Coral Rankin - Marine Conservation Ecology Course

My Role: student
My Instructors: Jonathan Allen & Matthias Leu

San Juan Island, Washington
Summer 2026

As part of a University of Washington summer course, I worked in a group of five to plan and execute a research experiment on eelgrass and the green sea hare.

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False Bay

Highlights:

Completing more than ten visits across seven field research sites
Sticking my arm into knee-deep water to count sea hares and their eggs by touch
Presenting our findings to the class and esteemed seagrass researcher, Drew Harvell
Collecting urchins, sea stars, and more while trawling on the Kittiwake research vessel
Conducting light experiments on the yoga deck with a perfect view of Friday Harbor

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Counting sea hares and their egg masses by touch

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Huge red urchins from the Kittiwake trawl

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Selfie with one of our lab sea hares

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Exploring the rocky intertidal

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A green sea hare on the eelgrass

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William & Mary crew at FHL

More information:

Course Description