Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
During this week's Environmental Speaker Series presentation, we will have the opportunity to hear from three graduate students.
4:30 p.m. | Gabrielle Lund
Analyzing the Future of the Lower Snake River Dams under the US Army Corps of Engineers
Though the Lower Snake River Dams (LSRD) have been embroiled in controversy since their inception, this conflict has intensified in recent years. Amid critics’ increasing calls to remove the LSRD (citing ecological concerns), supporters defend the dams for their economic benefits and reliable power infrastructure. While separate literature exists on the US Army Corps of Engineers and issues surrounding the LSRD, there is little overlapping research on Corps' direct management of the dams. Through her research, Gabrielle investigates this gap through analyzing the LSRD Master Plans, as well as the 2020 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Ultimately, Gabrielle explores how the Corps' management of the LSRD has evolved over the decades, and how this history contextualizes with the Corps' stance on dam breaching in the Snake River.
4:45 p.m. | Bo MacArthur
A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach to Model Irrigation Water Use in Washington’s WRIA 1
In Bo's research, he aims to develop a model derived from satellite imagery and weather station data to estimate agricultural irrigation in western Whatcom County (WRIA 1). Irrigation accounts for about 70% of the water used in this region but ground-based measurements are inconsistent, unreliable, and expensive, so the total quantity of agricultural water use is unknown. This, combined with decades of convoluted water rights policies, has caused tensions between water users in Whatcom County, ultimately leading to the initiation of a large court process called an adjudication to officially establish water rights for all users. By validating model-derived estimates, Bo hopes to establish a more accessible, reliable, and cohesive method to measure agricultural water use. The results of his research could inform policymakers to help streamline the adjudication process and ultimately support water conservation efforts.
5:00 p.m. | Sean Grealish
Inverts and Energy: Aquatic Invertebrate Communities in the Snohomish Estuary
Estuaries are important rearing areas for juvenile Pacific salmon on their migration from freshwater to saltwater. Like many other estuaries in the Pacific Northwest, the Snohomish River estuary in Everett, Washington was heavily developed for industrial and agricultural uses, significantly reducing habitat for outmigrating juvenile salmon and their invertebrate prey. Beginning in 1994, a series of earthen dike breach restoration projects occurred across the lower estuary aimed at reestablishing this lost habitat and connectivity within the estuarine system. To explore prey availability at restored sites across the estuary and better understand the tidally-driven availability of invertebrates to fish, we are sampling invertebrate assemblages across the Snohomish estuary during the spring salmon outmigration period. By leveraging the Snohomish estuary’s tight patchwork of restored emergent marsh sites, we hope to better understand which factors impact the distribution and abundance of invertebrate prey spatially across estuary habitats and temporally throughout the salmonid outmigration period. This research will inform whether restoring sites are providing functional rearing habitats for salmon.
The Environmental Speaker Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30pm in Academic Instructional Center West, room 204. Join us at WWU or online on Zoom!
⚠️ This video has moved! Update your bookmarks and watch the updated version on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@wwu
During this week's Environmental Speaker Series presentation, we will have the opportunity to hear from three graduate students.
4:30 p.m. | Gabrielle Lund
Analyzing the Future of the Lower Snake River Dams under the US Army Corps of Engineers
Though the Lower Snake River Dams (LSRD) have been embroiled in controversy since their inception, this conflict has intensified in recent years. Amid critics’ increasing calls to remove the LSRD (citing ecological concerns), supporters defend the dams for their economic benefits and reliable power infrastructure. While separate literature exists on the US Army Corps of Engineers and issues surrounding the LSRD, there is little overlapping research on Corps' direct management of the dams. Through her research, Gabrielle investigates this gap through analyzing the LSRD Master Plans, as well as the 2020 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Ultimately, Gabrielle explores how the Corps' management of the LSRD has evolved over the decades, and how this history contextualizes with the Corps' stance on dam breaching in the Snake River.
4:45 p.m. | Bo MacArthur
A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach to Model Irrigation Water Use in Washington’s WRIA 1
In Bo's research, he aims to develop a model derived from satellite imagery and weather station data to estimate agricultural irrigation in western Whatcom County (WRIA 1). Irrigation accounts for about 70% of the water used in this region but ground-based measurements are inconsistent, unreliable, and expensive, so the total quantity of agricultural water use is unknown. This, combined with decades of convoluted water rights policies, has caused tensions between water users in Whatcom County, ultimately leading to the initiation of a large court process called an adjudication to officially establish water rights for all users. By validating model-derived estimates, Bo hopes to establish a more accessible, reliable, and cohesive method to measure agricultural water use. The results of his research could inform policymakers to help streamline the adjudication process and ultimately support water conservation efforts.
5:00 p.m. | Sean Grealish
Inverts and Energy: Aquatic Invertebrate Communities in the Snohomish Estuary
Estuaries are important rearing areas for juvenile Pacific salmon on their migration from freshwater to saltwater. Like many other estuaries in the Pacific Northwest, the Snohomish River estuary in Everett, Washington was heavily developed for industrial and agricultural uses, significantly reducing habitat for outmigrating juvenile salmon and their invertebrate prey. Beginning in 1994, a series of earthen dike breach restoration projects occurred across the lower estuary aimed at reestablishing this lost habitat and connectivity within the estuarine system. To explore prey availability at restored sites across the estuary and better understand the tidally-driven availability of invertebrates to fish, we are sampling invertebrate assemblages across the Snohomish estuary during the spring salmon outmigration period. By leveraging the Snohomish estuary’s tight patchwork of restored emergent marsh sites, we hope to better understand which factors impact the distribution and abundance of invertebrate prey spatially across estuary habitats and temporally throughout the salmonid outmigration period. This research will inform whether restoring sites are providing functional rearing habitats for salmon.
The Environmental Speaker Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30pm in Academic Instructional Center West, room 204. Join us at WWU or online on Zoom!
⚠️ This video has moved! Update your bookmarks and watch the updated version on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@wwu
