Anne Beaudreau, Associate Professor

Anne was raised in Rhode Island and earned an A.B. in Biology with honors from Harvard University. She began her career as a fishery analyst at the New England Fishery Management Council, where she saw firsthand that the necessary ingredients for good decision-making are not only the best available science, but relationship-building, communication, and trust. This early experience in fisheries policy informs her work today. Anne went on to earn a Ph.D. in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences from the University of Washington and completed a postdoc at the University of Washington and NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. She held a faculty position at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences in Juneau from 2012 to 2020. She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs.

Anne and her team conduct collaborative, interdisciplinary research to understand how fisheries social-ecological systems and coastal communities respond and adapt to environmental, regulatory, and social change. We draw approaches and perspectives from diverse knowledge systems and disciplines, including fisheries science, ecology, anthropology, and geography. Major research foci include: responses of marine and estuarine fishes and ecological communities to environmental drivers; harvesters’ perceptions of and responses to environmental and regulatory change; stewardship and community engagement in fishery management and conservation; and resource portfolios and resilience of fisheries systems.

Curriculum Vitae

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Catalina Burch

Catalina has had a biphasic life history. During her larval stage, she moved from Florida to Washington, where she earned a B.A. in Biology and Fine Art from Whitman College in 2018. She conducted her thesis research on marine protected area effectiveness for commercial fin-fish species in the Turks and Caicos Islands. After graduating, she worked as a scuba guide in Australia and outdoor instructor in New Zealand. She has since settled in the Pacific Northwest. Initially, she worked two seasons at Trout Unlimited in northeastern Oregon, leading stream restoration and land stewardship projects. She then decided to continue her education and pursue an interdisciplinary career in fisheries management. Catalina is currently working towards a M.M.A. at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. Her thesis work focuses on the impacts of changing thermal conditions on groundfish food web structure in the Gulf of Alaska. This project aims to help inform fisheries managers within the context of a rapidly changing climate.

Gabi Dunn

Gabi earned a B.A. in Biological Sciences from University of California, Santa Barbara and started her career with the National Park Service in Yosemite, where she monitored amphibian populations and restored remote alpine aquatic habitats. Gabi’s passion for coastal conservation and community engagement led her to Golden Gate National Recreation Area, where she worked on western pond turtle reintroduction and coho salmon jumpstart programs, marine and freshwater species monitoring, and interpretive education for the public. Gabi is now pursuing a M.M.A. degree at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs through the courses-only track. She is dedicated to making the conservation field more equitable, diverse, and inclusive and has worked collaboratively to develop and lead discussions surrounding this issue. Currently, Gabi is part of a network of aquatic scientists participating in the American Fisheries Society’s Climate Ambassador Program, which focuses on effective climate change communication.

Ellie Mason

Ellie has been a lifelong lover of all things coastal, having spent most of her life turning over rocks in the intertidal zone and climbing the mountains of Acadia in Maine where she grew up.  She holds a B.A. in Environmental Science and Policy from Smith College where she specialized in marine and fisheries studies. During undergrad, she spent summers doing marine mammal research from Mount Desert Island, ME, to Cape May, NJ, and fisheries research with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. Prior to graduate school, Ellie worked as an Island Fellow for the Island Institute in Tenants Harbor, ME, where she built an after school program from the ground up that focuses on outdoor learning. At the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, Ellie is pursuing research centered around small scale fisheries networks from Alaska to Maine and how fishing communities are adapting to environmental and social change.

Alana Santana

Growing up in Puget Sound, Alana discovered her love for marine systems and organisms through tide-pooling and reading Sylvia Earle’s books. This inspired Alana to pursue and complete a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Washington in 2020. Alana worked primarily with invertebrates and fish at Friday Harbor Laboratories as an undergraduate. There, Alana researched marine hatchetfish and described the jaw morphology and feeding mode of species within the Sternoptychidae family. After graduating, Alana volunteered for the Endangered Species Coalition, where she worked to advocate for the Southern Resident Killer Whales through social media awareness and boater safety. In 2021, Alana started the Master’s program in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, where she is completing a capstone project with team member Rory Spurr to develop an app using NOAA fisheries permitting data to assist in data visualization and science communication. The purpose of this project is to make permitting data on ESA-listed species more accessible to the public so that researchers, stakeholders, and agencies can visualize active permits and to provide more transparency in the permitting process.

Emma Scalisi

Emma grew up in Massachusetts and earned a B.A. in Biological Sciences and Anthropology from Wellesley College. After graduating she spent time working at a NOAA research salmon hatchery in Southeast Alaska, assisting with spawning and caring for Chinook salmon, as well as with research on their population ecology. Since then, she has worked as a marine science instructor for an outdoor education program on Santa Catalina Island, teaching kids about the wonders of the ocean. She feels passionately that the ocean is a place everyone should be able to access and enjoy. She is excited to be pursing her Master’s in Marine Affairs, where her thesis examines the relationships between small-scale commercial fishers and management agencies in Alaska. She is happiest when in a kelp forest, eating Thai food, or looking in tide pools.

Rory Spurr

Rory earned his B.S. in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences from the University of Washington in 2020, after which he began working in the private sector researching sustainable and effective fish passage solutions. After working for a year, he began his time at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs in pursuit of an M.M.A. degree in the fall of 2021. In January 2022, he joined the Coastal Fisheries Ecology Lab and began work on a capstone project with team member Alana Santana that seeks to summarize ESA-listed fish species research and permitting on the West Coast using a public facing app developed in the R package Shiny. In general, Rory is interested in working in a fisheries management role, specifically in the intersection between science and policy.

FORMER STUDENTS, POSTDOCS, AND TECHNICIANS

Graduate Student Advisees – University of Alaska Fairbanks

Postdoctoral Researchers – University of Alaska Fairbanks

Undergraduate / Post-Baccalaureate Research Assistants

• Emma Saas (Jun-Oct 2020), Whitman College
• Sydney King (May-Sept 2019), University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
• Erica Lucas (Feb-May 2019), University of Alaska Southeast
• Carli Storbeck (Jan-Mar 2018), University of Alaska Southeast (exchange)
• Willa Johnson (Jun-Jul 2018), Whitman College
• Nina Lundstrom (Jun-Nov 2017), Colorado College
• Phallon Tullis-Joyce (May-Jul 2017), University of Miami
• Will Klajbor (May-Jul 2017), University of Maryland, College Park
• Aiden Kamber (May-Jul 2017), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Derek Eby (Oct-Nov 2016), University of Alaska Southeast
• Madison Bargas (May-Jul 2017, Jan-Jun 2018, May-Sept 2019), University of Alaska Southeast
• Harmony Wayner (Jan-May 2017), University of Alaska Southeast
• Katie Brown (Jun-Jul 2016), California State University Monterey Bay
• Helena Delgado-Nordmann (Jul-Sept 2016), University of York
• Zach Johanson (Jun-Aug 2016), University of Alaska Southeast
• Sawyer Link (Mar-Jul 2016), University of Alaska Southeast
• Doug Duncan (May 2014-Jan 2015), University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Ragnhildur (Ragga) Fridriksdottir (Jul-Sept 2014), University of York
• Sara Fouse (Jan-Jun 2013), University of Alaska Southeast
• Amanda Gile (Jun-Aug 2015), University of Alaska Southeast
• Georgina Hunt (Jul-Sept 2015), University of York
• Melissa Rhodes-Reese (Sept 2013-Jun 2014, Jan-May 2015), University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Emily Whitney (Jan-Aug 2013)
• Matt Hemenway (Apr 2012)