Announcing our First Fellows Cohort

We are delighted that the following people were our first cohort of Salish Sea Fellows. They were selected through a competitive process by a team of Salish Sea Institute staff working with colleagues and partners with transboundary expertise. We are grateful to our team of reviewers and to all who applied. Fellows are eligible to receive funding to carry out proposed projects and become part of the inaugural cohort of this program. This cohort included 3 individuals who did not request funding but who were interested in being part of the transboundary experience with the group.

Dr. Fiona Beaty

MPA Network Science Coordinator, Coastal First Nations - Great Bear Initiative, Vancouver BC

Project: Identifying key elements for success at the Hope for the Salish Sea environmental leadership workshop

A headshot of Fiona Beaty smiling at the camera

Fiona Beaty Ph.D., is a marine researcher and conservationist dedicated to implementing Indigenous-led stewardship of the Salish Sea. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia's Zoology department and currently works in support of the MPA Network process in the Northern Shelf Bioregion of British Columbia.

Fiona's project addresses the need for organizations to conduct informative and engaging conferences on the transboundary management of the Salish Sea. She attended the Hope for the Salish Sea workshop and wrote a report documenting the methods and outcomes, with the goal of identifying successful elements.

Dr. Aquila Flower

Professor of Geography, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA

Project: Climate Change Assessment for the Salish Sea

A headshot of Aquila Flower standing in front of a lake with trees in the background smiling at the camera.

Aquila Flower Ph.D., is a professor of geography at Western Washington University who teaches courses in GIS and biogeography. Her research focuses on the role of climatic variability, human land use patterns, and natural disturbances in shaping forest, alpine, and coastal ecosystem dynamics.

Aquila's project involves analyzing, synthesizing, and visualizing historical climatic and and hydrologic records and future climate projections from global and regional climate models. Her research will be published as a technical report and through the Salish Sea Atlas, and accessible public website.

Dr. Jennifer Grenz

Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology, University of British Columbia

Project: Relational Accountability for Invasive Species in and along Our Shared Waters of the Salish Sea

Headshot of Dr. Jennifer Grenz with long black hair smiling at the camera.

Dr. Jennifer Grenz

Jennifer's project analyzes the incorporation of an Indigenous relational worldview into management of invasive species in the Salish Sea, with an emphasis on the European green crap. 
The project is pending publication.

Jennifer Grensz Ph.D., has a B.Sc in Agroecology and a doctorate in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems from the University of British Columbia. Her scholarly interests revolve around applying Indigenous knowledge and consultation to invasive species management, ecological restoration, and science communication.

Dr. Regina Jefferies

Attorney and Assistant Professor in the Fairhaven Center for Law, Diversity, and Justice, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

Project: Learning from the Past: Governing Nooksack River Transboundary Flooding.

A headshot of Regina Jefferies wearing a suit and black glasses, smiling at the camera.

Regina Jefferies, Ph.D., specializes in international human rights law and international refugee law, with a focus on transnational legal theory, the law of state responsibility, and the application of international legal norms in transboundary and multi-jurisdictional settings. She earned her doctorate degree in global governance, law and policy from the University of South Wales, and masters in international human rights law from Oxford University.

Regina's project sets out to identify the current barriers to effective governance of the transboundary flooding issues of the Nooksack River, and to provide recommendations to improve cross-border collaboration in the future. Her fellowship is through both the Salish Sea Institute and the Border Policy Research Institute.

Dr. Elin Kelsey

Author, scholar, advocate, Victoria, BC

Project: Creating a Network of Hoe for the Salish Sea: Workshop for Environmental Leaders

A headshot of Dr. Elin Kelsey with short brown hair smiling at the camera.

Elin Kelsey Ph.D., is the author of Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis, which makes the case for changing the way we think about climate change in order to combat the burnout that accompanies "gloom and doom" narratives of climate change. She earned her doctorate in environmental communication from King's College, University of London.

Elin's project addresses the need for fostering evidence-based hope and a solutions orientation among leaders working for the protection and restoration of the Salish Sea. In april 2023 she facilitated "Hope for the Salish Sea" an intensive environmental leadership workshop that emphasized the importance of hope and highlighting solutions in communications.

Dr. Deondre Smiles

Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Victoria

Project: Geographic Indigenous Futures of the Salish Sea

Dr. Deondre Smiles in a suit with short black hair standing in front of a glass wall.

Deondre Smiles Ph.D., is an Indigenous geographer whose research interests include Indigenous geographies/epistemologies, science and technology studies, and tribal cultural resource preservation/protection. He serves as the director of the Geographic Indigenous Futures Lab at the University of Victoria.

Deondre's project collaborates with Indigenous communities to incorporate their perspective into geography, with an emphasis on cultural resources, sovereignty, and relationship to place. He seeks to redress Indigenous communities' historical exclusion from geography through decolonization. For his Fellowship, Deondre held a workshop at University of Victoria (and also virtual) in July 2022 that was focused on Salish Sea Futures.

Nicole Smith

Archaeologist, Hakai Institute, Clam Garden Network, Victoria, BC

Project:Exploring Different Organizational Models for the Continued Transboundary Work of the Clam Garden Network

A woman with long brown hair wearing bright orange overalls, sunglasses, and a stocking cap smiling at the camera.

Nicole Smith's archaelogical research focuses on clam gardens, fish traps, household archaeology at recent village sites, stone tool analysis, and seeking out very ancient archaeological sites (10,000+ years old) in the intertidal zone, forests and caves. She earned her master's in archaeology and anthropology from the University of Victoria.

Nicole's project addresses the need for organizational restructuring of the Clam Garden Network. As part of her fellowship she worked with the Clam Garden Network steering committees to consider strategies for organizational long-term sustainability. She also successfully wrote a grant for $150,000 in capacity funding to put that practice to work.

Dr. Bob Turner

Filmmaker, Bowen Island, BC

Project: Salish Sea Films

Dr. Bob Turner wearing a black jacket, glasses and baseball cap holding a camera and smiling.

Bob Turner, who is a resident of Bowen Island, retired scientist, former mayor, and a member of the Conservancy Board, makes short, beautiful films to collect and share the stories of Wild Nature in Atl'kitsem/Howe Sound. These are available on Youtube in Bob's Channel.

Bob's project involves integrating his previous experience as a filmmaker with a greater emphasis on the transboundary nature of the Salish Sea. His most recent film focuses on snow geese in the Fraser and Skagit river deltas.

Dr. Rob Williams

Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Oceans Initiative, Seattle, WA

Project: Carrying Capacity Study for the Salish Sea: Underwater Noise and the survival of Southern Resident Killer Whales

Dr. Rob Williams wearing a blue button up shirt smiling at the camera.

Rob's article in Emerging Issues in the Salish Sea makes the case for studying the threshold of how much vessel noise is acceptable without reducing marine life populations. Although U.S. and Canadian federal endangered species laws protect the Southern Resident Killer Whales, there has been no study quantifying the impact and carrying capacity of vessel noise.

Rob Williams Ph.D., conducts research to better understand the conservation status of marine top predators and guide effective recovery plans to protect biodiversity in the face of climate change. He earned his doctorate in Biology from the University of St Andrews.