Our Team

Major: Undecided but very interested in genetics or pathology!

Superpower?: The ability to stop time whenever I want.

Favorite Road Trip Song: Calypso by Luis Fonsi

Hobbies: Reading (mystery novels, manga, or even the cute little doodles/notes that people scribble on desks or walls) and thrifting (planning outfits or seeing all the different things people donate/sell).

Major: Pre-sciences and interested in pursuing medicine

Favorite snack: Takis

Hobbies: Crocheting and tidepooling

Favorite beach: On the trail to Toleak Point. It’s an excellent place to go tide pooling and just take in the beautiful scenery of Olympic Peninsula

Superpower?: Flying, being able to fly or even float would be particularly neat and would solve the issue of getting stuck in traffic.

Major: Marine Biology

Superpower?: Breathing underwater!

Favorite Road Trip Song: Love Story by Taylor Swift

Hobbies: Being outdoors (especially the beach or mountains!), reading, and baking

Major: ESRM

Hometown: Shoreline, WA

Favorite Beach: Cannon Beach, OR

Favorite Treat: Ice Cream

Major: Marine Biology

Favorite Road Trip Song: Cruel Angel’s Thesis

Favorite Beach: Steep Ravine. Close to Stinson beach, but rockier and more secluded. The area has massive king tides that roll back the water so far you can hunt for urchins in the rocks.

Major: ESRM

Favorite Beach: Mukilteo

Favorite Road Trip Song: On the Road Again

Superpower?: My dream superpower would be to talk to animals!

Major: Marine Biology & minor in Arctic Studies

Superpower?: Staying positive

Favorite Road Trip Song: “Go Outside” by Cults

Favorite Beach: Carmel Beach in Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA

Major: Marine Biology

Favorite bird: sandpiper

Hobbies: photography, hiking

Major: Marine Biology + Atmospheric Science

Superpower?: Waterbending

Favorite Road Trip Song: Don’t Stop The Music – Rihanna

Favorite Beach: Cannon Beach

Heidi is an Associate Professor at UC Davis who is interested in environmental education that links communities, science, environmental action and learners of all ages. She is particularly interested in what and how people learn through public participation in scientific research (PPSR) as a form of informal science education to ultimately better conservation and natural resource management. Heidi is interested in COASST because it takes advantage of large spatial and temporal datasets, and is also completely intimate, localized, and hands-on in terms of training and working with volunteers, keeping people informed and excited, and making sure everyone knows the results of their efforts. 

Carol is the Superintendent of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS). Her responsibilities at the sanctuary include all aspects of management of the site and staff, policy development, interaction with the Olympic Coast Sanctuary Advisory Council, working with local, state, federal agencies and tribes, and serving as a member of the National Marine Sanctuary Programs’ Leadership Team. OCNMS has been a key partner in COASST since its inception, providing volunteer management on the outer coast and Strait of Juan de Fuca.  Carol has also served as a COASST volunteer, surveying a beach in Admiralty Inlet region as a way to remember that nature isn’t what you find on a computer or at meetings!

Lauren is the director for the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island- Ecosystem Conservation Office. Her work focuses on subsistence resource management issues, scientific research, and education and outreach. Lauren is currently involved in the expansion of the BeringWatch program, a grassroots environmental monitoring framework that enables Alaskan Tribes to take more control and have a voice in climate change science and environmental monitoring in rural Alaskan communities. The BeringWatch program adopted COASST protocols for seabird monitoring as seabirds are such a critical component of the Pribilof marine ecosystem in serving as ecosystem indicators, and are a culturally important subsistence resource. Lauren is a COASST volunteer in St. Paul, Alaska, one of the earliest participating communities of COASST!

Kurt currently serves as the Executive Director of the Alaska Forum, a non-profit organization that hosts and coordinates the annual Alaska Forum on the Environment Conference.  The mission of Alaska Forum is to promote a healthy environment through communication and education by conducting several grant projects including rural Solid Waste management training and the Environmental Technician Apprenticeship program. Kurt worked with the EPA from 1988 to 2003 as the Hazardous Waste Coordinator, enforcement and federal liaison for the Anchorage office.

Dawn is the Coordinator for the Marine Mammal Stranding Response in Northern California, a Professor at Humboldt State University, and the Director of the Marine Mammal Education and Research Program. Currently, her research includes the population dynamics of Steller’s Sea Lions (in collaboration with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory) and interactions of seabirds and pinnipeds on local rookeries (Common Murres and Stellers sea lions primarily). She is also actively engaged in studying the marine mammals that strand along the coast.

Selina is an Associate Professor and Associate Department Head in the Fisheries and Wildlife Department at Oregon State University. She is a fisheries ecologist and conservation biologist who is a long-time supporter of collaborative research and outreach, working with fishermen and coastal residents on critical natural resource issues. She loves the beach and fishes for fun on the Oregon coast with her husband, Scott, and their son, Dylan.

Jan is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Oregon’s Institute of Marine Biology.  She has researched various aspects of marine bird and mammal biology. Jan also directs several projects that provide rigorous professional development opportunities in the ocean sciences for community college faculty and students.

Sherry is the California Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), and monitors regional research, removal, and prevention projects and serves as a resource for the marine debris community within the state. Sherry also leads the NOAA Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project (MD-MAP), through which the MDP has established a network of marine debris monitoring partners that are applying methods and tools developed by NOAA. With COASST’s addition of a marine debris module, Sherry serves on the advisory board to provide input on protocols and help build partnerships between COASST and other marine debris researchers.

Kate is the Assistant Director for Programs at Washington Sea Grant.  Prior to this position, she was the Program Coordinator of COASST for five years. She currently works with engaging scientists, natural resource managers, citizen science groups and other interested parties in developing a working definition of citizen science and identifying criteria for the effective use of citizen science in research and management efforts.

Nick is Director of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Program. He oversees a portfolio of work including an ocean plastics campaign, the International Coastal Cleanup, and the Trash Free Seas Alliance. Nick has conducted marine debris research around the world, including field expeditions to the North Pacific Gyre and Midway Atoll. He is interested in informing global perspectives on debris with the data and information collected through COASST’s extensive network of citizen scientists.

Nancy is an avid COASSTer and proud citizen science participant, surveying three beaches on the western Strait of Juan de Fuca and one beach on the Northwest coast of Washington. From her PhD studies in computer technologies, innovation, and professional development to her current work with large scale volunteer efforts, Nancy immerses herself personally in active local work, connecting work needs with committed workers. She is involved in many organizations, including Washington Clean Coast Alliance, the Pacific Rim Earth Day Beach Clean Up, Friends of Hoko River State Park, and Lions Club International environmental projects.

Paul is a retired forester from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He was born and raised on the Makah reservation, where he worked for 18 years, served on various tribal committees, and currently serves as a board member at the Makah Cultural and Resource Center. As an avid volunteer with COASST, Paul provides the advisory board with insight on the volunteer experience out in the field. He also enjoys hiking, fishing and traveling.

Tina is the Evaluation Program Manager at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO), and Project Leader for DEVISE, an NSF-funded project that aims to support PPSR practitioners in developing and implementing contextually appropriate evaluation designs and strategies.  Tina is currently pursuing her PhD at Cornell examining the relationship between citizen scientists’ participation and outcomes related to knowledge, skills, and behavior. She is extremely interested in understanding how COASST influences participants’ perceptions of science and their role in it.

Shawn is an Associate Professor in STEM Education at Oregon State University with a background in applied linguistics (that is, studying how humans learn languages) and developmental psychology in education. His work with COASST has supported research projects that examine learning outcomes for citizen science training modules.

Daniel is the Wildlife Section Manager for the Quinault Indian Nation where he is currently managing research projects of large terrestrial mammals of the northwest.  He has been involved with the COASST program since 2008 and currently monitors 2 beautiful beaches on the Quinault Indian Reservation. The tribe has always seen themselves as stewards of the land and much of the traditional ways of life rely on coastal subsistence living. Being involved in COASST allows the tribe to monitor near shore marine ecosystems health and continue a traditional way of life.

Heather leads the large biological program at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish and Wildlife Service). The Refuge is far-flung across most of the coast of Alaska, supports 80% of Alaska’s seabirds and has a long-term seabird monitoring program dating back to the 1970’s. Heather and other AMNWR staff conduct summertime COASST surveys at annual seabird monitoring sites around the coast of Alaska.

Jon is the Marine Mammal Biologist with the Makah Tribe. He protects the tribe’s treaty rights, as well as researches the whales and sea lions around the coast of the Makah Reservation. Jon studied fisheries at the University of Washington and wildlife science at Oregon State University for a master’s degree. At OSU, he studied the movements, population counts, and survival of Steller sea lions of Northern California/Southern Oregon’s breeding populations.

Bill is a Special Assistant to the Director for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).  His focus areas at the Department include Columbia River fisheries, hydroelectric power and water flows; invasive species prevention and control; managing the fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea; and developing citizen science initiatives.  Before working in natural resources policy, he was a salmon biologist for two Puget Sound tribes and WDFW. In his free time, he is an avid birdwatcher, with a particular love for marine birds. His first beached bird census was in 1975 at Westport, Washington.

Francis is Stantec’s Technical Leader for Marine Science in Canada and Alaska. He was formerly the Science Director for the North Pacific Research Board in Alaska for 6 years and served on the Chukchi-Beaufort Ecosystem Collaboration Team of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee. Francis has worked for and with academia, government, non-profits and industry, is a technical reviewer for over 20 international journals and has served on a variety of national and internal science panels and working groups