, and disaster risk reduction to develop and engage in new research or contribute to a larger grant-funded study.
Environmental Sciences and Biology collaborate to study diseased trees in arboretum
Last spring, Environmental Sciences and Biology students teamed up to study laminated root rot, a disease caused by the fungus Coniferiporia sulphurascens affecting Douglas firs in the Sehome Hill Arboretum.
Professor of Environmental Science Rebecca Bunn and Professor of Biology Marion Brodhagen received a WWU Research and Sponsored Programs Faculty Summer Teaching Grant in 2022 to develop side-by-side arboretum research courses where each class would be “expert” in their methods and share knowledge and data.
Brodhagen’s students used microbiology and molecular biology tools to isolate and examine fungi from diseased and healthy Douglas fir trees to determine whether the microbial community of Douglas fir had potential to deter laminated root rot. Meanwhile, Bunn’s students compared soil health between stands dominated by Douglas fir or bigleaf maple. At the end of the quarter, the classes presented their findings to the Sehome Hill Arboretum Board of Governors.
Rebekah Paci-Green leads massive new report on school safety affecting 330 million children worldwide
Climate change, natural hazards, and global conflict put strain on communities, especially their fragile education systems. At the same time, schools are also great places to illustrate resilience.
Associate Professor and Chair of the Environmental Studies Department Rebekah Paci-Green is the lead author of “Global Status of School Safety,” an exhaustive collection of surveys, reports and profiles published by Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector that paints a picture of school safety policy around the world and helps provide a roadmap for improving conditions.
Urban planning students help launch Washington State Zoning Atlas
Over the last 18 months, Associate Professor Tammi Laninga led a handful of Western students as they combed through city and county zoning rules to contribute to the Washington State Zoning Atlas, a first-of-its-kind interactive tool that aims to make it easier to compare zoning across jurisdictions and identify statewide trends.
Read more about WWU students helped create the Washington Zoning Atlas.
Environmental Toxicology researchers studying stormwater pollution’s impact on Chinook salmon
Stormwater runoff contains a chemical known to be toxic to some salmon and scientists want to know what it’s doing to other animals, too.
Professor of Environmental Sciences Ruth Sofield and Research Lab Technician Katie Knaub, ’21, B.S., Environmental Science, Toxicology, are studying the effects of stormwater runoff on a Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, also known as the king salmon.
Read more about the ongoing research on stormwater pollution’s impact on Chinook salmon.
Institute for Watershed Studies deepens research of Northwest lakes
Now in its 20th year, the Northwest Lake Monitoring Program tracks water quality in 60-plus regional lakes in Whatcom, Skagit, Island, and Snohomish counties that largely do not have regular ongoing monitoring.
Throughout the summer, two undergraduate student employees headed out to do water quality, nutrient, and algae sampling twice a week. This year, in addition to shoreline sampling, researchers canoed out for a deeper look
Read more about the Northwest Lakes Monitoring Program and the Institute for Watershed Studies.
Theatre and science connect at staging of Ibsen’s ‘An Enemy of the People’
Last June, WWU’s Theatre Department staged Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People,” a play originally written in 1882 about a town dealing with toxic runoff.
While the theater students were rehearsing Ibsen’s play, on another part of campus, Science and Management of Contaminated Sites (SMoCS) — a combination of Environmental Sciences students and policy and journalism-focused students from Environmental Studies — were learning about contaminated site cleanup processes, regulatory management, and the communication of science.
Read what happened when the SMoCS students came to the dress rehearsal.
Sustainability Pathways receives $280,000 grant to expand partnerships and program offerings
Sustainability Pathways engages Western students and rural youth with opportunities to work in climate resiliency and sustainability in the Methow and Okanogan valleys.
The Washington Climate Corps Network (WCCN) award will expand programs that connect young adults with hands-on experiences supporting service projects that build climate resilience.
Read more about the grant and how it will help support programming.
Events
Environmental Speaker Series
The Environmental Speaker Series presents topics of environmental concern for the WWU and Bellingham communities. The winter quarter series is presented in partnership with the Salish Sea Institute and The Foundation for WWU & Alumni.
Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Academic Instructional Center West, room 204. They are free and open to the public. Winter quarter talks will also be streamed on Zoom; keep an eye on The Foundation for WWU & Alumni event page for registration information.
Watch dozens of archived Environmental Speaker Series talks from recent years.
Check The Foundation for WWU & Alumni event web page for more events including in-person happy hours, dinner cruises, ballpark nights, and more, happening in Bellingham and beyond.
Publications
Student & Faculty Publications
Shifts in bacterioplankton during cyanobacterial blooms reflect bloom toxicity and lake trophic state, Angela Strecker
A Characterization of Hyporheic Temperatures with Applications for Salmon Habitat Restoration in a Thermally Impaired River, Sydney Jantsch, James Helfield, Leo Bodensteiner, Kathryn Sobocinski, and Andrew Bunn
Modes of Coordination and Performance in Polycentric Governance: Disentangling Complexity, Troy Abel
Validation of a SWAN Model for Maritime safety and Nearshore Conditions in American Samoa, Brielle Biehn and Sam Kastner
An Observational Heat Budget of the Swinomish Clam Garden, Amelia Bourne, Maia Heffernan, Marco Hatch, and Sam Kastner
Supplemental Information for Probabilistic injury assessment and quantification for natural resource damage assessment using Bayesian networks: A case-study of the PCB-contaminated Mississinewa River Basin, April D. Reed and Wayne G. Landis
Otolith-based Determination of Rainbow Trout Life Histories in the Skagit River Basin, Aleutia Morris, Leo Bodensteiner, Nikhil Amin, and Mai Sas
Finding Space for the Island Marble Butterfly: Modeling the Habitat of a Highly Endangered Endemic Butterfly in the Salish Sea Ecoregion, Emily L. Bradford, Environmental Studies, Master’s Thesis
Spatiotemporal Variability in Water Properties at a Newly Constructed Clam Garden: The Influence of Physical Forcing Mechanisms, Chloe E. Cason, Environmental Sciences, Master’s Thesis
Hydrodynamics and residence time in a newly constructed clam garden, Maia Heffernan, Environmental Sciences, Master’s Thesis
Quantifying Irrigation in Washington’s WRIA 1: A Field-Scale Modeling Approach Based on Evapotranspiration and Effective Precipitation, Bo MacArthur, Environmental Studies, Master’s Thesis
Satellite and UAV Remote Sensing of Snow Algae and Cryospheric Features, Colby F. Rand, Environmental Sciences, Master’s Thesis
Exploring thermal occupancy between bull trout and brook trout in glacial headwaters, Nichole G. Ring, Environmental Sciences, Master’s Thesis
Seasonal Differences of Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) Embryo and Larval Metrics are Small, but Developmental Stage Drives Significant Proteomic and Physiological Variation, Ariel Elizabeth Shiley, Environmental Sciences, Master’s Thesis
Assessing the effects of atmospheric heat waves on the exchange between Hood Canal and Admiralty Inlet, Austin J. Valenti, Environmental Sciences, Master’s Thesis
Culture in the Commons: Third Places in Bellingham, WA, and their effects on sustainable behavior, Sophie Richmond, Honors College Senior Project
Exploring Manganese, Zinc and Iron behavior in a Constructed Wetland, Grace Landaverde, Honors College Senior Project
We’ll Be Okay, Together: An Applied Hope Workshop Guide, Marlowe Lawson, Honors College Senior Project
Diet Preferences of Fish in the Olympic Peninsula, Cherise Russo, Honors College Senior Project
Ecoprinting! An introductory creative workshop on natural fabric dyeing methods, Samone Alberts, Honors College Senior Project
Line Dancing with the Land: Embodying Place and Community, Parker Eckardt, Honors College Senior Project
Clean Slate: Restoring Our Spaces, Miles Falcone, Honors College Senior Project
Composting 101: The Ecological Art of Decay, Aeryn Garvisch, Honors College Senior Project
The Skagit River: Mapping a transborder waterway, Carly Lloyd, Honors College Senior Project
What’s the Worst That Could Happen?, Joel Rink, Honors College Senior Project
Making Space for Climate Migrants: Exploring Urban Policies to Support Climate Displaced Populations, Noa Simon, Honors College Senior Project
Browse for more publications on CEDAR.
CENV in the Media
Explore a world of maps this Geography Awareness Week WWU News
Professor Gigi Berardi’s ‘Bianca’s Cure’ is an anthem to women in science, WWU News
Winthrop embraces ‘Wayfinding Plan’ for improved signage, Methow Valley News
RISE program in WWU’s College of the Environment gives undergrads valuable research opportunities, WWU News
WWU alumnus leaves the University a legacy of sustainability in the Methow, WWU News
Washington forced to fight fire with less, The Columbian
WA’s wildfire future: More volatile forests amid slashed budgets, Seattle Times
One Quick Question: Fat Bear Week is over (congrats to ‘Chunk’!), but does its impact live on?, WWU News
WWU’s Institute for Watershed Studies deepens research of Northwest lakes, WWU News
One Quick Question: Ivy got banned: what’s the gripe with this grippy greenery?, WWU News
2025 Hancock Symposium - Troy D. Abel, Ph.D "Sinews of Environmental Justice, Westminster College
WWU’s Sustainability Pathways receives $280,000 grant to expand partnerships and program offerings, WWU News
City planners want to simplify development. Residents worry that retiring neighborhood plans means loss of voice, Cascadia Daily News
WWU Professor Emeritus Robin Matthews details newly described desmids, WWU News
Lake sampling project helps detect brewing algal bloom, Salish Current
WWU student publication named best in the country, Cascadia Daily News
WWU Environmental Toxicology researchers studying stormwater pollution’s impact on Chinook salmon, WWU News
Scientists crack the case of the melting sea stars. It only took a decade, KUOW (features alum Alyssa Gehman (MS-MESP '08), now a researcher at Hakai Institute)
‘The Planet’ named best ongoing student magazine in the country, WWU News
Scuba-diving WWU student tracks fatal sea star disease in Bellingham, Cascadia Daily News
Western team probes impact of wildfire pollution on Greenland ice sheet, KING 5
WWU researchers head to Greenland to study glacial melt tied to soot, algae, Cascadia Daily News
WWU students meet at crossroads of theatre and science with new staging of ‘An Enemy of the People’, WWU News