The UW College of the Environment is pleased to announce that Professor Tim Essington has agreed to serve for a five-year term as director of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, effective July 1, 2022.

Essington is a fisheries ecologist, whose research focuses on the application of ecological knowledge to sustain fisheries and ecosystems. He has an active research program in Puget Sound examining consequences of climate change, hypoxia, and nearshore restoration on food webs, and he is also well known for his global syntheses of fish and fisheries data to reveal ecosystem responses to fishing. Essington also has extensive leadership experience within the School as a former Associate Director, member of School Council, Graduate Program Coordinator, and Director of the Center for Quantitative Science.

“The Search Committee highlighted the shared recognition that while the School is an influential leader in fishery research and education and is deeply engaged with stakeholders, there is a strong sense that the people of SAFS and the mutual respect and admiration among them are the School’s greatest strength,” said Dean Maya Tolstoy. “I look forward to working with Tim and all of you to help maintain the excellence of the School within a culture that welcomes and supports all faculty, postdocs, staff and students.”

The search committee included John Marzluff (professor, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences), Michele Conrad (Director, Finance & Administration), Suzanne Hawley  (Professor, Department of Astronomy) and Daniel Schindler (professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences).

The College would also like to thank André Punt for his service as the outgoing director.

“André has held this role since 2012 and in the short time I have worked with him, I have really appreciated his thoughtful and collaborative leadership style, and the humor, energy, and enthusiasm with which he supports the work at SAFS,” said Tolstoy.