Besties in Science: Graduate Students Study Swinomish Clam Garden

Maia Heffernan (she/her) and Chloe Cason (she/her) are both master's students in Western's Environmental Science, Marine and Estuarine Science Program. Last fall and winter respectively, Cason and Heffernan received Graduate Research & Creative Opportunities grants to present at the Ocean Sciences meeting in New Orleans.

Heffernan and Cason, together with their research advisors Assistant Professor Sam Kastner and Associate Professor Marco Hatch, have been collecting data around a clam garden built by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in 2022. The project's aim is to understand how the clam garden affects the beach and surrounding water. Their work is part of a broader water monitoring study being done by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency as well as other federal and local agencies.

Clam gardens have been an Indigenous aquaculture practice for a long time; some sites have been dated to at least 4,000 years old. This practice involves rolling large stones down the slope of the beach, where a rock wall is formed that encourages sediment to accumulate, creating a favorable environment for clams and other mollusks. Studying the nearshore changes that occur as a clam garden develops is new oceanographic research that Heffernan and Cason are excited to be working on. Hatch stated: "One of the big questions in the clam garden world is understanding how rock walls alter currents and change nearshore physical processes, which is exactly what Maia and Chloe are taking on."

Heffernan's part of the research focuses on how the water flow has changed with the creation of the garden. And Cason's work focuses on water properties inside the wall and out, including salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and chlorophyll concentration. The data they gather should help reveal how the garden supports increased clam growth and affects fishing and crabbing grounds.

Heffernan and Cason met during the first year of Western's undergraduate Marine and Coastal Science Program as roommates in the Marine Science Distinguished Scholars program and have been close friends ever since. Heffernan said, "I do not know what I would do if I didn't have Chloe on this project with me! We work well together as a team and pick each other up when the other is struggling. It has been such an honor to work with her on this project. I am lucky to be able to call her a friend and a colleague."

The cohort style of Western's master's program has helped Heffernan and Cason forge many connections across departments. "I think that is why the Marine and Estuarine Science Program is so attractive. The goal is to be interdisciplinary; it combines physical and chemical oceanography, geology, climate science and biology. We have an incredible group of people who are really committed," Cason said.

Western Washington University was an obvious choice for Cason. She said, "I had my mind set on marine science... [knowing that] at Western, I could get hands-on experience. In the Marine Science Scholars Program, we were on a boat day one. That was the dream!"

Alongside their graduate research, both Heffernan and Cason have enjoyed mentoring undergraduates on projects related to their work.