Student Leadership Team | Salish Sea School

Mission:

A primarily virtual team that meets once a month to provide students with an opportunity to develop leadership skills by sharing ideas, student interests, and concerns about the Salish Sea and greater oceans. Students work directly with a Salish Sea School teacher, bringing student voice to the area the SLT group is most interested that year.

Time commitment: Student leaders meet virtually once a month (with a maximum of 2x), usually Sunday evenings for 30 minutes- 1 hour, with 1-2 in-person gatherings. If you are not local, you can still join our team as the majority will be conducted virtually. We value and honor your time and school/sport schedules so try to keep it short on zoom but do a lot of communication on Discord.

2025 Virtual Meeting Dates: 1/12, 2/9, 3/9, 4/20, 5/11, and 6/8 will be our in-person celebration, July & August - Off , September-December TBD

Applications re-open in Oct 2025

Meet Our 2025 Student Leadership Team

We are proud to introduce you to our student leaders that bring their passion for the oceans from across the country! We are stronger together with the collective sum of individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, and talent which ultimately brings about a healthier planet.

Alberta, Canada

Alexandra Guard

I want to help others learn of the importance of the Salish Sea and by extension, all ecosystems of the ocean. I feel that this would be a great opportunity for me to give something back on issues that I am very passionate about.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not." - The Lorax, Dr. Seuss

"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." - RBG

Raleigh, NC

Paul Tillmore

I am passionate about marine life and biodiversity and want to make a difference. I hope to help broaden the appeal of this program -- on both the east and west coasts -- and allow us to make a difference together. I love all parts of the ocean and care for all aspects of it but I most care for marine mammals, particularly cetaceans.

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

-Jane Goodall

Tacoma, WA

Nateli Sanderson

I feel extremely grateful to have grown up surrounded by such a beautiful and diverse ecosystem and I am dedicated to protecting it. I look forward to new opportunities and experiences with this program and hope to expand my impact and inspire others. The SRKWs have inspired me and changed my outlook, and so any chance I get I would like to give back to them.

“Here we are, the most clever species ever to have lived. So how is it we can destroy the only planet we have?” - Dr. Jane Goodall

Mukilteo, WA

Julianna Glaser

I am 13 and I am very passionate about marine life. I moved from Texas when I was in fourth grade to Mukilteo and have been super into whales and otters and things like that. Basically what i'm trying to get at is I love all the marine mammals. I have seen dozens of orcas out of my window like J pod, K pod, and L pod, and also many Bigg’s orcas as well. My favorite animals are the enhydra lutris (sea otter) and orcinus orca (orca)! I have had a few classes here at Salish Sea School and they have been the best moments of my life. My favorite part was seeing Stitch the humpback and T49A1 Noah the orca, also of course seeing the one and only Elsie Mae!!

Portland, Oregon

Ames Black O'Neal

Ames Black O’Neal lives in Portland, Oregon and attends Sunnyside Environmental School. He is an avid reader who is drawn to books about nature and will watch any documentary narrated by David Attenbourogh in a heartbeat.

Anacortes WA

Hayden Davies

I hope that, as human beings, we will change the earth from the path of destruction that it is on.
By having the next generations understand what needs to be done, with the marine environment
being overthrown by plastic, to global warming that is affecting us majorly in the near future.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed,
it is the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead

Portland, OR

Ingrid Haugo

I absolutely love the ocean and Salish Sea and I am excited about this opportunity to grow, have new experiences and make an impact! I hope to both learn more about the ocean from others and help more people gain an understanding of this critical and amazing part of our planet. I love all animals and nature and am very interested in research and conservation of endangered species, especially marine mammals like the SRKWs.

"Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then and only then hope will come" - Greta Thunberg

Seattle, WA

Sophie Naffziger

I have always loved animals and the natural world and being able to grow up in the Pacific northwest has only supported that love. The Pacific northwest's unique Salish Sea has turned my focus to marine animals, especially marine birds. Having learned so much about marine birds and mammals, I hope to be able to give back to the wildlife that provides so much for our world.

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed" -Gandhi

Anacortes, WA

Niamh Gross

I care greatly about marine biology and wildlife, and I've always been fascinated by the ocean and things deep within. I love new opportunities, especially ones involving helping our oceans and wildlife. I love being outdoors, and I'm excited to learn from others while we strive for greatness in our oceans. I hope we will bring our knowledge to others as we build upon our Earth, making it a better habitat for us and the wildlife surrounding.

"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."

Charge:

To focus on various topics including but not limited to The Salish Sea School community, curriculum, environmental justice, equity, and outdoor opportunities for students.
To demonstrate leadership qualities by serving as good examples of ocean advocates through words and actions.

Qualifications/Expectations:

Students 13+ years old
Passionate about marine biology and conservation
Values and respects all marine life and students
Works cooperatively and respectfully with all members
Actively participates in monthly (30min- 1 hr) virtual meetings
Participate in discussions and meeting coordination on a Discord channel
Public speaking on Zoom for a student-led conference (varies year to year)

Expectations:

Serve for one calendar year (January - December)
Attend virtual meetings held no more than 2x a month
Help plan community outreach events in-person (if living locally)
Commit to attend all meetings (exceptions made for urgent and unforeseen conflicts
Entertain new ideas SLT is passionate about

Students accepted on the leadership team can request a volunteer hour certificate at the end of the year.

Please email your application to admin@thesalishseaschool.org

The Salish Sea School is committed to creating a community of student leaders and cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, inclusion, and connectedness. We are able to grow and learn better together with a diverse team. We welcome the unique contributions that one can bring in terms of their education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.

In 2021, the student leaders led an incredible virtual Summit for Southern Resident orcas, participated in a marine debris survey, led a post-card writing campaign in support of the breaching of the lower Snake River dams, and discussed other relevant issues regarding the Salish Sea.

In June 2022, student leaders performed a Salish Sea School social media takeover and posted about the Southern Resident orcas and how you can help from home.

For Orca Recovery Day in October 2022, students are working on cartoons to teach elementary students about the Southern Resident orcas.

Bellingham, WA

Sage Maden

I’ve lived my whole life by the Salish Sea and I have grown to love it. I have done two summer camps with the Salish Sea School and loved learning about the different ecosystems. I would love to learn more about how to prevent plastic pollution in the ocean so that our Orcas and other whales can recover and maintain healthy populations.

“When one of us tugs at a single thing in nature, they find it attached to the rest of the world.”- John Muir

"the mountain and the sea are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books." -john lubbock

Meet Our Team