Please join us for this opportunity to learn from marine and aquatic educators, scientists, traditional knowledge practitioners, and other industry professionals. Speakers will share experiences, educational tips and stories from the field. Registration is required; after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please contact us at info@pacname.org if you have any questions or problems with the meeting link, or if you are interested in being a presenter.
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Upcoming Speakers
Monday November 16 @ 7:30 pm PT
IDAH2O Water Quality Monitoring and K-12 Teachers’ Contributions
Jim Ekins, Water Educator, U-Idaho Extension.
The IDAH2O Master Water Stewards volunteer citizen science program has been useful for teachers though the Columbia River basin since 2010. It is the foundation for several K-12 school programs, including The Confluence Project, a high school watershed science program, and for The River Mile’s Crayfish Observation program’s water quality protocols. All the Master Water Stewards data is publicly available via an interactive mapping app, connected to our Hydrologic Information System, housed at our Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences (IIDS) (formerly, Northwest Knowledge Network). All data is securely stored with U-Idaho’s servers, and backed up at INL. The data storage conforms with all the modern national agency security and public accessibility standards. When we want to add another feature (e.g., the adding the Crayfish Study data by The River Mile), we can do so internally. This presentation and discussion will be about those programs, and how having good data collection and accessibility, plus an EPA- and IDEQ- approved quality assurance project plan (QAPP) helps to create new funding and user opportunities.
Jim Ekins is the Water Educator for U-Idaho Extension. He runs the Extension Water Outreach program. He has worked with the University of Idaho since Fall 2007. His educational background is in Water Resources Management, Community and Regional Planning, and Conservation Social Sciences. When he wriggles free from his work duties, he trail runs, skies, and hikes, preferably with his two border collie mix dogs.
Previous Speakers
September 2026
Growing skills and oysters: education as an Olympia oyster nursery
Simona Clausnitzer, School Programs Manager, Northwest Maritime
Ryan Crim, Research and Restoration Director, Sound Restoration Fund
This talk will explore Northwest Maritime’s experience as an Olympia oyster nursery and how career-connected learning can support hands-on marine restoration. We’ll share the story of this special species through student involvement & education, highlight how our Blue Schools Initiative shaped the project, and discuss how collaboration with the Puget Sound Restoration Fund and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe made this program possible.
Simona Clausnitzer is Northwest Maritime’s School Programs Manager, a role that supports maritime education through hands-on & on-water programming. She earned her graduate degree from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and has worked as a mural arts educator in fishing communities, for the National Park Service at Olympic and beyond, and on tall ships as a naturalist and sailing educator.
Ryan Crim is the Research and Restoration Director at the Puget Sound Restoration Fund, where his focus is hatchery and field-based projects supporting native shellfish restoration. He earned a B.S. in Environmental Science from Western Washington University and an M.Sc. in Zoology from the University of British Columbia. Since joining PSRF in 2012, he has helped expand Olympia oyster research, seed production, and restoration efforts throughout the Salish Sea.
Virtual Speaker Series Archive
View recorded talks from previous seasons on the following archived pages.
- Ocean on the Move: Connecting Communities Through Mobile Marine Outreach—Tristyn Hay, University of British Columbia Okanagan
- Black and White and Wet All Over—Ann Nightingale, Rocky Point Bird Observatory
- Restoring a Keystone Species: Bringing Sea Otters Back to Oregon—Chanel Hason, Elakha Alliance
- How to Attract a Mate: Lessons from the Animal Kingdom—Sue Nightingale, Bellevue College
- What Seabirds Can Tell Us About Oregon’s Dynamic Coastal Ecosystems—Will Kennerley, OSU Seabird Oceanography Lab
- Culture among killer whales in Alaska—Dan Olsen, Fisheries Biologist
- Connecting youth to the ocean through near-peer mentoring—Regina Cozzi, St. Francis Xavier University
- 20,000 Sensors Under the Sea: Ocean Networks Canada and K-12 Education—Nick Hammar & Lauren Hudson, Ocean Networks Canada
- Eelgrass as Teacher—Nikki Wright, SeaChange Marine Conservation Society
- Sea Stars of the West Coast—Phil Lambert, Royal BC Museum
- Ecology of Killer Whale Ecotypes along the Pacific Coast—Josh McInnes, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
- Kelp Forests in a Warming Ocean—Brian Timmer, University of Victoria
- Ocean Cultures: Northwest Coast Ecosystems and Indigenous Management Systems—Nancy Turner, University of Victoria, Retired
- Starting the conversation about sea otter reintroduction—Michelle St. Martin, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- 3D Mapping of Puget Sound Shoreline—Brian Footen, Earth View Society
- Antarctic Adventures with Adopt-a-Float—Jennifer Magnusson, GO-BGC/MBARI
- “Wildernizing” our Youth with the Alaska Tides to Tongass Science and Arts Academy—Michaela Larson, Julia Trischman, Trick Trischman, Alaska Tides to Tongass Science and Arts Academy
- King Tides—Bridget Trosin, Washington Sea Grant, and Jesse Jones, Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition
- An Introduction to ShoreZone with Sarah Cook—Sarah Cook, ShoreZone
- Engaging Youth in Environmental Justice—Mindy Chappell, Youth Participatory Science Collective
- A Conversation with Nuu-Chah-Nulth artist Hjalmer Wenstob—Tlehpik Hjalmer Wenstob, Nuu-Chah-Nulth artist
- Building and Writing Whales—Peter Wayne Moe, Seattle Pacific University
- Urgent Message from a Hot Planet, An Evening with Author Ann Eriksson—BC author Ann Eriksson
- More Joy – Less Stress in the Classroom—Kristy Banks, special education teacher in Seattle
- The Oregon King Tides Project—Jesse Jones, CoastWatch
- Flukes, Fins, & Blows: Whale ID 101—Aaron Purdy, Southern Vancouver Island Cetacean Research Initiative (Ocean Wise)
- Pumping with Passion: The Importance of Heart-Based Connection—Savannah Smith and Ebony Welborn, Sea Potential
- The Elwha Nearshore 10 Years After Dam Removal: Whats New and Different, and What Looks the Same—Ian Miller, Washington Sea Grant: Coastal Hazard Specialist, Olympic Peninsula
- Oh the stories the beach can tell!—Alan Rammer, WA Department of Fisheries, retired
- Frozen Sunlight Series: Connecting Ecological Research with Indigenous Knowledge—Janet Clarke, Sitka Sound Science Center
- Seabed Mining: “The Dawn of an Industry” and the need for a precautionary approach—Lee First, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, and Liz Schotman, Surfrider Foundation
- Astonishing Annelids—Dr. Louise Page, University of Victoria
- Investigating Crayfish + Freshwater Ecosystems Online—Janice Elvidge, National Park Service, Rick Reynolds, Engaging Every Student, and Jim Ekins, University of Idaho Extension Service IDAH2O Master Water Stewards program
- Virtual Field Trips: Exploring and Sharing Our Local Ecology—Kay Shoemaker, Rosemary Anderson High School
- Kayaking the Salish Sea During a Pandemic—Giovannina Souers, Environmental Education Program Supervisor City of Seattle, and Woody Moses, Highline College
- Monitoring Axial SeaMount: Research techniques for 1500 meters Beneath the Surface—Bill Hanshumaker, OSU Researcher Emeritus