Connor Willeford is a Jellies and Live Food Aquarist II at Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri. He received his AAS in Aquarium Science from Oregon Coast Community College (2021) and has been involved in the aquarium industry in an educational and professional capacity for almost 8 years now. As jellies and live food aquarists, he and his team are in charge of maintaining a wide diversity of jelly species and jelly cultures for display across multiple exhibits, including one of the biggest jelly exhibits in North America. They are also tasked with the culturing of multiple different live foods both for the jellies and other sections at their facility. Iowa is probably far from the first choice people would have as a place for getting introduced to marine sciences, but that is where Connor Willeford got his early start at Central Campus in Des Moines, Iowa while a part of their marine science high school program. From there this career path would take him to the Florida Keys, San Francisco, Connecticut, back to the Midwest with Missouri and (by far most importantly) the Oregon Coast where he would develop his skills and learn from some of the best and most knowledgeable people in the industry. In this talk, Connor will give a rundown of his career so far, giving perspective on the unique paths people can take to get involved and progress in the public aquarium industry while also highlighting all of the help and connections that lead back to his time spent on the Oregon Coast.

Meet Sequoia Newberg, a sophomore at Newport High School and a dedicated conservationist passionate about getting more youth involved in marine conservation. With a history of volunteering with conservation organizations such as the Surfrider Foundation, SOLVE, and the Seattle Aquarium, she’s harnessed her enthusiasm for the ocean to combat plastic pollution and champion the health of marine ecosystems. This presentation will navigate the personal journey of a young conservationist in the vast ocean of marine stewardship. While exploring the importance of organizational opportunities for youth participation in conservation, Sequoia will use her own experiences to illustrate the positive impact that youth volunteers have on the environment, their community, and within themselves.

Introducing our first Young WaveMaker Seminar of 2024: Check out Emily’s Marine Life Photos on Facebook and Instagram! Emily Bjornsgard (she/her) is the Lead Aquarist at the MaST Center Aquarium in Des Moines, Washington. She is a graduate of Western Washington University (BS Biology, Marine Emphasis, 2020) and of Oregon Coast Community College (Aquarium Science Certificate, 2021). During her time in Oregon, she also worked in the Hatfield Marine Science Center Visitor Center and volunteered at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. As MaST’s Lead Aquarist, Emily is responsible for the aquarium’s live animal exhibits, including the health of the animals and the functionality of the aquarium’s life support, which displays approximately 250 Salish Sea species. The marine ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest is home to thousands of amazing species, from sponges to seals! However, unless you are a frequent visitor to the intertidal zone or a diver, there are very limited options to see and interact with these animals directly. Aquarium staff throughout the Pacific Northwest work diligently to care for these incredible creatures, so that everyone can take a glimpse into their world. While speaker Emily Bjornsgard was studying at the Oregon Coast Community College in the Aquarium Science Program, she spent most of her free time on the beaches photographing the coastal marine environment. She now blends this experience with the Aquarium Science exhibit design training to create and care for intriguing displays as the Lead Aquarist of the MaST Center Aquarium, Highline College’s marine lab and aquarium in Des Moines, Washington. In this talk, she will discuss design concepts that contribute to impactful aquarium exhibits, and also some photography tips that you can take with you on your next aquarium or beach trip!

See Sof's Interpretive Dance Here! https://youtu.be/L0uCwykETeQ Sof Fox is an undergraduate marine biology student at the University of Oregon. With minors in science communication, environmental studies, and dance, they are interested in the connections and overlap between disciplines. They recently served as an Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholar, working on marine reserve interpretation and science communication at the Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve in Port Orford. Enthusiastic about ecology and human connections to the environment, Sof hopes to work with coastal communities on solutions to increase resiliency against the climate crisis. Science communication is a fundamental task that many of us have participated in at least once, whether it was summarizing scientific research in an academic setting or simply having a conversation with a friend about a fun animal fact! But what does science communication actually mean? This talk will delve into what science communication looks like, why it’s important, and the impact it can have when done effectively. Additionally, I will share experiences from my time at the University of Oregon and on the Southern Oregon Coast as a student and science communicator to further explore what marine science communication can look like in practice.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 defines stocks of marine mammals as groups of animals of the same species or similar taxa within a common spatial arrangement that interbreed when mature. Rachel’s Masters Project examines how the definition of marine mammal stocks has changed over time in the U.S. to better inform other countries as they develop a program of stock assessments. To illustrate these changes, and the divergent approaches taken by federal agencies, two detailed case studies are presented: Alaska harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and the Florida manatee (T. m. latirostris). The diversity of viewpoints that exists among agency scientists regarding how stocks should be defined under the MMPA will also be highlighted, followed by recommendations for other countries as to how they can create or improve their marine mammal stock assessment process to meet the standards set by the United States. Rachel Hilt is a 2023 graduate from the Master of Environmental Management (MEM) program at Duke in the Coastal Environmental Management concentration. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri Rachel developed a passion for marine life early on despite living in a landlocked state. She received a bachelor’s degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Miami, FL and has undertaken research on a variety of marine megafauna including sea turtles, humpback whales, and bottlenose dolphins. During her field work Rachel refined her interests in protected species management and critical habitats with a focus on marine mammals that brought her to the Duke University Marine Lab to work under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Read.

Kicking off 2023's Young WaveMakers Seminar Series strong with our first guest: Brenna Rothman! The rocky shores of the Oregon Coast are a place of wonder for visitors and researchers alike. For the Menge Lab at Oregon State University, the rocky intertidal is their main research focus. In this talk, Brenna Rothman, a research assistant with the Menge Lab, will cover key ecological processes at work in the intertidal zone, highlight current field experiments and research questions, and explain how the Menge Lab has taken to social media to share their work with a broader audience. Lab Website: https://www.lubchencomengelab.com/ Lab Instagram: @mengelab_osu

The rocky coasts of the Pacific Northwest are home to an amazing array of animals and algae. However, changing oceanographic conditions threaten these iconic ecosystems and there is growing evidence that rocky intertidal communities are becoming more unstable, and some are experiencing regime shifts from one type of community to another. Recent research points to marine heatwaves, El Niño, sea star wasting disease, and the intensification of upwelling as leading factors causing these changes. In this talk, Zechariah Meunier will describe research that he and other ecologists from Oregon State University are conducting on the resilience of rocky intertidal ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest. Nature Matters is a lively conversation held the fourth Thursday of each month, October through May. Nature Matters is hosted by Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, in partnership with the North Coast Watershed Association, the Lewis & Clark National Park Association, and the Fort George Brewery + Public House. Website: www.nps.gov/lewi Facebook: @LewisandClarkNationalHistoricalPark Instagram: @LewisandClarknps

Environmental Identity is an important concept in current research on environmental education and development. We know that identity encompasses both individual and social and cultural elements, but research usually favors either the individual explanation (traditional psychological research) or the social and cultural (traditional sociological or anthropological research). In what follows, I argue that under the sociocultural lens, using Activity Theory and a narrative approach, is an appropriate framework for my research into environmental identity in informal learning experiences since from my perspective in those contexts, the awareness of environmental issues is created through the interaction between people (including stakeholders and interpreters or experts) and exhibits that represent both individual and socio-cultural perspectives, and individuals identities are constructed and refined during their participation. To support my argument, I first discuss local marine issues as an interesting and problematic contexts for thinking about environmental identity, then move on to discuss the constructs of identity and worldviews, and finally outline a collection of important theoretical perspectives from learning sciences (i.e., ecological theory to Activity Theory) and from environmental sciences (i.e., biophilia, assigned and held values) that can inform a research project on environmental identity in informal learning. Museums and aquariums provide a good environment to learn about how environmental identity constructed by previous knowledge, worldviews, and culture affects one’s learning experience concerning abstract or complicated scientific issues, marine issues in particular, and the interpretation or awareness of these issues. Overall, this project will target early adolescents who visit museums and aquariums, including Taiwanese people and American (in Western U.S.), and if possible Brazilian, and to see how environmental identity affects their learning of local marine issues in free-choice learning settings. Follow Janet and her research at: → Marine Environmental Science Museum https://shuminyang.wixsite.com/marinesciencemuseum → Janet's world with wild life and nature https://shuminyang.wixsite.com/website