College of the Environment at WWU

07/28/2026

WWU urban planning faculty and students played a huge role in developing the Washington State Zoning Atlas! Now, an article co-authored by Professor Tammi Laninga about the unique collaboration behind the project has been awarded The Western Planner’s Stan Steadman Article of the Year.

The article, “The Complete (Zoning) Picture: Collaboration is Key to Washington’s new online Zoning Atlas,” explores the motivations behind the 18-month project, shares insights into its development, and highlights the creative partnership that made it possible.

Read more about the project and the award-winning article here: https://news.wwu.edu/article-chronicling-the-collaborative-efforts-behind-the-washington-state-zoning-atlas-wins-top

WWU College of the Environment Graduate Program

Image: A screengrab of the interactive Washington State Zoning Atlas shows outlines of counties and major cities in Washington state with different colors representing different general zoning classifications.

07/27/2026

Congratulations, Laddi!

07/16/2026

Congratulations Laddi Quintanilla! Laddi has been named the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning's Urban Planning Spring 2026 Student of the Quarter.

Growing up in a small town in southwest Washington, Laddi Quintanilla noticed that the community values of care and connection they were raised with were not reflected in the built environment. This disconnect sparked curiosity about how they could build a life working towards making the world better. When it came time to choose a field of study in college, Laddi sought to combine their interests in urban studies, sociology, economics, politics, and decision-making — a path that ultimately led to urban planning.

Learn more about Laddi’s pathway to Western and what’s next at https://news.wwu.edu/ladislao-quintanilla-named-urban-planning-student-of-the-quarter-by-acsp

Photo: Laddi Quintanilla smiles, leaning on a railing in front of a brick building.

07/06/2026

🎉 🛶 Congratulations to this year's River Studies and Leadership Certificate recipients!
• Caleb Barville (ESCI, freshwater and terrestrial ecology)
• Paetra Cooke (ESCI, freshwater and terrestrial ecology)
• Sage Hagopian (ENVS, GIS)
• Lily Howard (ESCI)
• Cora Murphy (ESCI, freshwater and terrestrial ecology)

The 2026 graduates earned the River Studies and Leadership Certificates from the River Management Society () and are among 22 students from seven universities to earn the distinction this year.

Read more: https://news.wwu.edu/five-wwu-grads-receive-nationally-recognized-river-management-society-credentials

Photo: (Clockwise from top left) Cora Murphy, Sage Hagopian, Paetra Cooke, Caleb Barville, and Lily Howard.

06/29/2026

A recent study by WWU researchers reveals a 93% historical loss of persistent, old-growth grasslands in the San Juan Islands.

Native grasslands support biodiversity, provide habitat for endemic species, control erosion, sequester carbon, and serve as important cultural sites for Coast Salish peoples.

In the paper "Historical Loss of Native Old-Growth Grasslands on the San Juan Islands, Washington," published in the journal Ecologies, Kailey Schillinger-Brokaw, who earned a master’s degree in environmental studies with a focus on geography and GIS in 2023, and Aquila Flower, professor of geography in the Environmental Studies Department and director of Western’s Spatial Institute, analyzed historical land cover data and multispectral aerial imagery. Their work produced spatial datasets and maps that highlight dramatic land cover changes, including a 77% net decrease in non-agricultural grasslands and a 93% loss of persistent, old-growth grasslands across the region since 1890.

Read more in WWU News: https://news.wwu.edu/wwu-researchers-document-93-historical-loss-of-persistent-old-growth-grasslands-in-the-san-juan

WWU College of the Environment Graduate Program

Images:
1: Kailey Schillinger-Brokaw visited Lopez Island in 2022 to meet with local ecologists and conservationists and ground-truth the data used to create maps documenting native grasslands changes in the San Juan Islands. Photo by Aquila Flower.
2. Kailey Schillinger-Brokaw, left, and Lamai Larsen (M.A. 2025) inspect a grassland on Lopez Island in 2022. Native grasslands support biodiversity, host endemic species, control erosion, sequester carbon, and are important cultural places for Coast Salish peoples. Photo by Aquila Flower.
3. Researchers created a language of visual cues to help classify data from different sources. This image compares how a forested area on Orcas Island in an 1890 hand-drawn map, left, appears as cleared land in a 1932 aerial photograph at right.
4. A map by the study's authors shows changes in grassland land cover on the San Juan Islands indicating an overall 77% net decrease in the extent of non-agricultural grasslands and a 93% loss in persistent, old-growth grasslands between 1890 and 2021.

06/29/2026

Congratulations, Laddi!

🎉 Meet our Spring 2026 Student of the Quarter, Ladislao “Laddi” Quintanilla from Western Washington University.

Laddi's passion for spatial justice, housing equity, Indigenous planning, and community-centered futures reflects a deep commitment to building more just and inclusive communities.

Rooted in their CHamoru heritage and driven by a vision for fairer futures, Laddi is focused on advancing housing as a human right and creating planning solutions that center equity, community, and belonging.

We're proud to celebrate Laddi's journey and the impact they're already making in the field of urban planning.

Read more and watch the full interview here: https://studyurbanplanning.com/student-of-the-quarter

Western Washington University The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning - ACSP College of the Environment at WWU

06/16/2026

🎓 🎉 🙌 Congratulations, WWU College of the Environment class of 2026! 🙌 🎉 🎓

☀️ We are so proud of you and very excited to see what you do in the world. Good luck, keep us posted, and visit often! 💙



Photo: Class of 2026 stands on Stadium Piece in Comm Lawn on Friday, June 12. Photo by Charlie Barnhart.

06/12/2026

🌲 🎉 The faculty and staff of Western’s College of the Environment invite new graduates and supporters to stop by the Communications Lawn today from 2:30-4 p.m. for a celebration of all you have accomplished.

Mingle with fellow students, faculty, and staff, enjoy refreshments, and — keeping with tradition — receive a cedar seedling to plant and tend into the future. Friends and family are welcome.

WWU College of the Environment Graduate Program

NOTE: This event is separate from the official WWU commencement ceremony that takes place Saturday, June 13, at 9 a.m. Get details about commencement, including the program and a link to the livestream, at https://registrar.wwu.edu/june-commencement

06/09/2026

Professor of Environmental Sciences Brooke Love and graduate student Rhiannon Holmes are working to uncover the secrets behind Dungeness crab resilience to ocean acidification.

The surface ocean has become about 30% more acidic over the past 250 years. Ocean acidification can weaken shellfish’s protective shells and skeletons, particularly during developmental stages, but scientists have found that some Dungeness crab broods are able to weather the ocean’s changing chemistry better than others.

So far, they know it’s less about water conditions and more about matrilineal lineage and have identified elevated levels of key proteins that might help explain.

Read more about this research that could help protect valuable crab populations from the effects of ocean acidification in this WWU News story by by Ava Nicholas, 2025-26 Salish Sea Institute Tahlequah Intern: https://news.wwu.edu/proteins-shine-a-light-on-dungeness-crab-resilience

WWU College of the Environment Graduate Program
Salish Sea Institute at WWU
Shannon Point Marine Center

Photos:
1. Rhiannon Holmes holds up two female Dungeness crabs. Photo by Luke Hollister/WWU.
2. Rhiannon Holmes studies Dungeness crab zoea under a microscope. Photo by Luke Hollister/WWU.
3. Close-ups of a Dungeness crab zoea used in the experiment. Photo courtesy of Rhiannon Holmes.

05/29/2026

🏅 Congratulations, Sol Wilborn, awarded Presidential Scholar for the College of the Environment! 🏅

Sol Wilborn majored in environmental studies with a concentration in education and eco-social justice and minors in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies and STEAM. They meld intellectual rigor with ethical reflection and action. At Western, they demonstrated shared leadership, engaged with local thinkers, scientists and artists, and a showed a commitment to equity. Sol worked as an Honors College peer mentor supporting first-year students with marginalized identities to help them build a sense of belonging in their academic, social, and extracurricular lives at Western. They also worked for LGBTQ+ Western on programming to support diverse and intersectional student identities. Sol’s professors extolled their exceptional academic performance and say they’re an insightful learner, a thoughtful classroom member, and an engaged campus leader, whose achievements embody the spirit and practice of community.

Each year, WWU honors seven graduates with the Presidential Scholar Award, honoring the high achievements of students for exceptional scholarship, success in furthering multicultural programs and activities, and other service to the university and community. Presidential Scholars are nominated by faculty members, recommended by deans, and formally selected by the president. Presidential Scholars will also wear their award medallions during their commencement ceremonies.

Read more about all seven awardees at https://news.wwu.edu/meet-the-2026-presidential-scholars

👏 Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!

Image: Sol Wilborn, College of the Environment 2026 Presidential Scholar, wearing a Presidential Scholar medallion