President

Maile Sullivan, Seattle, WA

As Washington Sea Grant’s Marine Education Specialist, Maile has spent the past 15 years managing K-12 education and outreach programming helping to build ocean literacy among teachers, students and their families. She orchestrates all aspects of Orca Bowl and NOAA Science Camp, develops program partnerships, and designs and implements program evaluation tools. Maile has served on the NAME Board of Directors since 2012 as Secretary, WA Co-director, and currently as NMEA Representative.

Prior to working at Sea Grant, Maile spent two years as a coral program specialist with NOAA Fisheries, where she managed regional coral reef efforts in U.S. jurisdictions and implemented the new, congressionally mandated Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program. She also served as the Education Director for Camp SEA LAB, where she grew its marine science education offerings from a five-week summer camp to year-round programming serving more than 1,500 youth annually. Maile has consulted on projects for the National Geographic Society, the Ocean Conservancy and she has logged many volunteer hours for more regionally based NGOs in WA, CA, DC and in the Caribbean. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from Connecticut College and a master’s degree in Marine Affairs from the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington.

Secretary

Amy Cole, Vashon, WA

Amy Cole studied Zoology and Marine Biology at the University of New Hampshire. She currently works at Rehab Seminars administering professional development content delivery for K-12 special education teachers. Her background also includes marine education at the Seattle Aquarium in interpretive volunteer supervision, teaching, and curriculum development. Prior to joining Aquarium staff, Amy was a volunteer interpreter for both aquarium exhibits and field programs. She chaired a volunteer committee to develop and administer Master Birder programs for Seattle Audubon, and reviewed King County water conservation grant applications. Her professional background also includes program management at Microsoft, gene therapy research in the Bay Area, and whale watch interpretive work off the Maine coast. She holds a professional certificate in project management and has put some of those skills to use as NAME Secretary.

Treasurer

Sue Nightingale, Seattle, WA

Sue Nightingale has been teaching a variety of Biology, Ecology, Oceanography and Environmental Science courses at Bellevue College since 1995, particularly enjoying Marine Biology, Puget Sound Ecology and teaching in the Interdisciplinary program. Sue received a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology from Occidental College and a Master’s degree in Fisheries from University of Washington School of Ocean and Fisheries Sciences. She spent a year working in Alaska as a Scientific Observer on commercial Fishing Vessels in the Bering Sea, and a year working in the San Juan Islands as a research diver before starting her career at Bellevue. Her favorite class activities with students are field trips and dissection labs and she spends as much time as possible at the beach turning over rocks and picking up critters. Her interests include the reproductive strategies of marine organisms, bioaccumulation of pollutants in commercially important fish species and plastic pollution in the Pacific. If you ever want to know about fish – just ask! “They are my favorite animals, and they taste good too!”

NMEA Representative

Maile Sullivan, Seattle, WA

Alaska Director

Leigh Lubin, Valdez, AK

Leigh Lubin is the Marine Education Specialist with Alaska Sea Grant. She is an exceptional educator and seasoned guide with over two decades of experience instructing in classrooms, universities, outdoors, online, and in studios in the United States, rural Alaska, China, and Ecuador. Leigh has a Master of Arts in Teaching, a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies with an Emphasis in Natural History, is an Alaska Certified Science Teacher, and is a Certified and Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher. She has a special gift for connecting students to material and for creating experience-based learning regardless of location or subject matter. Leigh draws on familiarity with an abundance of educational environments, cultures, and age groups, to facilitate authentic interest, learning, and integration. Her successes stem from her deep appreciation and awe for the natural world, marine environments, inquiry, and the learning process. Leigh’s teaching style and ability to connect with students inspires deep learning and a desire to understand more fully.

Leigh has been in Alaska year-round since 2003 when she arrived to guide sea kayaking in Prince William Sound. The wildness of Alaska and the authenticity of its people are what keep her motivated and thriving. Leigh believes that there is always something to learn and is thankful for all that her students and nature have taught her.

BC Director

Tristyn Hay, Kelowna, BC

Trisyn is the Biology Program Manager and Outreach Coordinator at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. She developed and implemented a marine mobile biology outreach program, bringing hands-on learning and marine education to urban and rural communities across the province. With a deep passion for ocean literacy, she continuously tries to design programs that inspire curiosity and promote conservation, guided by the belief that “you can’t conserve what you don’t know about.” Through her work, she aims to connect people of all ages with the wonders of marine ecosystems, fostering a collective commitment to protecting our oceans for future generations.

Washington Director

John Hunter, Forks, WA

John grew up in Seaview and Long Beach and went to high school in Camas. He received a BA in Biology from Pacific Lutheran University and an MS in Biology from the University of Southern California where he worked in the “Worm Lab”. He worked as a curatorial assistant in the Invertebrate Department of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology caring for one of the world’s largest spider collections. After teaching science in private schools for several years he worked as a non-formal science educator in upstate New York and was a deputy director for the Gannett School of Science and Man, a life-long learning program in the Rochester Museum and Science Center. He got a teaching certificate in secondary science while delivering watershed education programs as a naturalist on the Schooner Quinnipiack. Returning to Washington in 2005, he taught science at Forks High School until he retired from classroom teaching in 2021. He is a representative to the North Pacific Coast Marine Resources Committee and works part-time as the Coastal Region FieldSTEM Coordinator for Pacific Education Institute.

His natural habitat is outdoors, gardening or walking beaches, preferably with his grandchildren. During the monsoon season, he likes to read, cook, and fold origami.

Oregon Director

Lisa Habecker, Cannon Beach, OR

At-Large Board Members

Cathy Carolsfeld, Victoria, BC

Catherine Carolsfeld née Pennachetti—I have been living, diving, studying, doing research and teaching about marine life along the coasts of Turtle Island since my late teens.  Research during my B.Sc. and Honours at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and M.Sc. graduate work at the University of Victoria piqued my interest in marine invertebrates and helped me recognize the power of “creatures as teachers”. Since 1984, I have been co-operating WestWind SeaLab Supplies, Canada’s longest-lived supplier of living marine organisms for teaching and research; and in 1998 co-founded the Seaquaria in Schools program, to help reach a wider public audience in BC.  I have been active on both NAME-BC and our regional NAME boards for the past 15 years because I believe in our vision: a world where communities respect, experience and share the wonders of healthy freshwater and ocean ecosystems, and work for their sustainability.  I hope to be able to foster this vision by working as a director at large on the newly restructured regional NAME board.

Fawn Custer, Seal Rock, OR

Janice Elvidge, Elmer City, WA

Janice Elvidge is Founder and Manager of The River Mile Network, a watershed health monitoring network, and former Education Specialist at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (retired December 31, 2021). She has an M.S. in Forest Resource Management, specializing in interpretive planning, from the Univ. of Washington and a B.A. in Professional Studies from Central Washington Univ., also specializing in interpretive planning. She is the most recent Past President of Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators and was NAME’s Outstanding Aquatic Educator, Non-Classroom, of the year in 2022.

Karycia Mitchell, Victoria, BC

My name is Karycia Mitchell. I currently live, work, and learn on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples, in Victoria, BC. I completed my B.Sc. in Combined Honours Chemistry and Oceanography in 2001, and recently finished my M.Ed. in Science Education in 2022. Now entering my 20th year as a secondary teacher in BC, I have taught nearly every science or math course across Grades 9-12. I strive to deliver curricular content through an applied lens, so that students can appreciate the relevance to the world around them. In the 2023-2024 school year, my colleague and I implemented a Marine STEM cohort at Belmont Secondary School in Langford, BC. Our secondary-level Marine program is academic focussed and incorporates courses directly applicable to graduation requirements.  Incorporating Place-Based Learning and First Peoples Ways of Knowing, our Marine program re-imagines the Life Sciences (Biology) 11 and Chemistry 11 curricula through an entirely marine and aquatic lens. At the 2024 NAME & CaNOE Conference this summer, I was recognized with the Outstanding Marine/Aquatic Educator Award for effective and innovative classroom teaching. I look forward to helping promote marine and aquatic education through further involvement with NAME.

Charissa Stair, Newport, OR

If tidepools are your happy place, you have something in common with Charissa! Growing up near the ocean in both Indonesia and Oregon, Charissa fell in love with the ocean as a child. She followed that passion into marine conservation, then on to teaching middle school and high school science, and now she blends it all together as the Teacher Programs Manager at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon. Prior to her current position, Charissa worked with a variety of marine conservation and research projects both in the US and overseas, including serving with the Peace Corps in the Philippines as a Coastal Resource Management Volunteer. Her first foray into informal education was in high school as a volunteer and then seasonal educator at OMSI in Portland, Oregon. She holds bachelor’s degrees in oceanography from Florida Institute of Technology, master’s degrees from Portland State University in both formal and informal education, and a Professional teaching license in Chemistry from the State of Oregon. She moved to Newport in 2023 and is excited to get more involved in NAME and the Oregon Chapter.

Nathan Zabel, Bellingham, WA

Nathan Zabel is the Education Program Manager at the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) in Bellingham, Washington. He has over a decade of experience in environmental education and holds a BS degree in Environmental Education from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. He has facilitated and coordinated programming for all ages, including nature preschool, school programs, summer camps, and family programs. In addition, he has developed numerous teacher professional development workshops, working with teachers to incorporate environmental education, aquatic and watershed education, and climate science into their classrooms. He has developed partnerships with universities, municipalities, and community-based organizations and presented at multiple conferences. He currently manages a collaborative of Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEGs) throughout Washington State, focused on shared education and outreach efforts, and sees that as an opportunity to grow NAME membership and further connect professionals to aquatic and marine education.