Student Profiles

2021 MACS cohort

Hometown: Spokane, WA

Amirah persevered and succeeded at Western despite many life obstacles. She completed an internship at foundry10, worked as a peer mentor at the Shannon Point Marine Center, and was the first undergraduate student to teach an organismal biology lab section. Her professors highlight her professionalism and kindness as a teaching assistant. She worked in Jim Cooper’s fish development lab, where she studied the effects of PCBs on zebrafish survival. She also received a Gilman Scholarship to study abroad in Mexico, and co-captained Western’s cheer team to a national title. She's now attending graduate school at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.

2021 MACS cohort

Hometown: Shoreline, WA

Gabe has a strong desire to protect the environment, and he’s particularly passionate about the marine environment. “I chose MACS because of its broad, well-rounded education in marine and coastal ecosystems”, he said. He joined Dr. Emily Roland (MACS/Geology) and several other MACS students on a research cruise off British Columbia to study seismic activity along the Queen Charlotte Fault. Using data from the cruise, he developed a capstone project analyzing seafloor topography to make habitat predictions for deep sea bamboo coral. He also participated in an internship with Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, an organization that restores salmon habitat in Whatcom County. He currently works as a research assistant at Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

2022 MACS cohort

Hometown: Renton, WA

Alexis joined the MACS program as part of the 2022 cohort and is minoring in Geographic Information Systems. In the summer of 2022, she was one of eight students selected for the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at Shannon Point Marine Center, where she studied water quality and eelgrass health. Since then, she has been a very active student researcher working with Dr. Sylvia Yang on eelgrass ecology at the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. She joined the OceanX Young Explorers Program during the summer of 2023, participating in an oceanographic cruise from Bergen, Norway to Brest, France. She was recently selected as a Caroline Gibson Scholar through the Northwest Straits Foundation. 

2022 MACS Cohort

Hometown: Rapid City, SD

Emma joined MACS because it provided the opportunity to learn about all aspects of marine science. Her experience with the program? “Amazing”, she says. “I have made some of the best friends I’ve ever had, been granted research opportunities, and have learned so much. I can’t say enough good things about this major or the people behind it. Truly unparalleled opportunity that I’m very excited to be a part of.” In her junior year, she participated in a research cruise to the Gulf of Alaska to retrieve ocean bottom seismometers from the Queen Charlotte Fault with Dr. Emily Roland (MACS/Geology). This led to a Research Assistant position in Emily’s lab and a recent trip to the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco to present her work. After graduation, she will be starting a PhD at the University of Texas at Austin in marine seismology.