It’s hard to forget the excruciating heat that blanketed the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021. Temperatures in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia soared to well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with Seattle of 108 degrees on June 28.

During the heat wave, also called a heat dome, scientists and community members alike noticed a disturbing on some beaches in Washington and British Columbia, both in the Salish Sea and along the outer coast. The observers quickly realized they were living through an unprecedented event and they organized to document the shellfish die-offs as they happened in real time.

Now, a team led by the 91̽�� has compiled and analyzed hundreds of these field observations to produce the first comprehensive report of the impacts of the 2021 heat wave on shellfish. The researchers found that many shellfish were victims of a “perfect storm” of factors that contributed to widespread death: The lowest low tides of the year occurred during the year’s hottest days — and at the warmest times of day. The were published online June 20 in the journal Ecology.

“You really couldn’t have come up with a worse scenario for intertidal organisms,” said lead author , a research scientist at 91̽��Friday Harbor Laboratories. “This analysis has given us a really good general picture of how shellfish were impacted by the heat wave, but we know this isn’t even the full story.”

The research team leveraged existing collaborations across tribes, state and federal agencies, academia and nonprofits. They devised a simple survey and five-point rating system (1 = much worse than normal to 5 = much better than normal) and asked participants to provide ratings based on their knowledge of a species in that location. In total, they gathered 203 observations from 108 unique locations, from central British Columbia down to Willapa Bay, Washington.

“The strength of this study and what it really highlights is the value of local knowledge and also the importance of understanding natural history,” said co-author , a 91̽��associate teaching professor in environmental studies and aquatic and fishery sciences. “This is the first step and a snapshot, if you will, of what shellfish experienced on the beaches during the heat wave.”

The researchers found that each species’ ecology contributed to its general success or failure to survive the extreme heat. For example, some shellfish that naturally burrow deep beneath the surface, like butter clams, usually fared better than ones that typically ride out low tide just below the sand’s surface, such as cockles.

They also found that location mattered. Shellfish on the outer coast experienced low tide about four hours earlier than shellfish on inland beaches. For inland shellfish, low tide — or when the most shellfish were exposed — hit around solar noon, when the sun was directly overhead.

Additionally, air temperatures were much higher at inland sites compared to the outer coast, causing more stress on inland populations. For example, California mussels, found almost exclusively on the outer coast, mostly survived the heat while bay mussels, found in more inner coastal sites, were more likely to die from heat exposure. More water movement and wave action on the outer coast also likely helped lessen the impacts of the heat on shellfish along those beaches.

“The timing of low tide helps determine when and where organisms may be exposed to heat stress and can structure behavior and distribution. In this case, organisms at locations that are already exposed to air at the hottest time of day were very unlucky that temperatures soared so high,” said co-author Hilary Hayford, habitat research director at Puget Sound Restoration Fund.

Many shellfish don’t tend to move much on any given beach, so where they naturally live in the intertidal zone also contributed to their success or failure, the researchers found. For example, acorn barnacles that live higher on the shore generally were more impacted than clams and oysters that are lower on the beach and more likely to remain under water.

“Although this event had negative effects on marine life, there is hope that can be found in this work. Not all locations and species were affected equally, offering clues to pathways to resiliency in the future,” said co-author Annie Raymond, a shellfish biologist with Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the researchers noticed interesting patterns in survival rates among shellfish on the same beach. In some locations, shellfish in the path of freshwater runoff on one section of beach survived, while others just a few miles away perished. If a tree hung over part of a beach and shaded the sand, those shellfish generally made it while others didn’t. Co-author , senior shellfish biologist with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, remembers seeing those patterns while walking the beaches of Skagit Bay and, in some locations, being surrounded by dead cockles in every direction.

“It was pretty unsettling, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Barber said. She remembers exchanging emails with colleagues from around the region as they noticed similar mass die-offs on their local beaches, then realizing that they urgently needed to coordinate and document what was happening.

“This effort was a beautiful demonstration of how collaborators can come together with one common cause — which in our case was trying to understand what happened to these shellfish,” Barber said.

Because the heat wave occurred during the time frame when many shellfish are reproducing, the mass die-offs could impact those populations for at least several years, highlighting the need for long-term monitoring, the researchers said. And as climate change continues to produce more frequent extreme heat events, shellfish deaths like those of last summer may become more of a common reality.

“The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community is proud to be a leader in this important scientific research that assessed in real-time the devastating impacts to our shellfish resources from the unprecedented heat dome last summer. Shellfish are a priority first food that our tribal community relies on for spiritual and subsistence nourishment. Last summer’s extreme weather event reinforced to us that we must act faster to ensure climate resiliency for our community’s long-term health and well-being,” said Swinomish Tribal Chairman Steve Edwards.

“Once the effects of the heat wave started to become apparent, the collaboration that emerged was amazing as managers and scientists worked quickly to put together a rapid response to capture information,” said co-author Camille Speck, Puget Sound intertidal bivalve manager for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We still have so much to learn about the effects of the heat wave on Salish Sea marine ecosystems, and more work to do as managers to prepare for the next one and develop informed responses. These conversations are happening now, and it is our hope that we will be better prepared for whatever comes next.”

Other co-authors are Megan Dethier of the UW; Teri King of UW-based Washington Sea Grant; Christopher Harley of University of British Columbia; Blair Paul of Skokomish Indian Tribe; and Elizabeth Tobin of Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. More than two dozen individuals contributed data to this project.

This analysis was funded by Washington Sea Grant with data contributions from tribes, state and federal agencies, academic institutions and nonprofits.

For more information, contact:

• Wendel Raymond, 91̽�� and lead author: wraymond@uw.edu
• Sean McDonald, 91̽��: psean@uw.edu
• Julie Barber, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community: jbarber@swinomish.nsn.us
• Camille Speck, WDFW (contact Ben Anderson, communications manager): Benjamin.Anderson@dfw.wa.gov
• Teri King, Washington Sea Grant: guatemal@uw.edu

Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All 91̽��faculty, staff, and students have access to��.��

Fermented Face with Candice Lin

March 2, 1:00 – 2:30 PM |��

Protest, Race and Citizenship across African Worlds:��Policing Somali Refugees: Somali Refugee Resistance to State Violence

March 3, 12:00 – 1:30 PM |��

For Somali refugees, San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood and the camp at Dadaab, Kenya are connected carceral spaces.��Both are governed by militarized techniques and technologies of surveillance and militarism, and both demand counter-technologies through which refugees survive and even thrive. Join the Jackson School of International Studies, African Studies Program��and��Mohamed��Abumaye of California State University to explore this topic, as part of the Protest, Race and Citizenship across African Worlds series.

Next in the series:

• March 17, 12:00 – 1:30 PM:��Ethiopia in Theory, Theory as Memoir

Critical Issues Lecture Series:��Dolores Dorantes

March 5, 12:00 PM |��

Dolores Dorantes is an Acharya in the Buddhist tradition, a journalist, writer, therapist, poet, performer and sacred animal. They will be giving the final lecture in the Critical Issues Lecture Series, presented by the School of Art + Art History + Design and the Henry Art Gallery.��

Free |

After Democracy: A Conversation with Zizi Papacharissi

March 5, 11:00 – 12:00 PM |��

Join the��Center For Journalism, Media and Democracy��for a conversation with Zizi Papacharissi about her new book: “After Democracy: Imaging our Political Future” (Yale University Press).

The book draws on original interviews conducted with citizens of more than thirty countries to explore what democracy is, what it means to be a citizen, and what can be done to enhance governance.

Free |

Looking for more?

Check out UWAA’s Stronger Together web page for��more digital engagement opportunities.

Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All 91̽��faculty, staff, and students have access to��.��

Joff Hanauer Honors Lecture Series:��U.S. Foreign Policy and American Policing

February 23, 5:00 – 6:00 PM |��

Daniel Bessner, Associate Professor in the Jackson School of International Studies and��Joff Hanauer Honors Professor of Western Civilization��invites us to learn more about the history and interconnectedness of our politics and the experiences of people across the planet.

Join a robust discussion about the profound linkages between American actions abroad (invasions, bombing, counterinsurgencies) and American domestic policing.

Contemporary Environmental Issues In Taiwan:��Understanding the Politics of Climate Change in Taiwan: from Global, National, to Local

February 23, 5:00 PM |��

The Taiwan Studies Program presents an upcoming four-part lecture series focused on Contemporary Environmental Issues in Taiwan. All talks will start at 5pm Pacific Time and be publicly available for viewing and participation.

On February 23rd, join��Professor Chung-En Liu of the��National Taiwan University for a discussion on the politics of climate change in Taiwan.

Next in the series:

• February 25, 5:00 PM: Public Opinion and Behavior towards Climate Change in Taiwan
• March 2, 5:00 PM: Climate Change Disaster and Governance in Taiwan
• March 4, 5:00 PM: Taiwan’s Food and Agriculture: History, Environment, and Challenges

Global Perspectives on Restorative Justice & Race: Conversation with Fania Davis

February 24, 5:30 – 6:45 PM |��

In this extraordinary moment of unrest and uncertainty, join the Office of Global Affairs for a conversation with civil-rights activist��Fania Davis��as she makes the case for the importance of global engagement in the non-western world. This special discussion, moderated by��Professor of Comparative History and Ideas��Dr.��Anu Taranath, will examine how restorative justice, equity and indigeneity can offer a path forward in healing and unifying our nation.

2021 Biamp PDX Jazz Festival presents: Ted Poor feat. Cuong Vu

February 25, 8:00 PM |��

Ted Poor, Assistant Professor of drums, and��Seattle-based drummer whose adventurous, soulful playing has vaulted him to the stages of some of today’s most vital artists. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Ted has toured and recorded with such renowned artists as��Paul Simon, Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny, Blake Mills, Cuong Vu,��Madison Cunningham and Gabriel Kahane.

For this special��Duo��presentation, Poor will be joined by trumpeter and Chair of Jazz Studies��Cuong Vu��who has performed with��Pat Metheny, Laurie Anderson��and��David Bowie.

Free |

Looking for more?

Check out UWAA’s Stronger Together web page for��more digital engagement opportunities.

Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All 91̽��faculty, staff, and students have access to��.��

Faculty Recital: ��æ�ܲԲ� Thorsteinsdóttir, cello

May 21, 4:00 PM | Online streaming

School of Music��cello faculty����æ�ܲԲ� Thorsteinsdóttir��performs some of Bach’s most famous cello suites from her living room. This premiere, available only during the live broadcast time, will showcase��Thorsteinsdóttir’s “riveting” (NYTimes) performance skills.

Free��|

“After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount Saint Helens” Book Talk

May 18, 6:00 PM | Online streaming

On the 40th anniversary of the eruption, biology alumni��Eric Wagner will launch his new book��. Join Eric, in partnership with the University Book Store, for a live Zoom presentation about the book, followed by an audience Q&A.

Free��|

Drop-In Session: A Yoga Practice for Restful Sleep

May 18, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Online via Zoom

The Center for Child & Family Well-Being��is offering weekly drop-in meditation sessions. This week, Robyn Long (MA, E-RYT) addresses the continual changes and uncertainty in our lives because of COVID-19 that have made it challenging for many of us to have restful sleep. In this session, participants will experience a gentle yoga sequence with postures that can soothe the nervous system and promote relaxation. At the end of the session, there will be a brief guided meditation. This session is based on the teachings of Sir Desikachar, who emphasized individualizing yoga to each person’s unique needs.

Free with registration��|

Best Seat in the House

May 19 | Online streaming

Each week the��Department of Dance will be featuring one or two dance films or performance footage that faculty have been involved with. Check ��every Tuesday��to see the next video that you can watch from home.

Free��|

Developing Capacity Through Collaborative Action

May 19, 1:00 PM | Virtual conference

From the College of the Environment,��The Third Environmental Justice Conference entails to bring awareness on environmental and climate justice initiatives, as well as to create a space for dialogue across scales, affiliations, and worldviews. Join faculty from the College of the Environment and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department across all three campuses in presentations and interactive sessions to explore approaches to inclusive and meaningful engagement through innovation and collaboration.

Free��|��

Labor On-line: Virtual seminar Series, Spring 2020

Tuesdays at 1:15 PM and Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

This Spring,��Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies��hosts two weekly online seminars with a wide range of labor scholars and activists. These sessions are free and open to the public.

Free��|��

Upcoming����seminars:
Hosted by the�� 91̽��Tacoma Labor Solidarity Project

May 20 – The Evisceration of Civil Rights in the American Workplace

6:00 PM | Zoom:��

Presented by: Professor Michael McCann, 91̽��Political Science

Upcoming����seminar:
Hosted by Labor Studies faculty at 91̽��Bothell

May 19 – Organizing LGBT Women

1:30 PM | Zoom:��

Presented by: Debbie Carlsen, Director LGBTQ Allyship, & Ching-in Chen, Professor, 91̽��Bothell

May 26 –��Strategies for Supporting Immigrant and Survival Sex Workers

1:30 PM | Zoom:��

Presented by: Emi Koyama, Coalition for Rights and Safety & Kari Lerum��

School of Music Digital Series

Ongoing | School of Music and

#BurkeFromHome Trivia Night

Every Friday, 7:00 PM��|��Virtual Event

Join the Burke Museum online on Fridays at 7 PM for #BurkeFromHome Trivia. The popular Burke Trivia Night is back—this time online to practice social distancing while having loads of fun! Get your nerd on with natural history and culture-themed trivia.

BYOB, snacks, and slippers!

Free, please register for access��|

School of Art + Art History + Design Student Work Galleries��

Ongoing��|��Virtual Gallery

Looking for a way to experience art while social distancing? Check out the��School of Art + Art History + Design‘s online collections of graduate and undergraduate student work to get your art fix from the comfort of your own home.

Free, ongoing��|

Looking for more?

Check out UWAA’s Stronger Together web page for��more digital engagement opportunities.

When 91̽��senior interviewed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an internship, she mentioned in passing that she was a life coach, in addition to her undergraduate work in environmental studies.

A few days later she got a call from the agency, saying they had a different internship in mind for Reid that would leverage her broad skillset and help them tackle a mounting conundrum — how to help employees stay energized and satisfied when their work as environmental professionals often defaults to doom-and-gloom scenarios.

When Reid accepted the internship as part of her 91̽�� capstone experience, she found out that the EPA’s Region 10, based in Seattle, has the lowest job satisfaction rating among all of the agency’s regional offices. Finding ways to change that became the focus for Reid’s internship, and she will deliver a final report with recommendations as well as a workshop for employees on gaining resiliency.

“There had been a decline in morale at the EPA, and now it’s part of a conversation that’s happening more widely,” Reid said. “I was focused on, given that satisfaction could be better, what can you do to increase that among employees?”

Reid, along with fellow students in her cohort of environmental studies majors, will present her at a symposium May 25 from the three-course . Every environmental studies major must complete the capstone course sequence, which includes an internship, research project and final presentation.

“We think of this program as a win-win for everyone,” said , a lecturer in environmental studies who leads the capstone courses. “It gives students the opportunity to get out into the workforce and test the skills they’ve gained on the university campus. For our host organizations, they gain interns who can infuse enthusiasm and bring new skills and ideas.”

This cohort’s is open to the public. The event includes a mix of student presentations, from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the auditorium, as well as a poster session in from 4:35-5:30 p.m. Research topics range from environmental policy and sustainability to advocacy, outreach and education. Here are a few of the talks:

• Helping hens: How chickens can empower women and help create a more sustainable food system
• Barriers to waste diversion in hospitals
• Smart sustainability indicators for small communities
• Millennials’ integration in environmental advocacy and legislative action
• Off-leash dogs: A study of behavior, threats to health, and public perceptions
• Let the green games begin: Analyzing environmental impact data to obtain sustainability in sports
• Pharmaceutical waste streams: Current pitfalls and possible solutions

The environmental studies capstone shifted about five years ago from being solely an academic project to focusing on launching students into environmental and sustainability careers. Instead of completing a hefty research paper, the courses pair the academic component with job preparedness skills. Students write a shorter paper and also learn practical skills such as crafting resumes, job interviewing, networking, and communicating clearly through memos, social media and blogging.

Students complete their internships during the second quarter, then reconvene in the final quarter to focus on writing and presentations. Each student is required to turn in a report or analysis to their host organization, and often students’ recommendations get adopted by agencies and become the basis for additional work, McDonald said.

“One of the things I stress to my students is the organizations really value the work the students put in,” he said. “We’ve had students do work for agencies that has developed into policies.”

Some students are paired with departments or groups within the 91̽��for their internships, including senior Mallory Culbertson, who worked with to lay the foundation for bringing chickens to campus. In addition to writing a chicken-keeping handbook for the farm, Culbertson analyzed the role of chickens in agriculture and the modern food system. From her literature review and research, she found that chickens can boost women’s role in agriculture in developing countries in interesting and surprising ways.

“Urban agriculture will always be something I’ll practice and take interest in,” she said. “It’s really powerful to be able to pull information from geography, GIS, biology and chemistry classes together to get a good understanding of your project. I think the true root of environmental studies is just that — interdisciplinary.”

###

For more information about the capstone, contact McDonald at psean@uw.edu or follow him on Twitter: . All of the project abstracts are available .

That’s one of the findings of the first major scientific to examine the broad, long-term ecosystem effects of geoduck aquaculture in Puget Sound, published last week in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea’s .

The study also found that under one scenario, geoduck farming in the main basin of Puget Sound could more than double before the ecosystem would feel significant impacts.

To reach these conclusions, a team of researchers from the 91̽�� and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center used a robust, well-established modeling tool that examines relationships among many types of organisms in central Puget Sound. The researchers incorporated field observations from five years of studying geoduck farm conditions, then used the model to predict effects on the food web over 50 years if geoduck aquaculture increased.

They found that farming activities altered the nearshore habitat, which in turn affected usual predator-and-prey interactions among species throughout the food chain in Puget Sound. The addition of thousands of phytoplankton-eating geoduck clams to the Sound didn’t actually affect the ecosystem over time.

The researchers also found that aquaculture impacts became significant when geoduck farming activities increased by 120 percent over current levels in central Puget Sound. In 2012, about 23,000 pounds of geoduck were harvested from that area, which stretches from the Tacoma Narrows up to the south end of Whidbey Island. That’s about 2 percent of the total amount harvested from the South Sound, which in 2012 was about 1.1 million pounds.

It’s the first time researchers have looked at both the effects of farming equipment and the presence of more geoduck clams on an entire ecosystem over time.

“This study allows us to start thinking about the broader impacts on the ecosystem,” said co-author , a 91̽��lecturer in environmental studies and a research scientist with aquatic and fishery sciences. “It also provides the tools for us to start thinking about a future expansion of the industry in a way that we haven’t been able to before, and it gives us a very short list of the key groups of organisms that we should be focusing on for future research and monitoring.”

This study, one of several funded by the state Legislature and overseen by , found that more than doubling geoduck farming efforts in central Puget Sound could negatively impact salmon, eagles and great blue herons. Small crustaceans and moon snails might also decrease. Surf perch and small crabs fared better in this scenario, probably because they can find refuge and benefit from added farming structures like plastic piping and nets.

Geoduck farming is a controversial activity in Puget Sound. Some residents and members of the community object to farming methods, which include rows of PVC pipes placed in the shallow water close to shore to allow the young clams to grow without being preyed upon. Harvesting geoducks involves injecting large volumes of water to loosen the ground around each clam.

Meanwhile, the shellfish industry and local tribes wish to expand geoduck aquaculture throughout Puget Sound, and the state’s Department of Natural Resources recently approved a pilot leasing project on state-owned aquatic land.

Most of the region’s current geoduck farming takes place in the South Sound. The researchers, however, analyzed central Puget Sound for this study because the best model for predicting broader future impacts was built for the central basin alone. A similar model is being developed for the South Sound by an independent team and when it’s ready, the researchers hope to compare results in order to consider impacts to the broader Puget Sound region.

Many of the animals and birds potentially affected in central Puget Sound also live in the South Sound, so it’s reasonable to expect some similar outcomes, they said.

“This is a starting point that can be used to help focus attention on certain aspects of the system, such as species of interest, to collect more empirical data and further test these model results,” said lead author , who completed the research as a scientist at Washington Sea Grant and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the UW.

Though these results show that Puget Sound can generally support more geoduck aquaculture, if effectively managed, the model can’t drill down to specific inlets or bays and predict how organisms would react at a finer scale to increased farming, researchers said. Further studies are needed to determine the potential impact of more aquaculture activities on specific areas of the Sound, they added.

Other co-authors are of Washington Sea Grant; of 91̽��mechanical engineering; and Northwest Fisheries Science Center’s , who developed the model.

This study was undertaken by Washington Sea Grant, in part with funding from a 2013 state proviso to study possible effects of shellfish aquaculture on the environment. Other recent publications from the research team cover the useful for addressing changes in shellfish management in the South Sound and .

###

For more information, contact Ferriss at ferriss@uw.edu or 206-543-8960 and McDonald at psean@uw.edu or 206-221-5456.