"the mountain and the sea are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books." -john lubbock
Meet Our Team
The Salish Sea School is committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, inclusion, and connectedness. We are able to grow and learn better together with a diverse team. We welcome the unique contributions that one can bring in terms of their education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.
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We are stronger together with the collective sum of individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, and talent which ultimately brings about a healthier planet.
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Click on the pictures below to learn more.
Virtual Conversations About Current Salish Sea Science and More
​Dates: September '25 – May '26
(Second Wed. of each month)
Time: 6–7 PM PT
(Talk: 30–45 mins + 15 mins Q&A)
Cost: $69 for all 9 sessions (~$7/class!)
Missed one? No problem—sign up anytime and get access to all past recordings!
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Got questions? FAQs found here.​​
Join us on the second Wednesday of each month for The Pulse—a virtual learning series designed for environmental educators, marine naturalists, and curious nature lovers alike.
Tune in from anywhere in the world as we dive deeper into Salish Sea themed monthly conversations on big-picture topics, emerging research, and inspiring stories—all from the comfort of home.
FALL 2025-2026 SPEAKERS:
September 10, 2025
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The Elwha Dam Removal and Recovery
with Vanessa Castle, Lower Elwha Klallam
Description: Coming soon!
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Bio: Vanessa was born and raised in Port Angeles, WA on the Lower Elwha Reservation. She grew up fishing with my mother and seeing our salmon numbers decline because of the two hydroelectric dams that were on the Elwha River. The Elwha dams were removed in the first ever and largest dam removal project in North America. For 5 years she worked for Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe as a Natural Resource technician where she braided my traditional ecological knowledge with the western world of science in her everyday work. Now, she is pushing on to pursue her education to back my traditional knowledge with western science.
October 8, 2025
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​​​Lummi Island Reef Netting​​​
Ian Kirouac, President, Fleet Manager
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Description: Experience a virtual front row seat to the only solar powered commercial fishery on the planet. Solar power is only just the beginning of why this fishery is recognised as one of the greenest on the planet. Meet Lummi Island Wild President Ian Kirouac and learn what makes this fishing method, and the wild salmon they catch, so special.
The Lummi Island Wild Co-op mission is to promote the respectful and responsible harvesting of wild caught salmon, while protecting the environment for future generations of fish and people. We are fishers first, not middle men. Our reefnet salmon fishery is recognized as one of the most sustainable on the planet, and we practice those same values as we partner with tribal and state fishers to bring you the best sustainably caught, wild seafood and salmon.
November 12, 2025
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​​​Tufted Puffins in a
Dynamic Seascape
​​With Dr. Scott Pearson
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Description: The Tufted Puffin is an iconic seabird that nests on offshore islands along Washington’s outer coast and on two islands in the Salish Sea. Recent analyses suggest that the puffin is declining from the Gulf of Alaska south to California, with more dramatic declines at the southern end of its breeding range. Scott will describe the species’ natural history and provide information on its status in Washington and beyond and on research and conservation efforts to benefit the species locally.
Bio: Dr. Scott Pearson is a senior research scientist at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington and his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Michigan. His research is focused on assessing wildlife population status and trends and the underlying mechanisms driving declines to help inform conservation management. His current work is focused on gaining a better understanding of marine bird and mammal diets, habitat use and quality, and the effectiveness of conservation efforts with a focus on several species of conservation concern. Scott also supervises the west-side research team for the Wildlife Program.
December 10, 2025
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​​​Beavers in the Salish Sea
with Dr. Greg Hood, Senior Research Scientist,
Skagit River System Cooperative
Description: Habitat use by beaver in the tidal marshes of the Skagit and Snohomish deltas, focusing on the distribution of their dams and lodges, the role of their dams for tidal beaver, and the effects of their dams on juvenile salmon and other small estuarine fish. In addition, I will discuss the special case of beaver in the Copper River delta (Alaska) where tidal marshes were elevated by 2 meters in the 1964 magnitude 9.2 earthquake.
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Bio: Dr. Hood is a senior research scientist for the Skagit River System Cooperative, a natural resources management agency serving the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe. He has been working for more than thirty years in Pacific Northwest wetlands, but he has also had the good fortune to dabble in tidal marshes in Chile and the Atlantic coast of France. His research focuses on the interaction between geomorphology and ecology in tidal wetlands with application to habitat restoration and recovery of threatened Chinook salmon. Ecological interactions of interest, in addition to juvenile salmon and other estuarine fish, have included marsh vegetation, benthic invertebrates, and tidal beaver. He has taught Landscape Ecology of Wetlands for eight years in the Professional Certification Program at the University of Washington. For twelve years he served as a panel member on the Columbia River Expert Regional Technical Group on Estuary Habitat Actions, which advises the National Marine Fisheries Service, US Army Corps of Engineers, and Bonneville Power Administration on federal estuarine habitat actions for Chinook salmon recovery in the Columbia River Estuary. He is also a founding member of the Skagit Climate Science Consortium. He has a PhD from the University of Washington School of Fisheries and an MS from the Florida State University.
January 14, 2026
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Guardians of the Pod: Menopause, Knowledge, and the Future of the Southern Resident Killer Whales
​​​with Dr. Darren Croft, Center for Whale Research
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Description: ​The Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) are one of the most studied cetacean populations in the world and have been the focus of detailed scientific study for half a century, yet they remain critically endangered. One of the most remarkable traits of this population is that females experience menopause in midlife, a rare evolutionary adaptation that enables post-reproductive females to enhance the survival of their offspring and grand-offspring. These matriarchs play a crucial role in guiding their families through fluctuating food supplies and environmental changes. The SRKWs are in decline largely due to declines in the preferred prey, Chinook salmon and the future of the population balances on a knife edge. As elder females disappear, so too does the wisdom that has sustained generations. This talk will explore the role of menopause in SRKW society, the urgent conservation challenges they face, and the importance of protecting not just a species but an intricate network of relationships that shape their survival.
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Bio: Dr. Darren Croft has joined the Center for Whale Research (CWR) as Executive Director. With over a decade of collaboration with CWR’s founder, Ken Balcomb, Darren co-authored 20 scientific publications and secured over $2 million in UK government research grants for Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) conservation. Darren holds a Ph.D. in Behavioral Ecology and served as a Professor of Animal Behavior at the University of Exeter, where he published over 150 scientific papers and led major research initiatives. His work with CWR has been featured globally, including a BBC Radio 4 documentary and a TED-Ed video with over 1.6 million views.
February 11, 2026
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​​​Olympia Oyster Restoration​
with Jessi Florendo, Puget Sound Restoration Fund
Description: Olympia oysters and Bull kelp are two foundational species and habitat engineers in Puget Sound. Part of this region's story of water and food since time immemorial, each of these species have been adversely impacted by human activity and have been in decline for years. In this presentation, Jessi Florendo (they/them) from Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF) will describe the vital ecosystem services provided by each of these two species, what factors have affected their decline from historic abundance, and what PSRF is doing to return these species to be present and available for years to come.
Bio: Jessi Florendo (they/them) is a Program Coordinator and Marine Restoration Practitioner at Puget Sound Restoration Fund in Washington State. Committed to the restoration of both Olympia oysters and Bull kelp in Coast Salish waters, they are part of one small and mighty team which develops, implements, monitors, and shares findings on diverse restoration aquaculture approaches for renewing these foundational habitat engineers. Jessi has a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Rhode Island and a M.M.A. from the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington in Seattle.
March 11, 2026
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​​​The Ecology of Hummingbirds
​With Greg Green​
​​Description: Greg Green is a career wildlife biologist and instructor at Western Washington University where he teaches ecology, wildlife techniques, and natural history. Over a decade ago, he was asked to explain why we have a hummingbird that overwinters in the PNW (Anna’s), which culminated into a research project and an article in BirdWatching Magazine.
He has since been lecturing on the ecology of hummingbirds, both publicly and academically, and recently returned from the cloud forests of Ecuador where he photographed and observed a portion of the 132 species that live there. Green’s presentation will provide an overview of the unique ecology of this extraordinary group of birds, contrasting the PNW with Ecuador, and will tell the fascinating story of Anna’s hummingbird’s march north over the past 75 years.
​April 8, 2026
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​​​Return of the Giants
of the Salish Sea
with Dr. John Calambokidis, Cascadia Research Institute
Description: Gray and humpback whales make a comeback but face new challenges. This talk will focus on some of the dramatic changes that have occurred in humpback and gray whales in the Salish Sea as documented by a researcher who has studied them for over 40 years. The talk will show how the combination of long-term studies and new research methods such as deployment of new tags, prey sampling and use of drones has provided new insights on both species. We will show rare underwater footage from some of the tags. We will also examine how some of these tools have helped evaluate some of the interactions and threats from human activities.
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​John Calambokidis is a Senior Research Biologist at Cascadia Research Collective an Olympia-based non-profit he helped found in 1979. He has been studying marine mammals for 50 years and has specialized in tracking the populations, trends, movements, and threats from humans for the largest whales including blue, humpback, and gray whales.
May 13, 2026​​​​
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​​​Hot Topic
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Potentials: Long-term biennial patterns in Puget Sound Chinook salmon and Southern Resident killer whales: the role of pink salmon and implications for ecosystem management or Bull Kelp Monitoring
