Spring 2022

FIELDNOTES

Spring 2022

letter from the editors After a tumultuous winter quarter, we are all so happy to be back in our little conference room – masked but settling into

the comfort of being in person once again. As an editorial board, we have embraced our weekly meetings as an opportunity to reintegrate our lives into some sense of normalcy back on campus. The past two years have been difficult, but it has made being back in person this quarter all the more special.

Throughout this spring, we have been researching, editing, and collaborating with the greater University of Washington (UW) community to showcase undergraduate research across the College of the Environment and broader campus. We look at topics ranging from microimaging and artificial intelligence to sustainable aquaculture. In addition, our community features dive into the Blue Economy, involvement of BIPOC in modern environmentalist movements, and different ways to sequester carbon in a rapidly warming climate. We also examined if having children as climate change progresses is a good idea, how some corporations are turning the tide of greenwashing, and celebrity initiatives to help the environment. As a special research communication, we walk through the history of the UW Brockman Memorial Tree Tour and two students’ efforts to revitalize it.

We are incredibly grateful to the College of the Environment for their continued support and generosity. We would also like to thank Rachel Fricke and Julian Olden for their enthusiasm, knowledge, guidance, and patience throughout the quarter.

None of this would be possible without them!

COVER PHOTO DYLAN VECCHIONE

Best,

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meet the team LAUREN GREENLEAF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

OWEN BORAM EDITOR

MADDIE BROOKS EDITOR

NICK CHAPPELEAR EDITOR

EMMA DUCKWORTH EDITOR

ISABELLE FALKIN EDITOR

BELLA HILLYER EDITOR

KORT MAEDA EDITOR

AURORA NELSON EDITOR

JAZZY SHEPARD EDITOR

RACHEL FRICKE GRADUATE ADVISOR

JULIAN OLDEN FACULTY ADVISOR FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 3

table of contents feature article 6

CHARACTERIZATION OF REPRODUCTIVE MATURATION IN THE BASKET COCKLE, CLINOCARDIUM NUTTALLII DELANEY LAWSON, MARINE BIOLOGY AND AQUATIC & FISHERY SCIENCES ‘22

research communications 14

BALEEN: LOOKING AT WHALES AT THE SMALLEST SCALE

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SAVING THE STELLER SEA LION: HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS AIDING CONSERVATION IN ALASKA

MEG VANDENBERG, GENERAL BIOLOGY ‘22

MARY KENNELLY, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘22

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ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DISPARITY IN CALIFORNIA: A VISUAL INVESTIGATION OF ASTHMA AT THE INTERSECTION OF POVERTY AND POLLUTION ARGHYA KANNADAGULI, GEOGRAPHY ‘22

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BRANCHING OUT: THEODORE HOSS’ JOURNEY IN UPDATING THE BROCKMAN MEMORIAL TREE TOUR NICK CHAPPELEAR, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘23 AND BELLA HILLYER, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘23

community features 26

WHERE ARE ALL MY BIPOC ENVIRONMENTALISTS?

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FROM GREENWASHING TO SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PLANS: HOW COMPANIES CAN INCORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY AND IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

KORT MAEDA, VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘25

EMMA DUCKWORTH, MARINE BIOLOGY ‘24 AND BELLA HILLYER, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘23

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KIDS? IN THIS CLIMATE? THE FRAUGHT CONVERSATION OF POPULATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE

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CRACKING THE CARBON CYCLE: CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN THE MODERN WORLD

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DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH: WHO ARE THEY, AND ARE THEY REALLY HELPING?

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WADING BACK INTO AQUACULTURE: HOW THE BLUE ECONOMY CONTRIBUTES TO FOOD SYSTEMS

ISABELLE FALKIN, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘25

LAUREN GREENLEAF, ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION & CONSERVATION BIOLOGY ‘23 AND JAZZY SHEPARD, OCEANOGRAPHY ‘22 AURORA NELSON, MARINE BIOLOGY ‘22 AND NICK CHAPPELEAR, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘23 MADDIE BROOKS, MARINE BIOLOGY ‘23 AND OWEN BORAM, OCEANOGRAPHY ‘23

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feature article

PHOTO ASHIKA CAPIRALA

FEATURE ARTICLE

Characterization of reproductive maturation in the basket cockle, Clinocardium nuttallii

BY DELANEY LAWSON

MARINE BIOLOGY AND AQUATIC & FISHERY SCIENCES ‘22 ABSTRACT

Clinocardium nuttallii, the basket cockle, is a hermaphroditic bivalve species native to the Pacific Northwest region and a

culturally significant food source for the Suquamish tribe. When tribal elders noticed that natural populations of C.nuttallii had declined, actions were taken to begin growing C. nuttallii in an aquaculture setting. A successful aquaculture practice must rely on a detailed understanding of the species’ reproductive profile, and this study sought to determine that information.

C. nuttallii were gathered from two locations in Washington in the spring of 2020 (April-July), at which time morphometric data and gonad samples were collected from individuals. The reproductive maturity of male and female gonads was analyzed, and results showed that larger C. nuttallii (>3.50 cm) were seen to exhibit more developed gonads. Additionally, male and female gonad tissue exhibited more uniform maturity as cockle size increased, yet seasonality could not be correlated with maturation. Based on these findings, it is likely that larger C. nuttallii (>3.50 cm) collected during this time would be suitable prospects for broodstock selection and induced spawning.

INTRODUCTION

Bivalves are a valuable resource

in the Pacific Northwest, both commercially and culturally (Shellfish 2020, Weinberger 2019). Within the Pacific Northwest region, commercial bivalve aquaculture is practiced primarily in the state of Washington (Yang 2019). Aquaculture is a useful practice as it is both profitable and can decrease harvesting stress on natural populations, which in turn contributes to conservation and food production (Yang 2019, Froelich et al. 2017).

These contributions can be observed through the use of aquaculture by the Suquamish tribe, a coastal Salish tribe based in the state of Washington. The tribe began growing Clinocardium nuttallii, the basket cockle, as a culturally significant food source on an aquaculture farm when elders noticed the natural abundance of C. nuttallii was declining (Weinberger 2019). The tribe partnered with the 6 fieldnotesjournal.org

Puget Sound Restoration Fund to grow these cockles (Weinberger 2019), and this aquaculture practice was used to decrease pressure on natural populations of C. nuttallii to reinstate the bivalve as an accessible food source for the tribe.

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The Suquamish tribe began growing the basket cockle as a culturally significant food source on an aquaculture farm when elders noticed the species’ natural abundance

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was declining.

The natural range of C. nuttallii spans along the west coast of North America, from San Diego, CA to the coast of Alaska (Clinocardium 2016).

Basket cockles can be found living at the surface or directly below the surface of sediment, usually in the intertidal zone. This species consists of simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning that the organisms exhibit both male and female gametes concurrently throughout their lives (Gallucci and Gallucci 1982).

In a study conducted by Gallucci and Gallucci (1982), the reproductive profiles of C. nuttallii collected from Garrison Bay, WA were analyzed.

The findings from Gallucci and Gallucci’s analysis (1982) were used as a baseline for the research performed in this study, although results were predicted to differ as a result of sampling a different population of C. nuttallii. In order to operate a successful aquaculture practice, the reproductive profile of a species needs to be amply studied and understood.

For this reason, Gallucci and Gallucci’s findings were not sufficient, and the reproductive profile of the C. nuttallii

FEATURE ARTICLE scale from 1 to 5 (1982). Stage 1 gonads were undeveloped, stage 2 gonads were beginning to develop, stage 3 gonads were mature, stage 4 gonads were partially spawned, and stage 5 gonads were considered spent. Histological analysis included observations of gonadal tissue under 4x, 10x, and 40x magnifications. Images were taken at each magnification to facilitate staging (Fig. 3).

Statistics

Statistical analysis was performed to analyze several relationships present within the collected data. Relationships analyzed included the correlation between cockle width and collection date, gonad stage and collection date, and the relationship between width, height, and female gonad stage.

FIGURE 1 Map of the two sampling locations. The black marker represents the location of the aquaculture farm in Blyn, WA. The purple marker represents the location of the Suquamish tribe tumble bags.

population in Blyn, WA needed to be analyzed (Kagawa et. al 2005).

The goals of this study were to determine the relationship between C. nuttallii size (cm) and gonad stage, and C. nuttallii seasonal maturation.

These results will provide valuable information for future broodstock development, including induced spawning events.

(cm) of each cockle (Fig. 2). C. nuttallii size was used to predict the age of the individual, using techniques from Gallucci and Gallucci (1982). Gonad samples were collected by opening the shells and collecting ovary and testis tissue. The samples were then sent to a histology lab for Hematoxylin and Eosin (H & E) staining.

METHODS

Gonad maturity was determined through the analysis of stained samples with methods employed by Gallucci and Gallucci, which utilized an ordinal

Sample collection

Fifty-eight C. nuttallii were collected from geoduck tubes on an aquaculture farm in Blyn, WA over the course of three low tide events (Fig. 1). The first in April, the second in May, and the third in July. Twenty cockles were collected during the April and May sampling dates, and eighteen were collected in July. An additional fourth sample of 20 cockles was also collected from the Suquamish tribe in July, which consisted of cockles that were harvested in tumble-bags instead of geoduck tubes (Fig. 1).

Histology

RESULTS Morphometrics

C. nuttallii width (cm) and height (cm) are strongly correlated (Fig. 4), thus width (cm) was used for the remaining statistical analysis within the paper.

Average C. nuttallii widths (cm) decreased as time progressed in the samples from the aquaculture farm, with April samples having the largest average width (5.43 cm), July samples having the smallest average width (3.15 cm), and May samples falling in between these values (4.80 cm) (Fig. 4).

Average C. nuttallii widths and heights differed significantly between each

FIGURE 2 Representation of width (cm) and height (cm) measurements taken from each C. nuttallii. The red line represents the width (cm), and the blue line represents the height (cm).

Morphometrics

Pictures were taken of each C. nuttalli before dissection, and ImageJ was used to measure the height (cm) and width FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 7

FEATURE ARTICLE

FIGURE 3 Images of underdeveloped (stage 1), developing (stage 2), and developed (stage 3) gonads, arranged from left to right. Male gonad is circled in white, and female gonad is circled in red.

collection date (p=2e-16, One-way ANOVA and Post Hoc Tukey test).

Reproductive Maturation Maturity at Size

Stage 1 gonad was only observed within small C. nuttallii, ranging from 2.66 cm to 3.50 cm (underdeveloped,

n=4) (Fig. 5). Stage 3 (developed) gonad was observed across a width range of 3.22 cm to 6.63 cm (n=16) (Fig. 5). At sizes greater than 3.5o cm, only stage 2 and 3 gonads were observed (Fig. 5). However, no significance was observed when female gonad stage was analyzed against

width (cm) (p=0.079) and height (cm) (p=0.188) together (Ordered Logistic Regression).

Relative Maturity at Size

Relative maturity refers to the male and female gonad being at equal stages within an individual C. nuttallii. In

FIGURE 4 Widths (cm) and heights (cm) of C. nuttallii collected for this study. Each point is colored by collection date, and the shape denotes the collection site. Line represents the linear regression line between width and height (R2 = 0.894, p = 2.2e-16).

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FEATURE ARTICLE

FIGURE 5 Male gonad stage, female gonad stage, and width (cm) of each individual C. nuttallii. A jitter is used in this plot to make individual cockles visible, since points would overlap naturally due to the ordinal scale used to stage gonads.

instances where the male and female gonad were at different stages within an individual basket cockle (10), the male gonad was more advanced than the female gonad in a majority of cases (7). In smaller basket cockles (2.66 cm - 3.97 cm), there is a large amount of variation between male and female gonad maturity (n=5, 33%) (Fig. 5). In larger basket cockles, male and female gonads exhibited different stages in a lower percentage of C. nuttallii (n=5, 22%) (Fig. 5).

Maturity at Predicted Age

C. nuttallii of predicted ages ranging from less than 1 year to 3 years old were seen exhibiting developed (stage 3) male and female gonads at the same time (Fig. 6). Additionally, only C. nuttallii predicted to be less than 1 year old exhibited gonad stages of 1 (underdeveloped) (Fig. 6). This once again shows a pattern of larger

organisms exhibiting gonad stages 2 and 3, as predicted age range is based on cockle size (Gallucci and Gallucci 1982).

Seasonal Maturity

Stages 1 (underdeveloped) to 3 (developed) were observed across the months of April to July, meaning that no collected C. nuttallii had recently spawned (stage 4) or were spent (stage 5). However, no significant difference was observed in C. nuttallii female gonad stage between collection dates (χ2=3.39, p=0.335, Kruskal Wallis).

DISCUSSION This study analyzed the relationship between C. nuttallii size and gonad stage, and the seasonal maturation of the species. As C. nuttallii size increased across the sampled size range, more developed gonad stages

were observed. This suggests that size would be a good predictor of maturity, and that organisms with a width larger than 3.50 cm could be induced to spawn under controlled aquaculture conditions. Additionally, as size increased, the relative maturity of male and female gonads increased, meaning that the stages of male and female gonads became more similar with size.

Reproductive Development

The data collected in this study suggest that C. nuttallii will likely exhibit female gonad maturity of stages 2 (developing) and 3 (developed) at widths larger than 3.50 cm in the months of April, May, and July. Since the size of C. nuttalli collected in April falls above this range (5.017 - 6.631 cm), it is possible spawning could be successfully induced during this month. Per contra, Gallucci and Gallucci (1982) only observed stage FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 9

FEATURE ARTICLE 3 gonads (developed) in individuals of sizes larger than 5.59 cm, which indicates a difference between the populations analyzed in our studies.

This may be a result of decreased pH in Puget Sound and Salish Sea waters in the year 2020 as compared to 1982 (Bianucci et al. 2018). These conditions lead to decreased availability of CaCO3 which many bivalves, including C. nuttallii, use to create their shells (Bianucci et al. 2018, Mohamed et al.

2012). Limited availability of CaCO3 may have led to a decrease in C. nuttallii size overall, and the pattern is likely to continue since Puget Sound and Salish Sea pH is predicted to continue decreasing in the years to come (Dunagan 2019).

When determining the best time to induce spawning in an aquaculture setting, it is important to verify that C. nuttallii have not yet naturally spawned. The data collected in this

study suggest that the months of April-July would be an optimal time to induce spawning in an aquaculture setting, as it avoids overlap with natural spawning timing and ensures

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The data collected in this study suggest that the months of April-July would be an optimal time to induce spawning in an aquaculture setting, as it avoids overlap with natural spawning timing and ensures that induced individuals will not

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already be spent.

that induced individuals will not already be spent.

The relative maturity and predicted ages of C. nuttallii is also valuable information when considering the timing of spawning induction. As C. nuttallii width (cm) increased, the maturity of male and female gonads became more similar, and stage 1 gonads (underdeveloped) were no longer observed (Fig. 5). This suggests that gonad stages become more predictable as C. nuttallii width (cm) increases. Additionally, basket cockles predicted to be 1 to 2 years old exhibited both male and female gonads at a stage of 3 (developed) in higher frequencies than basket cockles predicted to be 3 years old or less than 1 year old. These predicted ages (1 and 2 years old) were both observed in the collected C. nuttallii from the month of April, further supporting the induction of maturation at that time.

FIGURE 6 Male gonad stage, female gonad stage, and predicted C. nuttallii age. A jitter is used in this plot to make individual cockles visible, since points would overlap naturally due to the ordinal scale used to stage gonads.

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FEATURE ARTICLE The seasonal maturity of C. nuttallii was also analyzed within this study. Stages 1 (underdeveloped) to 3 (developed) were observed across the months of April, May, and July, meaning that no organisms had recently spawned (stage 4) or were spent (stage 5). However, cockle size varied largely across the three sampling dates, which led to the conclusion that size (cm) was likely a more accurate measure of maturity in this study, as opposed to month. It was concluded that organisms with a width larger than 3.50 cm in the months of April, May, and July would likely be reproductively mature.

Hermaphroditism

This study reinforces previous findings of C. nuttallii exhibiting simultaneous hermaphroditism as a reproductive strategy, producing both male and female gonads at the same time. This trait differentiates C. nuttallii from most other common bivalves in the Puget Sound, such as the pacific geoduck clam Panopea generosa, the manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum, and the pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, which all exhibit dioecy (separate male and female organisms) (Vadopalas et al. 2015, Drummond et al. 2006, Enriquez-Diaz et al. 2009). However, simultaneous hermaphroditism is a trait shared with the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians (Bay Scallop n.d.).

A. irradians is a bivalve found in waters of the East Coast of the United States (Bay Scallop n.d.). A. irradians has been observed to be protandrous and semelparous, meaning that the male gonad becomes mature before the female gonad, and that organisms spawn once throughout their individual lives (Bay Scallop n.d.). A. irrandians usually release male gonads first to decrease the occurrence of self-fertilization (Bay Scallop n.d.). It is unknown if the same strategy is employed by C. nuttallii, but the observed pattern of male gonads maturing faster than female gonads in this study may suggest this. A. irrandians has also been observed to reach sexual maturity at 1 year old

(~5.80 cm), which aligns with our findings of C. nuttallii (Wei et al.

2021). In our study, most cockles that exhibited stage 3 gonads were 1 year old or older.

The C. nuttallii in this study were observed to mature at widths smaller than several other common dioecious bivalve species in the Pacific Northwest, such as P. generosa, R. philippinarum, and C. gigas (Vadopalas et al. 2015, Chung et al.

2001, Hermawati et al. 2017). This may be a result of C. nuttallii exhibiting simultaneous hermaphroditism as a reproductive strategy, rather than dioecy. It is possible that simultaneous hermaphroditism requires a higher energy input for gamete production, resulting in less energy available for growth.

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The C. nuttallii in this study were observed to mature at widths smaller than several other common dioecious bivalve species in the Pacific Northwest – this may be a result of C. nuttallii exhibiting simultaneous hermaphroditism as a reproductive

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strategy, rather than dioecy.

Study Limitations

C. nuttallii samples were not collected throughout the entire time period they had previously been observed to be mature (April-November), which means that we were unable to develop a complete analysis of the reproductive maturity of this population (Gallucci and Gallucci 1982). Additionally, the use of ImageJ to measure cockle widths and heights was challenging in instances where other organisms had settled on the shells, and may have resulted in inaccurate measurements.

Finally, since we collected cockles from geoduck tubes, these findings can only be confidently applied to C. nuttallii populations being grown in geoduck tubes.

Future Research

Data collection from April to November would result in more data on maturity and would be useful in developing a full reproductive profile for this population of basket cockles.

This range is based on findings in Gallucci and Gallucci (1982) that determined C. nuttallii’s natural spawning period to occur between these months. Additionally, data across multiple years could determine the consistency of this population’s reproductive profile. Maturation consistency is valuable to determine because this information will likely increase the success of spawning induction at the aquaculture farm.

Conclusions

This population of C. nuttallii consists of simultaneous hermaphrodites that exhibit gonad stages 1, 2, and 3 in the months of April to July. At widths larger than 3.50 cm, C. nuttallii no longer exhibited stage 1 gonads.

Similarly, only C. nuttallii of predicted ages less than 1 year old exhibited underdeveloped gonads (stage 1), and C. nuttallii of predicted ages ranging from 1-3 years old exhibited only developing (stage 2) and developed (stage 3) gonads. As C. nuttallii size increased, there was less variation between male and female gonad stages within an individual cockle. Based on the results of this study, spawning of C. nuttallii could be induced as early as the month of April in organisms exhibiting widths larger than 3.50 cm.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend sincere thanks to Steven Roberts, my capstone advisor, for his help in the completion of this project. Additionally, I would like to thank Ryan Crim, Elizabeth Unsell, and Elizabeth Tobin for their help regarding sample collection and making this project possible through the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude for the members of the Roberts lab (UW SAFS), and especially Grace Crandall, for their aid and advice regarding histological and statistical analysis.

FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 11

PHOTO RACHEL FRICKE

research communications

BALEEN Looking at Whales at the Smallest Scale

By Meg Vandenberg GENERAL BIOLOGY ‘22 On a small campus nestled in the San Juan archipelago,

Friday Harbor Labs (FHL) is host to a variety of talented researchers and students from UW’s College of the Environment and beyond. While there, I participated in an Imaging Biology course taught by Drs. Adam Summers and Karly Cohen. This course taught us how to visualize biology from a scale of microns to meters using various techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, histology, computed tomography (CT), macro photography, and ultraviolet photography. After hearing Dr. Shirel Kahane-Rapport

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guest lecture on her work featuring the feeding mechanics of rorqual whales, I became fascinated by baleen – the weird looking filtering structure in their mouths. I began working on a project with her to image rorqual whale baleen, using as many different techniques as possible.

Filter feeding has evolved several times across vertebrates and is a way that organisms separate small prey from water. The world’s largest filter feeders are found in the family Balaenopteridae, also known as the rorqual whales. Rorqual whales use a series of keratin bristles and plates located in their mouth, attached to the upper gums, commonly known as baleen, to filter feed (Werth 2000, Sims 2008) (Figure 1). I studied five different species of rorquals: blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). These whales lunge hundreds of times a day, foraging on prey in the millimeter to centimeter size range to maintain their enormous bodies (Kahane-Rapport et al. 2020). A rorqual whale filter-feeds by lunging at high speeds towards dense FIGURE 1 Gross morphology of Balaenoptera musculus juvenile baleen. A) Schematic of the blue whale showing the location of the baleen rack. B-C, E) Labial, anterior, and lingual views showing the arrangement of baleen plates. Baleen is composed of larger major and minor plates that fray into a hair mat. D) Inset highlights the interface between the keratin plate and frayed hair. Note the dark blue/black color.

RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS masses of prey, opening their mouth to create a large pouch that fills with a massive amount of both prey and water. As they slow down post-lunge, they force the water back out, filtering it through the racks of baleen and swallowing only their prey (Shadwick et al. 2019).

The bristles that extend out of the gums of rorqual whales are made from keratin – like the material of your fingernails – and resemble hair, extending down into the mouth of the whale forming a filtering fringe (Werth 2000; Sims 2008). The baleen is organized in racks that extend from the back to the front of the upper jaw on each side (Fig. 1). Each rack is composed of both major and minor keratinous plates which are perpendicular to the flow of the water. While a lot of work has been done to understand marine mammal feeding ecology, the mechanisms by which filter feeding occurs are still unclear. There are holes in our understanding of the high-resolution details of baleen morphology in rorqual whales and just exactly how they are being used.

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While a lot of work has been done to understand marine mammal feeding ecology, the mechanisms

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by which filter feeding occurs are still unclear.

To fill these gaps in our knowledge, the work I did at FHL for my final project included photographing all five species of rorqual baleen that we had samples of at the labs, courtesy of The Marine Mammal Center necropsy team, the Goldbogen lab, and the personal collection of Robert Rubin. I used a macro lens to take high quality pictures of the interface between the keratinized plate and the extending bristles of the baleen. These images of the lingual (tongue side), labial (cheek side), anterior (side view) and the zoomed in insert made up five of my final images, one for each species (Fig. 1, depicting B. musculus). Next, I prepped a single plate of baleen from each species to be CT scanned, staining my samples with a 3% solution of Phosphotungstic acid (PTA) for two weeks to ensure the keratin would appear clearly in the scans. The specimens were then vacuum sealed in a plastic bag and packed in a CT tube. After scanning, I reconstructed all my CT data in NRecon. I viewed and analyzed the data in 3D Slicer (v.3.4.1) which allowed me to see the inside of the baleen plates. Figure 2 shows an example of the CT data for B. musculus, where you can

FIGURE 2 Contrast-stained CT scan of Balaenoptera musculus. A) Minor plate stained with PTA, note the increased uptake of stain where the sheath breaks away from the hair (arrow). B) Transverse cut through the hair of the minor plate above the break point showing diversity of hair diameter. C) Transverse cut through the keratin plate, showing hairs in the plate embedded in the matrix. The relationship between hair and matrix density varies across species. Figures generated in 3D Slicer (v.3.4.1), scale bar 10mm.

see the internal morphology of the plate clearly and the interface between the plate and bristle, in which the PTA has been picked up extensively (denoted by an arrow). Lastly, I further dehydrated sections of my specimens to 100% ethanol and then fully dehydrated them with a solution of hexamethyldisilazane. Once fully dry, the samples were sputter coated with gold palladium and imaged in a scanning electron microscope. This allowed me to look at extremely fine details on the baleen, on a scale of microns, where I could see exactly how the keratin formed each plate and the different size hairs within the plate.

I jumped into this project to better explore and develop all the techniques I was learning in class. I loved learning how to make detail-conveying figures for scientific publications. Since finishing the Biology Imaging course I have continued to work on a research paper on the morphology and scaling of rorqual whale baleen with Drs. Cohen, Summers, Paig-Tran, Goldbogen, Rubin and KahaneRapport. The aim of our paper is to explore the morphology of these five species of whale in high-resolution and determine how baleen differs between the species as baleen morphology greatly influences its filtration function. Our next step is to analyze how the morphology of the baleen varies with the different prey of each species, as the baleen directly interacts with their food. This is a vital piece in the puzzle of understanding how the largest animals in the world feed.

FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 15

Saving the Steller Sea Lion How Artificial Intelligence is Aiding Conservation in Alaska

human consumption such as salmon, cod, mackerel, and pollock.

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), researchers were charged with maintaining what is left of the Western Steller sea lions in the Aleutians of Alaska. Their first task is to gather data on remaining populations. Unfortunately, the Aleutian islands are incredibly remote and difficult to study, ranging so far west that they enter the Eastern hemisphere. Thus, researchers can’t perform much in-person data collection and instead rely on cameras to gather photos for analysis.

NOAA scientists deployed remote camera sensors on the islands, allowing them to observe sea lion rookery beaches year-round. Next, researchers branded various pups so

By Mary Kennelly Environmental Studies ‘22

Since 1990, the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus)

population has plummeted by over 94% in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. These mammals, the largest sea lions in the world, are one of many marine species whose existence on Earth has grown increasingly threatened throughout the late 20th century. The reason why is still unclear, but one thing we do know for certain is that the story of the Steller sea lion is not entirely a sad one.

The Steller sea lion population is broken up into two genetically and morphologically different stocks, the Eastern and Western, each with differing stories of success. The Eastern stock – which ranges along the coasts of Oregon and California – was rehabilitated through conservation efforts and is one of the success stories of the Endangered Species Act. In contrast, declining population trends in the Western stock, ranging from Washington through Alaska to parts of Russia and Asia, have caused great concern among scientists. While we typically think of ice melt as the leading threat for Arctic species, the factors contributing to the Western Steller sea lion’s decline are hypothesized to range from illegal hunting, heatwaves, and accidental death from trawl fishing to competition for global fishing operations.

The Steller sea lion diet includes many popular fish for PHOTO Steller sea lion bull (male), pup, and juvenile resting on the Aleutian islands of Alaska in springtime. Photo taken with NOAA remote sensing camera.

PHOTO Two bulls resting on the shore of a beach on Agattu Island in Alaska in springtime. Photo taken by NOAA camera trap.

individuals could be identified in photographs and tracked over their lifetimes. The challenge of this methodology is that the cameras take hundreds to thousands of photos each year. Within a single photo over a hundred sea lions might be laying on the beach, and researchers must manually spot and log all the branded ones. Fortunately, this timeconsuming task can be automated with artificial intelligence (AI). Scientists at NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center began an AI development project that will one day filter through millions of images taken on the Aleutians, saving researchers time and effort while providing meaningful population data.

My research project with NOAA focused on assessing their beta AI program, a task I accomplished with the help of NOAA researcher Molly McCormley. NOAA’s convolutional neural network (CNN) is made up of two main layers. The first layer, referred to as UNET, works as a kind of binary mass system. It assesses images through semantic segmentation. This means that on each pixel within a photograph, UNET assigns the pixel a value of 1 or 0 based on whether it believes that individual pixel is part of a brand on a sea lion. This layer is incredibly false positive heavy – that is to say, it can easily say a pixel is part of a brand when it isn’t. That’s why the next layer of the AI network works to differentiate between the “good” and “bad” brands identified by UNET. The second layer looks at the collective

pixel groups that have been identified as a brand and decides whether they are really part of a brand, and if the brand can be read well enough to identify the distinct sea lion.

This model is trained by being fed thousands of images, each manually assessed and translated into the model’s language. The types of images chosen to train the model are significant. A model trained by images from a specific beach might perform well on photos of that beach, but fare poorly in classifying images on an unfamiliar landscape. I worked on manually assessing an eight-month photoset of images from Agattu Island in the Aleutians. I’d analyze photos to identify the branded sea lions and log them in a computer program developed for the project. After processing over 20,000 images manually, I had enough data to begin an analysis on the AI. The same pictures that I manually assessed were given to the AI to log. Then, using a comparative analysis in the statistical coding program R, I compared the performance of the AI photoset to my own performance. I looked at variables such as overall missed brand sightings and the percentage of missed unique brands to compare accuracy between the two approaches. The overall missed rate reflects how many total brands were spotted by both me and the AI combined, and what percentage of these total brand sightings weren’t noticed by me or the AI. My R analysis showed that PHOTO A beach on Agattu Island in January. Photo taken by NOAA camera trap.

PHOTO A cluster of female sea lions rest near a bull on Agattu Island, depicting the many positions in which sea lions lounge. This complexity makes it difficult for artificial intelligence to distinguish between dark spots and identify single sea lions.

Photo taken by NOAA camera trap.

projects is immense. For example, the UNET layer only achieved this score after receiving training from tens of thousands of images that had been meticulously translated for the AI to understand.

These findings inform future AI training in a myriad of ways. For one, learning what beaches the AI performs the worst on shows us what locations the AI needs more training photos of. Then we can begin the process of translating more images of these beaches into training images for the AI. Another useful application of these findings is that the statistical analyses can be run repeatedly while comparing the AI to my manual photo analysis. With this information, we can track the model’s improvement over time and note its progress quantitatively each time it receives more training.

This project is a necessary step in advancing this incredible technology because it informs researchers how to best direct the AI’s training as it continues to be improved.

“

With a challenging environmental future ahead, it’s important that

“

we use every tool at our disposal.

I missed 8.7% of the total brands sighted, the combined AI model missed 37.55%, and the initial UNET layer of the AI only missed 9.2%. I also found that the AI missed 17.39% of unique brands, while I missed zero. This means that I identified all the different branded individuals, while the AI seemed to never spot a handful of them.

These results confirm what we were anticipating – the AI model is not ready for application because it isn’t performing as well as a researcher would in manual image processing. We are not looking for perfection, but rather a score close to my 8.7% to deem the AI “accurate.” What’s notable in these findings is that the initial UNET layer was not far off from my score. Although it has many false positives, it doesn’t seem to miss many brands either. While this isn’t a complete victory, every success in the AI training is something to be celebrated. The work that goes into these

In conservation, science that may seem relatively simple often takes an incredible amount of effort behind the scenes. With a challenging environmental future ahead, it’s important that we use every tool at our disposal. Projects to automate operations like image processing are necessary steps that free up time and resources for time-sensitive problems, like the growing list of arctic mammals nearing endangered or threatened status. AI isn’t perfect, but research like this progresses us towards the monumental end goal of full image process automation. As NOAA continues to work on developing AI, it will also help with image processing on many other projects beyond the Steller sea lion, such as one already in development for the Northern fur seal. What we know is that the future of research is one that embraces modern technology, particularly AI. With the help of AI, NOAA researchers can better understand the Western Steller sea lions so that one day they might share the success of their Eastern relatives.

FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 17

Environmental Health Disparity in California

A Visual Investigation of Asthma at the Intersection of Poverty and Pollution

BY ARGHYA KANNADAGULI GEOGRAPHY ‘22

In the following atlas, I analyze one instance of

Environmental Health Disparity, or ‘EHD’ for brevity’s sake. EHD is a framework that integrates socioeconomic and environmental concepts into the field of public health (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004). It describes differences in health outcomes between groups of people who experience different social and environmental conditions in their everyday lives. Examining whether and how public health trends correlate with sociodemographic and environmental determinants allows us to understand those trends’ societal context. Studying these determinants’ relation to a disease’s spread and severity can illuminate important correlating factors or tease out confounding variables.

Visualizing complex environmental health phenomena from my desk at home has been an exciting and interesting experience, but also a sobering one. It is easy to get caught up in the flurry of investigation and forget that the numbers on my laptop screen represent people’s lives in the real world. These are real people struggling with poverty, asthma attacks, and toxic air pollution. EHD is not simply a conceptual perspective through which to explore health data, but also a cruel manifestation of a deeply unfair system.

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EHD is not simply a conceptual perspective through which to explore health data, but also a cruel manifestation of a deeply unfair system.

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EHD has different ramifications for different people.

Each year, for residents of the Gulf Coast, it means that 18 fieldnotesjournal.org

hurricane season’s devastation is disproportionately felt by low-income neighborhoods and communities of color (Khanjar 2020). Six years ago, for the people of Flint, Michigan—where over 40% of the population lives below the poverty line—it meant that their nearly 9,000 children were supplied lead-contaminated water for 18 months while government officials ignored community concerns about the water crisis (Denchak 2018).

For 9-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah of the United Kingdom, it meant three difficult years battling severe asthma before a cardiac arrest resulted in her untimely death. Ella’s struggle with asthma began when she was only 6. She lived near one of London’s busiest roads, South Circular. Between 2010 and 2013, the illness caused her to have episodes of cardiac and respiratory arrest and frequent emergency admissions to the hospital. Ella’s death was attributed to acute respiratory failure, severe asthma, and air pollution exposure. She is thought to be the first person in world history to have air pollution listed as an official cause of death (Reynolds 2020).

Child Asthma, Family Poverty, and Air Pollution In the United States, asthma is the leading chronic disease in children. In 2017, one in every twelve school-aged children had asthma, and more than 3 million children reported having had one or more asthma episodes or attacks in the last 12 months (CDC 2019). Asthma is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among children younger than 15 (US EPA 2015). As such, rates of emergency department visits for asthma symptoms can serve as a valuable statistic representing the rate of incidence of severe asthma symptoms. To understand the public health impact of asthma in the US, I began by mapping asthma-related hospitalization rates in the state of California. I chose to study California because a great deal of environmental and health data for the state is publicly available and accessible for research.

Like Ella, most asthma patients’ symptoms are exacerbated

RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS is a crucial indicator of socioeconomic status, which describes an individual’s education, income, and employment. High family poverty rate indicates not only lower income and lower likelihood of employment among adults, but it may also impact the long-term socio-economic status of children in the family.

Revisit the spatial pattern from the last map. This second map shows a similar pattern of darker colored census tracts through the state’s curved axis, suggesting the two mapped fields – family poverty and asthma severity – are correlated. Observe MAP 1 Rate of age-adjusted emergency department visits for severe symptoms of asthma per 10,000 people, by census the Los Angeles inset in both tract (Cal EnviroScreen 2018). maps. Spatial patterns within the city appear similar as well. The consistency of this visual by air pollution. Thus, I predict that regions with high rates correlation across different areas implies that family poverty of air pollution will also have high rates of severe asthma and asthma severity are related regardless of spatial scale. symptoms, such as episodes or attacks which can require immediate medical assistance.

MAP 3. Environmental Disparity (Air Pollution)

MAP 1. Public Health Impact: Asthma Episode or Attack Incidence Rate

Here I’ve colored census tracts by PM2.5 concentration, which is a classic measure of air pollution. PM2.5 refers to fine inhalable particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. Most PM forms in the atmosphere as a result of chemical reactions between industrial air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Numerous scientific studies have linked PM pollution with adverse health conditions such as aggravated asthma and decreased

The map above depicts age-adjusted rate of emergency department visits for severe symptoms of asthma. The EHD framework has three primary components: socioeconomic disparity, environmental disparity, and public health impact.

In essence, I am using the following four maps to paint one comprehensive picture of asthma among California children. This MAP 2 Percent of families by census tract with a household income below the federal poverty level in the past 12 months map shows asthma severity, (American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates 2013-2017). which represents the public health aspect of the larger EHD picture.

Note the distribution of darker-colored census tracts through the axis of the state from the top left to the bottom right.

This clustering of orange, red, and maroon does not appear to be random, and ties asthma severity to geography.

MAP 2. Socioeconomic Disparity: Poverty Rate This next map colors census tracts by the percentages of families in a region with household income below the federal poverty level. Poverty FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 19

RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS lung function (US EPA 2016).

This map shows the strongest contrast between affected and unaffected regions within California. As you can see, the regions with the highest PM 2.5 concentration are the Central Valley in the middle of the state and the greater Los Angeles area to the south. As previously stated, industrial factories are some of the most prolific generators of environmental PM2.5. So, this defined pattern of darker tracts along the Central Valley suggests industrial activity might be causing the higher PM2.5 rates.

MAP 4. Exploratory Search for Confounding Variables (Industrial Air Pollution)

MAP 3. Percentile rank of PM2.5 concentration by census tract (Cal EnviroScreen 2018).

program through which all industrial facilities in the U.S. must report data on their annual chemical waste.1 For the purpose of this atlas, I was primarily interested in on-site air emissions. I summed all of the inventory fields of air emission to create one lump-sum estimate for each facility’s annual toxic air pollution. Then I mapped the facilities’ coordinates using a proportional size scheme based on the calculated air pollution statistic, to convey the magnitude of each site’s impact. The resulting map’s correlation with the first two is unmistakable. The curved axis that I previously discussed contains numerous sites of industrial air pollution.

The spatial correlation initially depicted between asthma severity and family poverty is validated by the strikingly clear pattern in the MAP 4. Estimated total annual on-site chemical emissions at industrial facilities (EPA Toxic Release Inventory 2018). fourth map. This axis of toxic air pollution spatially aligns with the other maps in a manner that begs the question: ‘Correlation or causation?’ Answering this question requires more research and evidence than these four maps can provide. But I believe this atlas’ visual argument is compelling enough to motivate further research on this topic.

Oftentimes, geography research is exploratory in nature—in the effort to answer one research question, you might make findings along the way that motivate additional questions.

The clear pattern in the last map led me to ask: Where are industrial facilities located in California? And, how do their locations compare with the distributions of socioeconomic, environmental, and health disparities depicted in the first three maps?

To answer these questions, I searched for data on industrial activity and pollution throughout California and came across the EPA’s 2018 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) report, a publicly available dataset. TRI is a mandatory

The annual TRI report is an incredibly comprehensive and thorough resource. It lists each facility’s coordinates along with a list of their waste chemicals and the method the facility used to dispose of them. These can include off-site treatment or disposal, or on-site release into the environment.

1

2O fieldnotesjournal.org

Branching Out Theodore Hoss’s Journey In Updating the Brockman Memorial Tree Tour

By Nick Chappelear and Bella Hillyer ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘23 Although the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped our society

in fear for many months, it also exemplified the human race’s fortitude, perseverance, and innovation. Many digital platforms – like zoom, TikTok, and more – dominated this era of physical separation, allowing us to maintain our social connectivity and stay updated on the ever-changing state of current events. Simultaneously, many of us realized that enduring these global health crises in isolation is extremely taxing on our mental health. We remember taking walks in the park with our roommates during this stressful era, the scenery serving as a refuge from the weight of these events.

Most research into green spaces has asserted that regularly spending time outdoors produces positive mental health and well-being benefits (Houlden 2018). After multiple years of online school and isolation, our students could benefit from connecting to the environment now more than ever.

multiple years of “After online school and isolation, our students could benefit from connecting to the environment now more than ever.

“

Theodore Hoss, a recent UW class of ’21 graduate, is no stranger to both the beneficial uses of technology and the vital need to reconnect our community with our local environment. Hoss and his colleague Thuy Luu worked together to update and digitize the Brockman Memorial Tree Tour for their senior capstone project during the pandemic.

Originally created in 1980 by Professor C. Frank Brockman, this survey of the over 80 tree species on campus is one of the nation’s most extensive and longest-running campus tree tours. The main priorities for the update were to redesign and modernize the old website created in the 90’s, moving over to a more easily accessible and adaptable Google Sites platform. Moreover, the campus has changed over these past forty years, so they needed to recalibrate the tour based on any new or recently removed tree species. This project not only allowed Hoss and Luu to preserve this in-depth overview of the history and ecology of the UW campus, but it also gave them a chance to make the tour more equitable, multi-disciplinary, and accessible than before. While rewriting the descriptions for each species, Theo and Thuy incorporated Indigenous knowledge frameworks through the history, uses, and original names for many of the trees native to the Pacific Northwest. These students recognize Native communities’ contributions toward ecological restoration and sustainable practices. As the original stewards of the land, Theo hopes the reintegration of Indigenous lessons in the tour can teach UW students that “there’s more than just a western view of things,” and hopefully, it spurs them to educate themselves on these inequities further.

FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 21

PHOTO UW’s most iconic trees – Yoshino Cherry Blossoms (#43) in the Quad. Photo by Michael Matti, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

Although the capstone concluded with a finished website, Theo ended the year inspired and continued to develop the tour even after graduation. Over the course of this recent school year, Theo has created a never-before-seen guided version of the tree tour along with multiple additional sub-tours on the website that go in-depth on specific populations, such as the Washington Native Tree tour that covers all the species native to the region. Moreover, he added Tree Identification Resources, which provide a glossary of relevant terminology, diagrams, and explanations to help participants better understand the ecologically diverse features of each species. While these additions have greatly augmented the value and educational capacity of the

tour, he still has hopes to further the Brockman Tree Tour experience by updating and printing a new version of the physical pamphlet that used to accompany the tour. Actual copies of this new guide are available now in Anderson Hall if you ever want to stop by to pick one up!

Fortunately, we had the privilege of going on one of these guided tours led by Theo. The other individuals attending were UW librarians, governor’s office members, tree lovers, and supportive friends. Although neither of us are tree enthusiasts or experts, it’s undeniable that Theo’s passion and excitement throughout the tour was contagious.

It was just as hilarious as it was informative, as he had witty remarks or dad jokes prepared for every tree we stopped at. When describing the first PHOTO Shumard Red Oaks (#59) in front of Gerberding Hall in Red Square. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0. tree on tour, Theo referred to its acorns as the “M&Ms of the wild”; I guess the intrusive thought of wanting to eat acorns is a universal experience because laughter ensued as we carried on.

Theo’s favorite trees were a notable stop on tour, located by the architecture building – the quaking aspens (#63).

The leaves of quaking aspens ripple in the wind, their quick, shimmery movements breaking up surface tension to allow for photosynthesis to occur over a larger area.

Theo characterized aspens as “the wildebeest type of trees – they’re like, you gotta be

RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS self-sufficient from the beginning.” However, our personal favorite stop was the fig tree by the herb garden on Stephens Way (#68). Even though they are referred to in many empires as symbols of strength, Theo argues that fig trees are quite “wimpy in the cold.” But what surprised me was learning that the fig was the forbidden fruit that Eve indulged in from the biblical story of Adam and Eve! I found their duality interesting, and Theo echoed this when asserting, “Fig trees: dangerous, but also delicious.” The final tree of the tour was the Western Hemlock (#81), a pyramidal giant native to Washington state. According to Theo, these trees live for hundreds of years, making them the “ultimate retirement planners,” who must strictly preserve and allocate their resources to maintain their long life. By the end, we were both so thankful we got to join Theo in this experience.

In just one hour, the University of Washington became an entirely different campus; hidden behind this beautiful scenery lies a complex and vibrant ecosystem of trees.

just one hour, the “InUniversity of Washington became an entirely different campus; hidden behind this beautiful scenery lies a complex and vibrant ecosystem of trees.

“

Hoss and Luu curated an informative and interdisciplinary depiction of the tree population on campus.

UW’s natural diversity and beauty are some of the leading factors that attract prospective students to apply and serve as an educational resource and a relaxing environment for students to utilize. They recognized the importance of preserving the original tour to purvey these historical lessons of environmentalism and conservation. Then, by digitizing and updating the tour to fit our modern campus, these two students have made learning about these trees more accessible than ever. Promoting a sense of cultural recognition by valuing Indigenous teachings and adding features like The Tree ID Resources and Brockman biography, they’ve created a multi-faceted and authentic depiction of trees on the UW campus. It’s playful yet informative language like Theo’s that sparks environmental consciousness in individuals. Natural education does not have to be boring, and Theo’s energy and passion ensured that during the Brockman Memorial Tree Tour. So, if you ever need to destress during finals or just want to explore the beauty of UW’s campus in a new way, check out Theo’s guided tour or even follow it on your phone! Don’t be afraid to branch out and try something new because I promise you won’t be-leaf the secrets this campus has to offer.

Brockman Memorial Tree Tour Link PHOTO More than 100 hybrid Sycamores (#52) – known as London Planetrees – line Memorial Way, providing some of the best shade on campus. Photo by William Prost, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

PHOTO TIARA ADLER

community features

Where Are All My BIPOC Environmentalists?

By Kort Maeda Visual Communication Design & Environmental Studies ‘25 Across textbooks, the environmental movement within the

United States is portrayed as a grassroots movement fueled by the collective work of concerned citizens to conserve nature. Some would argue it was a movement destined to fail from the start by actively excluding BIPOC communities from the narrative. The reality, however, was a movement driven entirely by the concerns of white, educated, middleclass Americans. This is drastically different from the BIPOC communities that historically have and continue to be on the frontlines of environmental injustice.

The early decades of American environmentalism concerned itself with issues of conservation, wildlife protection, and ecologically important land. What does ecologically important mean, and more importantly, who said so? The environmental movement within the United States has been and remains overwhelmingly white. It’s not that Black, Indigenous, and people of color are less interested or have little care for the environment. In fact, it’s quite the

opposite. BIPOC communities are not only more concerned about environmental issues but are more likely to take action through voting, volunteering, and civic engagement (Ballew et al. 2020). However, the environmental justice movement is not the same as mainstream environmentalism.

The mainstream movement frames environmental issues as individual causes that people can be passionate about rather than the human health implications of systems designed to oppress.

Framing environmental issues as separate from the rest of society is a dangerous and exclusive notion; the mainstream environmental movement, no matter its intention, actively causes harm by silencing and excluding

“

BIPOC communities are not only more concerned about environmental issues but are more likely to take action through voting, volunteering, and civic engagement.

“

PHOTO The racist comments and actions of John Muir, the “Father of the National Parks” led to the erasure of Indigenous communities like the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who continue to fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline for their treaty rights to sovereignty. Photos by National Park Service (left) and Victoria Pickering (right).

Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

COMMUNITY FEATURES BIPOCs from the narrative. Oftentimes subtle and discreet, the implications remain: saving polar bears is more important than protecting our BIPOC communities on the frontlines of climate change.

It is counterintuitive to commit to working towards environmental justice and addressing the disproportionate impacts of climate change without acknowledging the role that environmental organizations have played in perpetuating white supremacy. Early American environmental groups were founded on racist ideals, with many of the founding members known to be white supremacists and eugenicists (Fears and Mufson 2020). The Sierra Club, one of the most well-known and well-funded conservation groups, actively excluded minority groups from its membership until the 1960s. In an open letter, the Sierra Club acknowledged its own racist history and association with John Muir, whose “derogatory comments about Black people and Indigenous peoples… continue to hurt and alienate Indigenous people and people of color who come into contact with the Sierra Club” (Brune 2020). The

Following the 2020 protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, there was an influx of public statements supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

Environmental organizations were quick to publish open letters and transparency statements condemning police brutality and calling for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within their organizational structure. We want to believe that it is more than performative. We want to believe that environmental organizations are here for substantial change.

However, two years later, the numbers reveal a continued lack of progress (Figure 1). A 2021 study found that, on average, environmental organizations increased the number of full-time BIPOC staff between 2020 and 2021 by 3.5 percent, from 26.3% to 29.8%. Environmental organizations remain predominantly white, making up 60 percent of full-time staff and 73 percent of organization heads. Looking at the numbers, the Sierra Club’s board of directors is 60 percent white, and its full-time staff is 63 percent white. Similarly, the Audubon Society’s board of

FIGURE The 2021 NGO and Foundation Transparency Report Card reveals that most environmental organizations are staffed and led by a majority white demographic. Data from Green 2.0.

namesake of the Audubon Society, John James Audubon, “was… a slaveholder, a point that many people don’t know or, if they do, tend to ignore or excuse” (Lanham 2021).

As environmental organizations like the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society tear down and denounce leaders who contributed to their racist foundations, it is now the role of these same organizations to decide how to put in the work to actively promote and conduct racial and environmental justice work. We understand that the real work is ahead, but are we making strides to achieve it?

directors is 67 percent white, and its full-time staff is 72 percent white (Green 2.0 2021).

As I’ve immersed myself in spaces of environmental advocacy, I’ve come to terms with the limitations of mainstream environmentalism. It fails to encompass the intersections of race, class, and gender that are deeply embedded within environmental justice. The more I reflect on representation, the more disillusioned I become with the organizations I previously looked up to as sources of inspiration. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my experiences FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 27

represented— not in media, curriculum, or organizations. I can barely recall any non-white environmentalists that are household names. Not in the way that Greta Thunberg, Jane Goodall, Rachel Carson, and Al Gore are at least.

Diversity within environmental spaces matters beyond visual representation. NGOs in the United States play a vital role in securing funding for outreach and education (Tortajada 2016). As an interest group, the presence of NGOs in the media and press influences policies implemented

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The work of diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be solely placed on BIPOC – it must be everyone’s responsibility to work towards it.

It’s about actively listening and creating safe spaces rather than simply filling the seat.

28 fieldnotesjournal.org

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PHOTO Along Cancer Alley, an 85-mile strip of petroleum plants and oil refineries in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are predominantly lower-income Black communities with some of the highest cancer rates in the nation due to air pollution and chemical leaching. Photos from Gines Sanchez (left) and Alisdare Hickson (right). Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

on the local, state, and federal levels. In the past, the environmental concerns of white Americans dominated NGOs’ political agenda, perpetuating programs and policies with a limited scope of impact.

And it’s more than just having a seat at the table; it’s whether BIPOC voices are being heard. Environmental organizations frequently use the allure of diversity, the language of equity, and ideals of inclusion to attract BIPOC staffers to their team without any real intention of creating structural, cultural, or procedural changes. We need intentional inclusion at all levels of environmental organizations, from heads of organizations and executive directors to board members and staff members. The work of diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be solely placed on BIPOC – it must be everyone’s responsibility to work towards it. It’s about actively listening and creating safe spaces rather than simply filling the seat.

Reading, studying, and learning from the identities and experiences of BIPOC authors, poets, and artists are necessary for the environmental justice movement. The inclusion of race, gender, and class does not “complicate” the environmental movement; it shows us where society has failed to advocate for BIPOC communities– where to begin.

We can look at the ongoing work of Kimberlé Crenshaw, Leah Thomas, and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, all of whose environmentalism are pathways forward of how we can expand our horizons to make a justice-centered future a reality. The future lies in intersectional environmentalism within existing organizations, a movement that actively fights systems of oppression to protect all people and the planet. And a movement that dismantles systems of oppression is one that has a future.

From Greenwashing to Sustainable Business Plans: How Companies Can Incorporate Responsibility and Improve Performance

By Emma Duckworth Marine Biology ‘24 and Bella Hillyer Environmental Studies ‘23 In today’s world, trends come and go, but there’s one that

claims to address one of humanity’s greatest challenges: sustainable living. Its origins perhaps started in the 1960s with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the founding of climate activist groups, when Americans shifted their focus to environmental concerns. Since then, the idea of incorporating sustainability into our lives and businesses has become increasingly mainstream. The rise of Beyond Meat, plastic alternatives like metal straws and reusable bags, and a plethora of campaigns promoting environmentalism have encouraged all types of businesses to hop on the sustainable crusade. Companies can talk the sustainable talk all they want – but are they really doing their part to become greener, or are these all empty greenwashing promises?

can talk the “Companies sustainable talk all they

want – but are they really doing their part to become greener, or are these all empty greenwashing promises?

“

Environmentally friendly fads seem to have become all the rage, but how sustainable these companies truly are remains unclear. Businesses can preach sustainability, but ultimately it comes down to actions, not merely words. The Green Business Bureau defines greenwashing as “a marketing tactic that exaggerates a company’s efforts to be sustainable, solely for financial gain” (Green Business Bureau 2021). Many companies claim to practice

PHOTO Consumers across the world have caught on to empty promises of eco-friendly initiatives and have acted. Protests to expose greenwashing techniques have taken place to shine a light on corporate dishonesty. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

COMMUNITY FEATURES sustainability, whereas critics argue that some are just putting up an environmentally friendly front to attract consumers and avoid negative media attention.

In a setting where seemingly every business claims to be sustainable, companies have begun to capitalize on individual guilt to motivate their customers. How can a consumer say no to a product that’s helping the planet? But by promoting individual responsibility, corporations may be distracting the public from the bigger issue here: corporate responsibility. With corporations firing green campaigns on all cylinders, it’s easy for consumers to believe that the brand is 100% environmentally friendly. In reality, this may not always be the case.

Big oil corporations are notorious for greenwashing scandals, and many have been exposed for misleading the public in many of their new green campaigns. In 2021, the state of Massachusetts took ExxonMobil to court over claims of greenwashing (BBC 2021). Like many other oil companies, ExxonMobil has faced pressure to become greener, so they’ve started to advertise the use of fuel alternatives. Despite these claims, big oil companies still rely on fossil fuels as energy sources, leading to corporations being called out for these dishonest initiatives. With the help of consumer protection laws, more companies will be exposed for greenwashing and will have to face the consequences.

As an increasing number of companies are exposed for greenwashing, consumers are starting to catch on. Growing weary of these tactics, people desire to support companies that are doing good for the environment. This is leading to a growing demand for actual sustainable business practices that consumers can support.

In addition to capitalizing on the growth of environmentally conscious consumers, companies can generate competitive advantages by creating value for all stakeholders, not just their shareholders. In the past, most businesses focused exclusively on making shareholders richer. However, in changing natural and consumer climates the interests of employees, supply chains, society, and the planet are increasingly being incorporated into companies’ business plans. According to The Comprehensive Business Case for Sustainability, by addressing the environmental problems that intersect with business operations, resilience is improved as companies with sustainability agendas are better situated to react to economic, social, and environmental change (Whelan and Fink 2016).

Global supply chains, for example, are increasingly susceptible to climate-related disasters. How will production remain uninterrupted if manufacturing facilities fall victim to floods, fires, or worker strikes from poor labor conditions? A recent McKinsey report estimated that the value threatened by environmental concerns could reach up to 70% of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Bonini and Swartz 2014). Reputational damage based on perceived misuse of resources, the true cost of water or carbon reflected in prices, and production delays due to lack of access are some of the factors that 30 fieldnotesjournal.org

contribute to environmental-related financial risks.

Risk management is not the only factor companies should consider when making the switch to a more sustainable agenda. Efforts to generate environmental savings accelerate innovation and improve efficiency, which benefits the bottom line. For instance, Nike’s FlyKnit uses a specialized yarn system that requires minimal labor while simultaneously producing 80% less waste than regular cutand-sew footwear. Since its launch, 3.5 million pounds of Nike’s textile waste has been diverted from landfills (Nike 2016). In another effort, P&G introduced a line of coldwater detergents that saves 40% in washing machine water costs, 75% in washing machine energy costs, and 15% in linen replacement costs (P&G 2022). P&G advertises its innovative detergent as “turning your laundry system into a money-saving machine.” Walmart doubled fleet efficiency through better routing, truck loading, and technologies, which resulted in significantly reducing carbon emissions and saving millions (Walmart 2015).

Google, Amazon, and Meta are some of the world’s

moved past this “We’ve concept that business

versus the environment is a tradeoff. The business benefits were always there, but more and more companies are going after them.

“

highest energy consumers. These three tech giants are committed to powering 100% of their data centers from renewable resources, such as wind and solar. The payoff: a 10% reduction off their massive utility bills (Martin and Dent 2019). Nestle’s ultra-thin water bottles contain less plastic than the alternative, which reduces packaging and shipping costs (Martin and Dent 2019). Tom Murray, an Environmental Defense Fund executive who advises companies such as Walmart, McDonald’s, and Proctor and Gamble on reducing emissions, stated, “We’ve moved past this concept that business versus the environment is a tradeoff. The business benefits were always there, but more and more companies are going after them” (Martin and Dent 2019).

It isn’t just business plans that are changing with the climate. Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock investments, writes an annual letter to the CEOs of the companies whose investments he manages that address current concerns and provide recommendations. In his 2020 letter, he emphasized

COMMUNITY FEATURES the fact that climate change will lead to a fundamental change in finance. Climate risk, he argued, is investment risk. “Each company’s prospects for growth are inextricable from its ability to operate sustainably and serve its full set of stakeholders.” Fink recommended that companies – and individuals – diversify their investment portfolios and incorporate green energy, sustainable transport, and waste reduction (Fink 2020).

In the past, the maximization of short-term profits served companies well. Now, however, the societal damage that some companies cause is no longer escaping the public eye. Companies that fail to address the needs of their stakeholders – adjusting to the changing demands of society – will “encounter growing skepticism from the markets, and in turn, a higher cost of capital” (Fink 2020). Fink concluded his letter urging companies to undertake sustainability reporting. How so, you may ask? The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) allows companies to evaluate and report climate and social risks. Disclosure is the first step toward more sustainable and inclusive capitalism. It is the responsibility of us as consumers to seek out companies who are transparent about their efforts to do more good than harm for the world. The pathway towards green consumerism can be achieved through companies themselves taking responsibility for their actions along with members of society making socially and environmentally

responsible purchases.

The bottom line has tripled to include people, planet, and profit.

“Itofisustheas responsibility consumers to seek out companies who are transparent about their efforts to do more good than harm for the world.

“

PHOTO Companies are investing in renewables to power their business operations, which reduces emissions and financial costs. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

Kids? In This Climate?

The Fraught Conversation of Population and Climate Change

By Isabelle Falkin ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ‘25

When asked whether I’ll ever have kids of my own at

family gatherings, I can’t help but laugh. A) I don’t know if I want kids (I’m only 19), and B) I don’t know if it’s safe to have children in this global climate. Like most in my generation, who’ve all grown up hearing about climate change, I try to balance choices that are good for the environment with ones that bring me fulfillment. But these decisions are becoming more consequential. When it comes to being a parent in the age of climate change, modern scientific and ethical research reveals that the answer isn’t so simple. Opening this conversation to women around the globe is necessary for a safer and more equitable planet.

There are two main reasons for anxiety regarding kids and climate: choosing not to have children would be better for the planet, and the Earth might not be the most suitable home. In a study for the New York Times, population growth made up 14% of young adults’ reasoning for why they don’t want kids, while worries about the state of the environment trailed close behind at 11% (Miller et al. 2018, Fig. 1). So sadly, I’m not alone in my concerns, but should I be?

Kimberly Nicholas, a sustainability scientist at Lund University in Sweden, argues that young adults should still consider having children if they desire to do so. In 2017 she released a meta-analysis of the most significant ways people FIGURE 1 Young adult survey respondents’ reasons for not wanting children (%).

32 fieldnotesjournal.org

PHOTO 12-year-old Meenakshi Dewan work on the solar street lighting in her village of Tinginaput, India. Photo by Abbie Trayler-Smith, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

can reduce their carbon footprint, calculating how children play into this equation. For example, upgrading light bulbs, hang-drying clothes, and recycling collectively save almost one ton of emissions annually. In addition, you can save over two tons of greenhouse gas emissions by taking one less roundtrip transatlantic flight and living car-free. However, having one fewer child exceeds all these choices, saving upwards of 50 tons of carbon emissions annually (Nicholas 2017).

Despite the seemingly critical linkage between our climate challenge and starting a new family, Nicholas argues that “population is actually irrelevant to solving the climate crisis” (Samuel 2021). She reasons that her calculations – current average carbon emissions per year multiplied by average fertility rate – will be reduced as the world moves to net-zero emissions. In her eyes, greater energy efficiency and regulation are likely, and the atmosphere will be able to hold a new family and its descendants. This is an unusually hopeful stance for those in her field. Also, she claims that the 2050 benchmark many countries have set for attaining net-zero emission is unaffected by the addition of another human to this planet and that living car-free, flight-free, and meat-free is just as impactful during this time. But this treats carbon emissions as a top-down rather than a bottom-

up process – more people does mean more energy usage, even as countries make infrastructure more sustainable.

Furthermore, this target date comes from the Paris Climate Accords. The legitimacy of this agreement has come into question given a lack of accountability for signing nations to achieve their emissions reduction goals.

Most experts agree that the world’s population continues to grow in potentially unsustainable ways. One such scientist is Wolfgang Lutz, a research fellow at Oxford University and a member of the University of Washington’s International Committee on New Integrated Climate Change Assessment Scenarios. In 2017, he shared a crucial link between mitigation efforts and population growth – growth at its current rate will increase the cost of mitigation efforts. This statement is based on cost-benefit climate-economy models.

It shows that the risk a larger population would incur from climate disaster raises the need for high-cost efforts. Even as infrastructure moves to create net-zero emissions, stress is laid upon this system by the presence of more people.

However, more sustainable growth could occur by giving more women the opportunity to choose whether to become parents. Lutz shows this through the concept of population homogeneity, or similarity in level of education, labor force, income, and residency across different populations. Increasing education homogeneity, especially amongst women, is predicted to significantly dampen population growth. Improving education and economic opportunity is an integral part of increasing equity for women and people in developing countries. A decrease in population growth is a likely but unessential part of this process; viewing it as mandatory promotes racist approaches to population control. Such dogmas blame developing countries for environmental degradation and call on them to take responsibility for anthropogenic climate change, which was initiated and perpetuated by industrialization in developed nations (Bush 2020). These tenets also neglect history, as developing countries can attribute a fair share of their economic instability to the repercussions of colonialism PHOTO Gloria, 6, waits for her family at Newtok village cemetery as they move away from their home – recently rendered unlivable by permafrost melt. Photo by Vlad Sokhin, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

PHOTO Mother and son visit a sustainable farm in Indonesia. Photo by Kanath Pramod, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

(Popovich 2021). However, fast-tracking equitable global education is projected to bring the population in 2100 down from over 12 billion to under 9 billion people. This considerable reduction would remove strain on climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, but is one that relies on the strength of policies and advocacy groups.

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Fast-tracking equitable global education is projected to bring the population in 2100 down from over 12 billion to under 9 billion people.

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Whether our generation will end up being parents is entirely up to us. For those who want kids and are considerate of the environment, feelings of guilt are unavoidable knowing the risk population growth and climate change pose to the Earth and future generations’ safety. But this feeling of shame is far from unique within human experience. The Cold War made many grapple with doubt as nuclear annihilation loomed (Cook 1964). BIPOC communities have held immense fear for their children’s safety throughout the colonial and postcolonial world. In the Antebellum South, enslaved black women were driven to extreme measures such as avoiding sexual intercourse, terminating pregnancies, and in some cases taking the lives of their infants for fear of the life they would face under forced servitude (West 2020). But a crucial difference between our time in history and 1865 is our connectivity – we can learn and influence each other in ways never imagined. Pushing countries to reach their goals of net-zero emissions and bolstering global education are actions that we can help see through. Because if we want children, and our parents want grandchildren, we’ll have to fight to make the world a good home over this next decade and beyond.

FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 33

Cracking the Carbon Cycle Carbon Sequestration in the Modern World

By Lauren Greenleaf Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology ‘23 and Jazzy Shepard Oceanography ‘22

Humanity is facing a big problem – there is too much

pilot project on the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate.

Pilot programs for subsurface sequestration have thus far only taken place on land, where small experiments injected 1,000 tons of CO2 dissolved in water into the Columbia River Basalts. Over three years, 60% of this carbon was mineralized (White et al. 2020). Despite the project’s success, this method must scale up to store gigatons of CO2.

One gigaton is equivalent to 10,000 fully loaded U.S. aircraft carriers. Another approach to sequestering CO2 to meet this challenge is to inject it into the ocean floor as a supercritical fluid – a substance with the viscosity of a gas and the density of a liquid (Conlen 2020). Unlike land, the ocean floor is almost entirely basalt, which is the best material to mineralize CO2. The only issue is transporting the carbon out to the ocean floor. Luckily, we already know how to do this process in reverse because of offshore oil drilling.

This method could increase the amount of CO2 sequestered exponentially, but the ocean chemical conditions required to mineralize CO2 in a supercritical fluid are not well known.

The Solid Carbon Project is working to answer questions about the feasibility of mass subsurface ocean sequestration on the Juan de Fuca plate off the coast of Washington state.

Ocean floor subsurface sequestration is very expensive and severely limited by how much carbon we can collect from the atmosphere, which is inefficient in capturing carbon. Because of this, some scientists do not view subsurface sequestration as a long-term solution. “I see subsurface sequestration as more of a stopgap because it is the most efficient when there are direct sources of carbon like a coal plant… [and] I hope that in the next 50 years we will phase out fossil fuels,” says Dr. Jerry Fairley of the University of Idaho. He has investigated the feasibility of using the Juan de Fuca plate as a place to sequester carbon.

There are also valid questions about the amount of carbon that will mineralize when using a supercritical fluid due to

carbon in the atmosphere, and more is released every year (NOAA 2019). Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas that increases the average atmospheric temperature. Atmospheric carbon perpetuates climate change and has already shifted weather patterns during our lifetime. So, the question is, how do we most effectively reduce atmospheric carbon and slow the progression of climate change?

Carbon sequestration is the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it, which prevents it from contributing to climate change (Fig. 1). There are many approaches to carbon sequestration. One of these methods, subsurface sequestration, can store carbon underground so that it will re-enter the geologic carbon cycle. Oil and coal are examples of geologic carbon, and carbon stored this way will not realistically escape into the air unless humans decide to dig it up as we have with fossil fuels. Alternatively, carbon can be directly fixed from the atmosphere by photosynthetic organisms. Plants gobble up carbon dioxide to grow FIGURE 1 Carbon cycle exchange in gigatons. The production rate of fossil fuels is greater than plant growth and decay can and remove it from the atmosphere account for. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0. throughout their lifetimes.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that if the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by fossil fuels is not drastically reduced in the next decade, the atmosphere will warm past 1.5 °C, thrusting us into an unsure climate future. In fact, “to meet IPCC goals, assuming that we stopped using fossil fuels now, we need to sequester half a gigaton a year for the next few decades,” says Dr. Evan Solomon, a University of Washington professor and consultant for the Solid Carbon Project. This organization aims to sequester carbon underground in a 34 fieldnotesjournal.org

COMMUNITY FEATURES been driven in part by recognition of the depth and value of Indigenous knowledge about forest care. Incorporating Indigenous knowledge into practice is a critical part of effectively addressing our changing climate and creating forest systems that are more resilient and sustainable. In particular, fire management is becoming increasingly relevant as larger patches of land burn every year.

When a forest burns, the carbon the trees sequestered gets released FIGURE 2 The capability of undisturbed versus recently deforested areas to sequester carbon. Not only can undisturbed forests into the atmosphere all at absorb more carbon, but they also emit less carbon than deforested areas. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0. once. Every summer, it seems as though the fire the high pH required to mineralize carbon in basalt versus season arrives earlier, lasts longer, and burns hotter. All you the low pH that supercritical CO2 naturally has (Tutolo et al. need do is drive through parts of California or the Columbia 2021).

River Gorge to see the devastating effects fires have had Another proven and cheaper method of carbon along the West Coast. Relearning effective long-term fire sequestration is forestry. As trees grow older and their management will be critical to reducing atmospheric carbon trunks become dense, the amount of carbon in their bark levels and protecting our homes and communities. also becomes more concentrated. A study in the Cascade When we look to the future of carbon sequestration, Mountains estimated that large-diameter trees represent the sheer scale of the issue can be daunting. The amount of only 3% of forest but store 42% of above-ground carbon CO2 being released into the atmosphere is not diminishing, (Mildrexler et al. 2020). To incentivize companies to and with each passing year more must be removed. As with reduce their carbon footprint, a system of carbon credits most complex problems, the solution is multifaceted. Quality was created. This system allows forest owners to audit carbon offsets will likely be part of a net-zero future, but so their forests by calculating the amount of carbon they is the need to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions sequester, and then grants credits for any reduction in carbon across industries. Indeed, experts overwhelmingly agree that emissions. These reductions are called carbon offsets. They emission reductions remain the first and most important step get turned into credits that can then be sold to interested to a future free from the most negative impacts of climate buyers. However, getting certified is very expensive and change. Furthermore, history has shown that research and time-intensive, so smaller private landowners are often left development in carbon sequestration strategies is a long and behind. costly process. It is also critical to protect current carbon One way of creating carbon credits is to preserve oldstores such as old-growth forests and utilize effective growth forests (Fig. 2). These ancient forests are largely forestry management. Regardless, capturing carbon from undisturbed by human activity and support greater levels the atmosphere and sequestering it deep under sea or land is of biodiversity than younger forests. The challenge is that essential for humanity’s response to the climate crisis. old-growth forests are not a primary focus of forestry management. David Diaz, director of forest analytics and technology at Ecotrust, says, “the dynamics are different for whether you are just trying to protect an existing carbon store or whether you are trying to manage a working landscape.” Current general practice is to keep productive forests on a forty-year rotation. This is because trees are most effective at sequestering carbon when they are younger (Ecotrust 2016). However, scientists have begun to look at extending the growth period by ten, twenty, and even thirty years to increase carbon density before harvest.

The push toward more holistic forest management has

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Capturing carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it deep under sea or land is essential for humanity’s response to the climate crisis.

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FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 35

The Defenders of the Earth

Who Are They, and Are They Really Helping?

By Aurora Nelson Marine Biology ‘22 and Nick Chappelear Environmental Studies ‘23 When climate change comes up, as it often does these

days, it is typically accompanied by images of impending disasters or crumbling ecosystems. However, the term may also elicit thoughts of a few prominent figures whose efforts have produced eye-catching headlines in the media.

From politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to activists like Greta Thunberg and even celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, climate activism has found a solid footing in social media and permeated throughout pop culture. But are these household names actually contributing to climate solutions?

With most media attention focused on climate problems and failing policy rather than potential solutions, some days it’s easy to wonder if anyone is really doing…anything.

It’s undeniable that the future of our climate and society lies largely in the hands of politicians; they are the ones making laws, after all. You’re likely familiar with members of the United States government – like President Joe Biden or Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – but considering the global scale of climate change, it’s worth taking a look at what leaders from other countries are doing.

Take Ban Ki-Moon from South Korea as an example. After serving as Secretary-General for the United Nations, he was elected to lead the Global Green Growth Institute in 2018.

This organization has developed green growth plans for sixteen countries that range from implementing solar energy to strengthening waste management infrastructure. But while leadership roles like Ban’s are important for direction, real progress is never the work of one person. Change comes from cooperation, accountability, and transparency among

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Change comes from cooperation, accountability, and transparency among local politicians and international leaders alike – no matter

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how difficult this task may be at times.

36 fieldnotesjournal.org

PHOTO Activists like Greta Thunberg have inspired young people around the world to join and organize climate protests. Photo by Lewis Parsons.

local politicians and international leaders alike – no matter how difficult this task may be at times. Ban demonstrated this global-minded perspective when expressing his anger and disappointment toward former President Donald Trump after Trump announced the U.S.’s withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Climate Accords (McMahon 2020). These accords show that not every step in the right direction is a strong one. When it was signed back in 2015, this international agreement was meant to motivate countries to develop financial strategies to lower emissions and reduce global warming. However, many doubt the effectiveness of this pact because it lacks any real enforcement measures or specific expectations to help guide countries in their planning. Even if politicians are in the best position to enact change, the desire to maintain support in office often produces halfbaked climate policies like this. Seven years later, this pattern still persists, as shown by President Biden’s recent failure to pass the climate portion of his Build Back Better campaign (Kaufman et al. 2022). Half the battle is grappling with internal division within the government as some parties opt to side with corporations over the health of the world.

This is where activism comes into play. Many wellknown climate activists are young, with one of the biggest names being nineteen-year-old Swede Greta Thunberg. She’s inspired many others across the world, from the “German Greta Thunberg” Lisa Neubauer to Ugandan activist

COMMUNITY FEATURES Nyombi Morris, and even sparked the creation of Fridays for the Future – a global youth-led movement fighting for climate action in over 100 countries (Varghese 2019, Lai 2022). Some people complain that Thunberg is “too young” for anyone to be listening to her, and she herself contends that youth like herself shouldn’t be the ones fighting. As Thunberg stated in her 2019 speech at the U.N. Climate Action Summit, “This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here… yet you all come to us young people for help.” No one can deny the impact Thunberg has had; she is not only paving the way for the younger generation to realize the power they hold but is motivating politicians to hold true to their climate promises. Ban Ki-Moon himself has even cited Thunberg as an inspiration, further emphasizing the invaluable impact and progress spurred by activists.

Scientists have been at the forefront of combating climate denial and misinformation for decades. Politicians and world leaders are quick to belittle or ignore the pleas of these researchers, but as seen by the influx of heatwaves, droughts, and other consequences of rising temperatures, these scientists can’t be silenced any longer. The IPCC’s most recent report was released in early April of 2022.

Voicing another message of looming ecological disaster, thousands of scientists responded by taking to the streets in over two dozen countries in an event called “The Scientist Rebellion.” On April 6th, four scientists chained themselves to the doors of a JP Morgan Chase in downtown Los Angeles. This small and peaceful protest ended with nearly a hundred police officers arresting the protesters, a harsh reminder of how the systems in place provide protection to the elite while the rest are left to suffer the consequences (Price 2022).

While activists struggle to make their voices heard, celebrities have the privilege of influence and can reach millions of people with their platforms. Some opt to speak on climate change via vague tweets that ultimately do nothing; for instance, Kim Kardashian’s infamous “Climate change is real” tweet. Others merely scatter a few comments into their awards speeches. However, a few celebrities have leveraged their popularity to articulate more informative messages of change and actions we can take, such as Leonardo DiCaprio.

His passionate speech on climate change at the 2016 Oscars became a viral moment in celebrity activism. Recently, he starred in Netflix’s Don’t Look Up, a dark comedy satirizing the end of the world in the form of an apocalyptic comet. Although it received mixed reviews from critics, many climate scientists expressed that it exemplified the exhausting battle they fight when advocating for climate action in today’s political landscape. DiCaprio goes far past performative action and has also made documentaries on climate change, donated money, and is a founding member of Re:Wild – a foundation whose goal is to amplify solutions offered by Indigenous peoples, local communities, and government agencies to combat biodiversity loss. Regardless of whether their actions are for humanitarian or selfish reasons, the world would undeniably be in a different state if more celebrities used a fraction of their fame and fortune for

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Although people like Greta Thunberg or Leonardo DiCaprio are shining icons pointing towards a brighter horizon, we are the voice and the

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strength behind their actions.

positive change.

At present, many people have a hard time taking celebrity activism seriously when they’re flying private jets and living in oversized mansions. But even ignoring these millionaire celebrities, imagine what billionaires like Jeff Bezos could do to fight climate change. It is sadly unsurprising that he and other wealthy tycoons have no interest in preventing the environmental exploitation they have benefitted from for years. Take, for example, Bezos and Amazon’s Climate Pledge. Although this denotes a commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040 (ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement), the company fails to provide any clear target-specific strategies and continues to engage in partnerships with oil and gas companies (Forthomme 2021).

These half-hearted strategies reek of greenwashing, and it’s clear that short-term profit is their priority.

Ultimately, the concept of a small few “defenders” who will save the Earth is nothing more than a fantasy. In a media landscape dominated by heroes who stop the bad guys and save the world from apocalyptic doom, it’s no wonder we look to famous figures to swoop in and save the day. But no one person is going to save us. The people with the most wealth and power should absolutely be doing this vital and time-sensitive work, but they’ve shown that we can’t rely on them. We must continue to pressure our leaders to do what is right for the Earth, and we can’t give up. Although people like Greta Thunberg or Leonardo DiCaprio are shining icons pointing towards a brighter horizon, we are the voice and the strength behind their actions. No matter how scared or helpless we may feel, no matter how many times we stumble and fall, we must continue the fight. You may find the true defenders of the Earth are everyday heroes like you and me.

PHOTO Corporations favor short-term profit over long-term sustainability, but they won’t be able to ignore the consequences of climate change forever. Photo by Markus Spiske.

Wading Back Into Aquaculture How the Blue Economy Contributes to Food Systems

By Maddie Brooks, Marine Biology ‘23 and Owen Boram, Oceanography ‘23 From fish sticks to oysters and every aquatic thing in

between, seafood is embedded in our global food system no matter what your budget is. Where it comes from is a different matter, one steeped in controversy and preconceived public opinion. Net pens and the havoc they wreak – causing pollution, disease, and genetic mishaps – have truly disrupted the progress aquaculture has made over the past few decades as a food source. In response to this, strides in the development of aquaculture technology re-incorporating Indigenous knowledge into practice have altered public opinion on this growing industry.

As we search for more ways to support the global food system, we need look no further than Washington’s own shorelines. The aquaculture industry has grown tremendously in recent years and is projected to provide 62% of total global fish production by 2030. Washington state is on track to contribute heavily to the US’s piece of the pie as the demand for low-cost protein at a lower carbon footprint mounts (Kibenge 2016). Though there are a variety of ways that aquatic organisms can be cultivated, for our purposes we’ll use the term aquaculture to describe any humansupported endeavors to nurture aquatic life. Aquaculture can occur in both fresh and marine waters (mariculture), and here we focus primarily on shellfish farming. This form of aquaculture has consistent historical and current patterns of success, as well as potential for future growth.

Looking into the past Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest have used shellfish aquaculture to supplement food systems for thousands of years.

Manipulating and maintaining land in the intertidal zone via clam gardens – areas where the shore is extended and maintained for the highest yield possible – has been an integral part of the Northwest Indigenous food system 38 fieldnotesjournal.org

for over 3500 years, according to carbon dating (Pacific Sea Garden Collective 2022). To increase the viability of clamming, sea walls were constructed at the low tide line of beaches to trap sediment and reduce the slope of the beach. This allows for easier access to clam beds, provides opportunity to selectively harvest and transplant species, and obstructs competitors or predators from accessing gardens to ensure the highest yield. Species such as butter and littleneck clams, sea urchins, cockles, welks, and seaweeds are cultivated through this practice – all to sustain the community and the environment.

As the movement towards Indigenous cultural reconnections and food sovereignty continues, clam gardens must be restored. Modern examples of this approach exist in the Coast Salish communities of the Southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia. These communities are leading the pack in the restoration of clam gardens in partnership with Parks Canada (Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group 2011, Olsen 2019).

In addition, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Washington State is directing the first modern-day clam PHOTO Clams on ice, ready to be scooped. Photo by Benson Kua, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

garden construction as part of the tribe’s climate change adaptation program. Since shellfish sequester the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the form of calcium carbonate, cultivating a thriving clam garden can also contribute to the fight against climate change.

The Suquamish Tribe and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe also contribute to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund to re-establish bull kelp in Puget Sound via aquaculture (Puget Sound Restoration Fund 2021).

Kelp is a fundamental part of the natural ecosystem, acting as a nursery habitat for small fishes and feeding key species like salmon, rockfish, and countless other fish and invertebrates. Through the support of aquaculture farming efforts, a stronger, healthier, and more resilient Puget Sound can be created.

shellfish sequester the “Since greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the form of calcium carbonate, cultivating a thriving clam garden can also contribute to the fight

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against climate change.

All these practices contribute to a broad web of Indigenous knowledge on aquaculture and mariculture, painting a diverse and fruitful picture of how our waters have historically supported communities without compromising the environment. This lived experience should shape the way we develop aquaculture systems.

But what are the challenges of maintaining these values as aquaculture scales to meet the demands of society’s growing appetite?

Peering into the future The future of aquaculture is crucial to developing the Blue Economy – the sustainable, equitable, and economically viable growth of ocean industries. Sustainability is a critical goal as society mitigates the impacts of previous misuse and inequity, but it can be difficult to navigate because it aims to incorporate many diverse perspectives. The United Nations’ Sustainability and Development Goals (SDGs) provide an

PHOTO Bull Kelp floating on the surface with varying levels of degradation. Photo

by Ingrid Taylar, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

effective framework for understanding the challenges of sustainability (UN Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs 2022).

The 2020 State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations uses these goals to assess the sustainable development of aquaculture as a sector of the Blue Economy (FAO 2022). Consumption of animal protein from fish products is an important consideration for SDG 2, which sets ambitious goals to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.”

One key finding from the report was a continuing transition in global fish consumption away from capture fisheries, with an expected increase in aquaculture from 52% in 2018 to 59% in 2030. Developments in aquaculture have been identified to improve food security. However, it is important to consider the impact on economic opportunities, equity, and ecosystem health as aquaculture grows to meet demand.

The introduction of a quarter of a million Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound following the collapse of a commercial net pen in 2017 serves as a local example of this impact (O’Neill 2019). Increased prey competition and disease transfer from accidental pen releases act as barriers to SDG 14, which looks to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”

It is difficult to predict what the future of sustainable aquaculture will look like. One approach the FAO recommends is to “engage with local expertise in priority countries that have substantial small-scale fisheries sectors or notable nutritional dependence on small-scale fisheries.”

Blue Dot Sea Farms, a forward-thinking shellfish and seaweed farm located in the northern part of Hood Canal within Puget Sound, Washington, represents an organization that is developing the necessary expertise in a region with FIELDNOTES / SPRING 2022 39

COMMUNITY FEATURES an appetite for fish products (Blue Dot Sea Farms 2022).

Blue Dot Sea Farms is contributing to the sustainable development of the Blue Economy by applying evidencebased decision-making that considers stakeholder needs, scientific understanding, and monitoring of environmental health indicators.

Dot Sea Farms is contributing “Blue to the sustainable development of the Blue Economy by applying evidence-based decision-making that considers stakeholder needs, scientific understanding, and monitoring of environmental

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health indicators.

Companies like Blue Dot Sea Farms are paving the way to integrate aquatic food systems into communities, as well as facilitating the development of research to tie together both the commercial and cultural importance of shellfish aquaculture. By marrying these priorities together, we can begin to solve the potential issues associated with ocean-based farming. One approach to mitigate aquaculture impacts and potentially combat local effects of ocean acidification is coupling kelp aquaculture with protein aquaculture. Blue Dot kelp studies investigate the use of kelp to mitigate ocean acidification, develop fish feeds, and support healthy oyster harvests. Blue Dot Kitchen is an affiliate start-up focused on delivering Seacharrones to consumers, a “seriously habitat-forming” puffed kelp snack whose marketing embraces sustainability (Seacharrones 2022). As the demands of the global food system shift towards a desire to limit environmental impacts, it’s important we look to the past and acknowledge the longstanding tradition of shellfish “gardening” to frame our future endeavors. Cultivating community involvement is integral to success. This method of food production is the next step in supporting not only our local economies but also the globe as our appetite grows.

PHOTO Fish pens, visible from the shore in Norway, represent a common method of commercial aquaculture. Photo by Brataffe, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

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Drummond, L., Mulcahy, M., and Culloty, S. 2006. The reproductive biology of the Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, from the North-West of Ireland. Aquaculture. 254(1): 326–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. aquaculture.2005.10.052 Dunagan, C. 2019, December 15. Rate of ocean acidification may accelerate, scientists warn. Salish Sea Currents. https://www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/IS/oceanacdification Enríquez-Díaz, M., Pouvreau, S., Chávez-Villalba, J., and Le Pennec, M. 2008.

Gametogenesis, reproductive investment, and spawning behavior of the Pacific giant oyster Crassostrea gigas: Evidence of an environment-dependent strategy.

Aquaculture International. 17(5): 491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-0089219-1 Froehlich, H.E., Gentry, R.R., and Halpern, B.S. 2017. Conservation aquaculture: Shifting the narrative and paradigm of aquaculture’s role in resource management. Biological Conservation. 215: 162–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. biocon.2017.09.012 Gallucci, V., and Gallucci, B. 1982. Reproduction and ecology of the hermaphroditic cockle Clinocardium nuttallii (Bivalvia: Cardiidae) in Garrison Bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 7: 137–145. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps007137 Hermawati, S., Sulistiono, S., and Samosir, A. 2017. Distribution, condition, and gonad maturity of the invasive Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas, Thunberg 1793) in Cimanuk Delta, West Java, Indonesia. Omni-Akuatika. 13(2): 99-110. https://doi. org/10.20884/1.oa. 2017.13.2.237 Kagawa, H., Tanaka, H., Ohta, H., Unuma, T., and Nomura, K. 2005. The first success of glass eel production in the world: basic biology on fish reproduction advances new applied technology in aquaculture. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry. 31: 193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-006-0024-3 Mohamed, M., Yusup, S., and Maitra, S. 2012. Decomposition study of calcium carbonate in cockle shell. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology. 7(1): 1-10.

Shellfish in Washington. n.d. Washington Sea Grant. https://wsg.washington.edu/ our-northwest/shellfish/

Vadopaldas, B., Davis, J.P., and Friedman, C.S. 2015. Maturation, spawning, and fecundity of the farmed Pacific geoduck Panopea generosa in Puget Sound, Washington. Journal of Shellfish Research. 34(1): 31-37. https://doi. org/10.2983/035.034.0106 Wei, H., Li, W., Liu, T., Li, Y., Liu, L., Shu, Y., Zhang, L., Wang, S., Xing, Q., Zhang, L., and Bao, Z. 2021. Sexual development of the hermaphroditic scallop Argopecten irradians revealed by morphological, endocrine and molecular analysis.

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/ fcell.2021.646754 Weinberger, H. 2019, December 18. For sustenance and tradition, Puget Sound tribes and scientists join forces to breed millions of clams. Crosscut. https://crosscut. com/environment/2019/12/sustenance-and-tradition-puget-sound-tribes-andscientists-join-forces-breed Yang, H., Sturmer, L.N., and Baker, S. 2019, March 4. Molluscan shellfish aquaculture and production. University of Florida. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FA191

BALEEN: LOOKING AT WHALES AT THE SMALLEST SCALE

BY MEG VANDENBERG

Werth, A.J. 2000. Feeding in marine mammals. In: Feeding: Form, function and evolution in tetrapod vertebrates. Schwenk, K., editor. 1st ed. San Diego (CA): Academic Press. p. 475-514.

Kahane-Rapport, S.R., Savoca, M.S., Cade, D.E., Segre, P.S., Bierlich, K.C., Calambokidis, J., Dale, J., Fahlbusch, J.A., Friedlaender, A.S., Johnston, D.W., Werth, A.J., and Goldbogen, J.A. 2020. Lunge filter feeding biomechanics constrain rorqual foraging ecology across scale. Journal of Experimental Biology.

223(20). https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.224196 Sims, D.W., Southall, E.J., Humphries, N.E., Hays, G.C., Bradshaw, C.J.A., Pitchford, J.W., James, A., Ahmed, M.Z., Brierley, A.S., Hindell, M.A., Morritt, D., Musyl, M.K., Righton, D., Shepard, E.L.C., Wearmouth, V.J., Wilson, R.P., Witt, M.J., and Metcalfe, J.D. 2008. Scaling laws of marine predator search behavior. Nature.

451: 1098-1102. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06518 Shadwick, R.E., Potvin, J., and Goldbogen, J.A. 2019. Lunge feeding in rorqual whales.

Physiology. 34(6): 409-418. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiol.00010.2019

SAVING THE STELLER SEA LION: HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS AIDING CONSERVATION IN ALASKA

BY MARY KENNELLY

NOAA Fisheries. n.d. Steller sea lion. NOAA Fisheries. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ species/steller-sea-lion ---. 2018, May 16. Endangered Steller sea lions get a closer look from online community of citizen scientists. NOAA Fisheries. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ feature-story/endangered-steller-sea-lions-get-closer-look-online-communitycitizen-scientists

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DISPARITY IN CALIFORNIA: A VISUAL INVESTIGATION OF ASTHMA AT THE INTERSECTION OF POVERTY AND POLLUTION

BY ARGHYA KANNADAGULI

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. 2020. Asthma disparities in America: A roadmap to reducing burden on racial and ethnic minorities. AAFA. aafa.org/ asthmadisparities

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REFERENCES ---. Asthma facts and figures. 2018. AAFA. https://www.aafa.org/asthma-facts/ California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. n.d. Asthma. OEHHA. https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/indicator/asthma ---. Indicators overview. OEHHA. https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/indicators Centers for Disease Control. 2020. Most recent asthma data. CDC. https://www.cdc. gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm Census Bureau, U.S. 2018. Percent of total population in poverty, 2018: California.

U.S. Census Bureau. https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=17826 Cushing, L., Morello-Frosch, R., Wander, M., and Pastor, M. 2015. The haves, the havenots, and the health of everyone: The relationship between social inequality and environmental quality. Annual Review of Public Health. 36(1): 193–209. https:// doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122646 Denchak, M. 2018, November 8. Flint water crisis: Everything you need to know.

Natural Resources Defense Council. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-watercrisis-everything-you-need-know Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. 2015. Asthma Facts. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-04/ documents/asthma_fact_sheet.pdf ---. 2016. Health and environmental effects of particulate matter (PM). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/healthand-environmental-effects-particulate-matter-pm ---. 2016. Particulate matter (PM) basics. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/particulate-matter-pm-basics ---. 2013. TRI basic data files: Calendar years 1987-2019. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-basicdata-files-calendar-years-1987-present ---. 2013. What is the Toxics Release Inventory? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/what-toxics-releaseinventory Gee, G.C., and Payne-Sturges, D.C. 2004. Environmental health disparities: A framework integrating psychosocial and environmental concepts. Environmental Health Perspectives. 112(17): 1645-53. https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ ehp.7074 Khanjar, N. 2020, October 6. Hurricane Katrina: Analyzing the damage and environmental injustices fifteen years later. Community Engagement, Environmental Justice & Health. https://www.ceejh.center/blog/hurricanekatrina-analyzing-the-damage-ams7n-bfnhh-t3pgb Lee, Rep. B. 2010, September 1. A Katrina retrospective: Structural inequality, environmental justice and our national discourse on race. HuffPost. https:// www.huffpost.com/entry/a-katrina-retrospective-s_b_702911 National Cancer Institute. Death rate report for California by county, all cancer sites.

In: State Cancer Profiles, 2014-2018. National Institutes of Health. https:// statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/deathrates/ ---. Incidence rate report for California by county, all cancer sites. In: State Cancer Profiles, 2013-2017. National Institutes of Health. https://statecancerprofiles. cancer.gov/incidencerates/ Nurmagambetov, T., Kuwahara, R., and Garbe, P. 2018. The economic burden of asthma in the United States, 2008–2013. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 15(3): 348-56. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201703-259OC Reynolds, E. 2020, December 16. Air pollution a cause of UK girl’s death, finds global landmark ruling. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/16/uk/air-pollutiondeath-ella-kissi-debrah-uk-gbr-intl/index.html University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine Dean’s Office of Population Health and Health Equity. 2022. UCSF Health Atlas. University of California San Francisco. https://healthatlas.ucsf.edu/

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Zahran, H.S., Bailey, C.M., Damon, S.A., Garbe, P.L., and Breysse, P.N. 2018. Vital signs : Asthma in children — United States, 2001-2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 67(5): 149–55. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/ mm6705e1.htm

BRANCHING OUT: THEODORE HOSS’ JOURNEY IN UPDATING THE BROCKMAN MEMORIAL TREE TOUR

BY NICK CHAPPELEAR AND BELLA HILLYER

Hoss, T., and Luu, T. 2022. Brockman Memorial Tree Tour. University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/ schoolofenvironmentalandforest/home?authuser=0 Houlden, V., Weich, S., de Albuquerque, J. P., Jarvis, S., and Rees, K. 2018. The relationship between greenspace and the mental wellbeing of adults: A systematic review. PLoS One. 13(9). http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0203000

WHERE ARE ALL MY BIPOC ENVIRONMENTALISTS?

BY KORT MAEDA

Ballew, M., Maibach, E., Kotcher, J., Bergquist, P., Rosenthal, S., Marlon, J., and Leiserowitz, A. 2020, April 16. Which racial/ethnic groups care most about climate change?. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https:// climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/race-and-climate-change/ Brune, M. 2020, July 22. Pulling down our monuments. Sierra Club. https://www. sierraclub.org/michael-brune/2020/07/john-muir-early-history-sierra-club Coaston, J. 2019, May 28. Intersectionality, explained: Meet Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term. Vox. https://www.vox.com/thehighlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-racegender-discrimination Fears, D., and Mufson, S. 2020, July 22. Liberal, progressive — and racist? The Sierra Club faces its white-supremacist history. The Washington Post. https://www. washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/07/22/liberal-progressiveracist-sierra-club-faces-its-white-supremacist-history/ Fox, A. 2020, July 24. Sierra Club grapples with founder John Muir’s racism.

Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sierraclub-grapples-founder-john-muirs-racism-180975404/ Garcia, S. 2020, June 17. Where did BIPOC come from? The New York Times. https:// www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-bipoc.html Green 2.0. 2021. NGO & Foundation Transparency Report Card. Green 2.0. https:// diversegreen.org/transparency-cards/2021-green-2-0-ngo-foundationtransparency-report-card/ Kashwan, P. 2020, September 2. American environmentalism’s racist roots have shaped global thinking about conservation. The Conversation. https:// theconversation.com/american-environmentalisms-racist-roots-have-shapedglobal-thinking-about-conservation-143783 Lanham, J.D. 2021. What do we do about John James Audubon? Audubon Magazine. https://www.audubon.org/magazine/spring-2021/what-do-we-do-about-johnjames-audubon Newkirk, V.R. 2018. A new EPA report shows that environmental racism is real. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/the-trumpadministration-finds-that-environmental-racism-is-real/554315/ Palmer, B. 2016, May 18. The history of the environmental movement. National Resources Defense Council. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/historyenvironmental-justice-five-minutes

REFERENCES Rysavy, T.F., and Floyd, A. 2016. People of color are on the front lines of the climate crisis. Green America. https://www.greenamerica.org/climate-justice-all/peoplecolor-are-front-lines-climate-crisis Santora, T. 2020, April 6. Earth Day to school strikes: A timeline of the American environmental movement. Stacker. https://stacker.com/stories/3968/earth-dayschool-strikes-timeline-american-environmental-movement Tortajada, C. 2016. Nongovernmental organizations and influence on global public policy. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies. 3(2): 266-274. https://doi.org/10.1002/ app5.134 Yeo, S. 2020, April 21. How the largest environmental movement in history was born.

BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200420-earth-day-2020-how-anenvironmental-movement-was-born

FROM GREENWASHING TO SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PLANS: HOW COMPANIES CAN INCORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY AND IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

BY EMMA DUCKWORTH AND BELLA HILLYER

Bonini, S., and Swartz, S. 2014. Profits with purpose: How organizing for sustainability can benefit the bottom line. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey. com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/profits-with-purpose-howorganizing-for-sustainability-can-benefit-the-bottom-line Courtnell, J. 2021, December 7. What is greenwashing and how to spot it. The Green Business Bureau. https://greenbusinessbureau.com/green-practices/what-isgreenwashing-and-how-to-spot-it/ Fink, L. 2020. Larry Fink’s 2020 Letter to CEOs. BlackRock. https://www.blackrock.com/ corporate/investor-relations/2020-larry-fink-ceo-letter Martin, C., and Dent, M. 2019, September 20. How Nestle, Google and other businesses make money by going green. Los Angeles Times. https://www. latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-20/how-businesses-profit-fromenvironmentalism Morris, C., and Thomas, M. 2021, November 6. Climate Change: The US state taking on an oil giant for greenwashing. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogstrending-59070451 Whelan, T., and Fink, C. 2016, October 21. The comprehensive business case for sustainability. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/10/thecomprehensive-business-case-for-sustainability

KIDS? IN THIS CLIMATE? THE FRAUGHT CONVERSATION OF POPULATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Environmental Research Letters. 12: 074024. https://doi.org/10.1088/17489326/aa7541 Popovich, N., and Plumer, B. 2021, November 12. Who has the most historical responsibility for climate change? The New York Times. www.nytimes. com/interactive/2021/11/12/climate/cop26-emissions-compensation. html#:~:text=Rich%20countries%2C%20including%20the%20United,over%20 the%20past%20170%20years Samuel, S. 2021, April 29. A climate scientist explains why it’s still okay to have kids.

Vox. www.vox.com/future-perfect/22399882/climate-change-kids-childrenoverpopulation West, E., and David, S. 2020, December. Hidden voices: Enslaved women in the low country and U.S. South: Resistance and reproduction. Lowcountry Digital History Iniative. https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/hidden-voices/resistingenslavement/reproduction-and-resistance

CRACKING THE CARBON CYCLE: CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN THE MODERN WORLD

BY LAUREN GREENLEAF AND JAZZY SHEPARD

Diaz, D., and Davies, B. 2016. A landowner’s guide to carbon offsets, credits, and incentives. Ecotrust. https://ecotrust.org/media/Landowners-Guide-to-CarbonOffsets_2016.pdf Mildrexler, D.J., Berner, L.T., Law, B.E., Birdsey, R.A., and Moomaw, W.R. 2020. Large trees dominate carbon storage in forests east of the Cascade Crest in the United States Pacific Northwest. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. 3: 1-15. https://doi. org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.594274 NOAA. 2019, March 22. Global carbon dioxide growth in 2018 reached 4th highest on record. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. https://www.noaa.gov/news/global-carbon-dioxide-growth-in-2018reached-4th-highest-on-record Tutolo, B.M., Awolayo, A., and Brown, C. 2021. Alkalinity generation constraints on basalt carbonation for carbon dioxide removal at the gigaton-per-year scale.

Environmental Science & Technology. 55(17): 11906-11915. https://doi. org/10.1021/acs.est.1c02733 White, S.K., Spane, F.A., Schaef, T.H., Miller, Q.R.S., White, M.D., Horner, J.A., and McGrall P.E. 2020. Quantification of CO2 mineralization at the Wallula Basalt Pilot Project. Environmental Science & Technology. 54(22): 14609-14616. https://doi. org/10.1021/acs.est.0c05142

BY ISABELLE FALKIN

DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH: WHO ARE THEY, AND ARE THEY REALLY HELPING?

Bush, B. 2020, August 7. The overpopulation myth and its dangerous connotations.

Sierra Club. www.sierraclub.org/washington/blog/2020/01/overpopulationmyth-and-its-dangerous-connotations Cook, J. 1964, March 10. Parents can allay Cold-War tensions. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/1964/03/10/archives/parents-can-allay-coldwar-tensions. html

Amazon. n.d. The Climate Pledge. Amazon. https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/ about/the-climate-pledge Forthomme, C. 2021, January 27. Bezos and Amazon: Going really green or pretending?

Impakter. https://impakter.com/bezos-amazon-green-or-pretending/ Global Green Growth Institute. n.d. https://gggi.org/

Miller, C.C. 2018, July 5. Americans are having fewer babies. They told us why. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/upshot/americans-are-havingfewer-babies-they-told-us-why.html Wynes, S., and Nicholas, K.A. 2017. The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions.

BY AURORA NELSON AND NICK CHAPPELEAR

Kaufman, L., Dlouhy, J., and Natter, A. 2022, April 27. President Biden’s climate ambitions are all but dead. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/ features/2022-04-27/president-biden-s-climate-ambitions-are-all-but-dead Kardashian, K. [@KimKardashian]. 2020, January 2. “Climate change is real.” Twitter. https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1212994578963259392?s=20&t=UN_ i79ayo0ApT_KMs1tiyA

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REFERENCES Lai, O. 2022, May 21. 10 Inspiring young climate activists leading the way on global climate action. Earth.org. https://earth.org/young-climate-activists-leading-the-wayon-global-climate-action/ McMahon, J. 2020. Evoking Greta Thunberg, Ban Ki-Moon gets angry, calls for a lifestyle change. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2020/01/28/citinggreta-thunberg-ban-ki-moon-lets-himself-get-angry-and-calls-for-lifestyle-andeconomic-change/?sh=786bdf0501f2 Price, M. 2022, May 20. Police overreaction to climate protest reveals city’s misplaced priorities. Knock LA. https://knock-la.com/police-overreaction-to-climate-protestreveals-citys-misplaced-priorities/ Scientist Rebellion. n.d. https://scientistrebellion.com/ Thunberg, G. 2019, September 23. Transcript: Greta Thunberg’s speech at the U.N. Climate Action Summit. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/ transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action-summit Varghese, S. 2019, March 15. How kids organized one of the world’s largest climate protests. Wired. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/climate-change-strike-protestchildren-social-media

WADING BACK INTO AQUACULTURE: HOW THE BLUE ECONOMY CONTRIBUTES TO FOOD SYSTEMS Blue Dot Sea Farms. n.d. Advancing the science behind our mission. Blue Dot Sea Farms. https://bluedotseafarms.com/science#about Cisneros-Montemayor, A.M., Moreno-Báez, M., Reygondeau, G., Cheung, W.W.L., Crosman, K.M., González-Espinosa, P.C., Lam, V.W.Y., Oyinlola, M.A., Singh, G.G., Swartz, W., Zheng, C.-W., and Ota, Y. 2021. Enabling conditions for an equitable and sustainable blue economy. Nature. 591: 396-401. https://doi.org/10.1038/ s41586-021-03327-3 Food and Agriculture Organization. 2020. The state of world fisheries and aquaculture: Sustainability in action. Rome. Food and Agriculture Organization. https://doi. org/10.4060/ca9229en Kibenge, F.S.B. 2016. Introduction to aquaculture and fisheries. In: Aquaculture Virology.

Kibenge, F.S.B., and Godoy, M.G., editors. San Diego (CA): Academic Press. p. 3-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-801573-5.00001-2 O’Neill, E. 2019. Preventing another salmon escape: New rules for Puget Sound fish farms. KUOW. https://www.kuow.org/stories/preventing-another-salmon-escapenew-rules-for-puget-sound-fish-farms Pacific Sea Garden Collective. 2022. Sea gardens across the Pacific: Reawakening ancestral mariculture innovations. Version 1. Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington. https://doi.org/10.6069/ZJB9-CG30 Puget Sound Restoration Fund. 2021. Bull Kelp Recovery. Puget Sound Restoration Fund. https://restorationfund.org/programs/bullkelp/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20 Puget%20Sound%20Restoration,a%20path%20for%20getting%20there United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. n.d. Sustainable Development. United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/ Seacharrones. n.d. Vegan sea-farmed kelp puffs. Seacharrones. https://www. seacharrones.com/

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PHOTO DYLAN VECCHIONE

BY MADDIE BROOKS AND OWEN BORAM