What we do
Staff Experience
J. Anne Shaffer
- Marine Biologist, Executive Director
- PhD , Biology Department, University of Victoria, 2017
- Masters of Arts, Marine Biology, Moss Landing Marine Lab 1986
- Bachelors of Science, Zoology, San Francisco State University 1983
I’m a senior marine scientist/marine ecologist with a career spanning passion for northeast Pacific nearshore ecosystem conservation and restoration. I lead a small and extremely talented team of staff and collaborators to identify and implement large, complex science and restoration initiatives addressing ecosystem services, conservation, and restoration of the nearshore Salish Sea. This science has led to groundbreaking advances in understanding of how nearshore ecosystems function, how to identify priority nearshore ecosystem functions for conservation and restoration, how the disruption of nearshore ecosystem functions can act as a barrier for watershed ecosystem restoration, how to design and implement landscape scale nearshore ecosystem restoration, and the synergistic nearshore ecosystem responses to landscape restoration actions, including large scale dam removals.
Memberships: Society of Conservation Biology, Society for Ecological Restoration, American Fisheries Society, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), Northwest Science Association, Estuarine Research Federation (ERF), Pacific Estuarine Research Society (PERS), Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), Northwest Algal Symposia Society. Past co-president, Olympic Peninsula Chapter, Association for Women in ScienceProfessional developments
Mentor and researcher, Western Washington University Elwha Research Consortium (ERC) National Science Foundation REU Program
Associate Faculty, Peninsula College, current
Professional Advancement/Accomplishments/Awards (Recent)
NOAA/AFS Nancy Foster Award (Awarded 2020)
American Fisheries Science Conservation Organization of the Year (CWI Awarded 2019)
Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) Conservationist of the Year Award (CWI Awarded 2013, 2019)
Seattle Aquarium Conservation Research Science Award (Awarded 2019)
Environmental Law Institute (Science category): (Runner up 2017)
Select Publications
Shaffer J. Anne,. Simonsen, K A, Parks, D, Michel, J, Bauman J, and Oxborrow, B. In revision. A Case Study of Shoreline Armor Removal and Marine Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration after Large Dam Removals in the Elwha River, Washington, USA .Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Shaffer, A., Gross, J., Black, M., Kalagher, A. and Juanes, F., 2023. Dynamics of juvenile salmon and forage fishes in nearshore kelp forests. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.
Shaffer, J.A., Parks, D., Campbell, K., Moragne, A., Hueske, B., Adams, P. and Bauman, J.M., 2023. Coastal beaver, Chinook, coho, chum salmon and trout response to nearshore changes resulting from diking and large-scale dam removals: synergistic ecosystem engineering and restoration in the coastal zone. Nature Conservation, 53, p.61.
Shaffer, A., D. Parks, J. Michel, K. Simonsen, K Campbell, B. Oxborrow, J. Hall, and J. Weslowski, 2021. Restoration of Coastal Beach Forming Ecosystem Processes through Shoreline Armoring Removal of a Former Mine Site Increases Our Understanding of Coastal Resiliency and Large Scale Landslides Along the Northeast Pacific Coastline. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, pp.1-19.
Shaffer, J.A. 2021. Piscine Orthoreovirus (PRV) and ectoparasites of young of the year juvenile herring, Clupea pallasii, of the Salish Sea. The Osprey. International Journal of Salmon and Steelhead Conservation.pp.17-21. https://issuu.com/theosprey/docs/the_osprey_january_2021
Shaffer, J. A. S. Munsch, and J. Cordell. 2020 Kelp Forest Zooplankton, Forage Fishes, and Juvenile Salmonids of the Northeast Pacif.ic Nearshore. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 12:4–20.
Shaffer, J.A., D. Parks, E. Schoen, and D. Beauchamp 2019. Kelp, forage fish, and salmon. Ecopic, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 17(5):258. https://rdcu.be/bFvTX
For more information see: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anne-Shaffer
Kristin Kirkman
- Nearshore Field Biologist
- Bachelors of Science, Biology (Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation), University of Washington, 2021
Kristin is from Port Angeles, making the Olympic Peninsula streams and nearshore ecosystems near and dear to her heart. With a background in riparian restoration, her field experience spans from the heights of the Olympics to the nearshore. Her role as our field biologist involves managing all field components of monitoring and scientific data collection. Kristin monitors the Juan de Fuca nearshore using a combination of snorkeling in the summer, forage fish egg sampling in the winter, and seining sampling year-round.
