aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

SALI 201: An interdisciplinary and experiential introduction to the Salish Sea

Course helps students make sense of the issues affecting the bioregion and learn how to better advocate for change

by Mia Limmer-Lai

WWU Communications intern

WWU students explore the Nooksack Delta north of Bellingham where the river empties into the Salish Sea as part of their SALI 201/202 experience.

With its tapestry of intersecting inland waterways, and as the confluence of Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Salish Sea bioregion is home to diverse ecosystems and rich cultures. The Salish Sea straddles the U.S.-Canada border and encompasses over 65 Indigenous tribal territories, which adds complexity to scientific research and governance. 

As the population and economy of this region continues to grow, it brings challenges for policymakers and the public seeking to implement environmental protections. Introduction to the Salish Sea (SALI201) is a four-credit General University Requirement that can help students make sense of the issues affecting the bioregion and learn how to better advocate for change. The class can also serve as a gateway to the Salish Sea Studies minor, a place-based learning experience that is compatible with a variety of other majors and minors. 

“Understanding my place makes my daily experience of life a lot richer and more connected,” said Eli Loomis, the instructor for SALI201. “My hope is that students will be able to get that same experience by taking this class to get more connected to their community and the land around them.”

WWU students on a field trip to explore the headwaters of the Nooksack River at Artist Point in fall 2024. Salish Sea Studies students embark on regional field trips to gain a deeper understanding of science, policy and Indigenous knowledge.

This experiential and interdisciplinary course empowers students to increase their understanding of science, policy and Indigenous knowledge in the Salish Sea bioregion. Students complete multimedia projects to demonstrate their ecological knowledge and embark on regional field trips to apply their classroom learning to the field. For further exploration of Salish Sea Studies introductory content, students can take SALI202, the optional one-credit co-curricular lab.

Last quarter students learned about geology, glaciology, earthquakes, tsunamis, weather, salmon habitat, forest ecology and coastal flats, among other ecological topics, Loomis said. The goal of the class is to integrate that scientific knowledge with other disciplines. 

During Loomis’s fall 2024 SALI201 course, students wrote a story about a species in the Salish Sea, used ArcGIS to tell geographical stories through maps, and wrote a letter to a regional decision maker about an issue they cared about. The multimedia projects, advocacy and field trips encourage students to not only learn about the Salish Sea, but develop their personal relationship with the land. 

The class also went on excursions to Sehome Hill Arboretum to work on plant identification, the  celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day at Lummi Nation and watched salmon spawning at the Whatcom Creek Hatchery. 

Bug Santee, a senior studying a Fairhaven Interdisciplinary Concentration in Multimodal Approaches to Environmental Conservation, found that SALI201 enhanced place-based learning in their discipline. They are working on an independent study project analyzing the history of Bellingham’s waterfront and its implications for other industrialized port cities throughout the Salish Sea. 

Santee made a story map about the geologic history of Sucia Island and wrote a letter to state Senator Sharon Shewmake in appreciation of salmon restoration efforts. 

“The first project encouraged me to get to know places I was not very familiar with previously. The second was very empowering,” Santee said. “I had never written to a senator before, and it was good to send out letters!” 

For Peregrin Hunjan, who hails from Denver, Colorado, taking SALI201 advanced their understanding of the Salish Sea in ways that differed from in-state students. The course’s emphasis on traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge also aligned with their linguistics studies.  

“As someone who is very passionate about linguistics and social activism, I think this class is useful when we talk about how policy interferes with native language death and assimilation,” Hunjan said.

SALI 201 students visited the Whatcom Creek Hatchery to observe how salmon are raised and released back into the county's waterways. Salmon are an important part of the bioregion's environment, culture and economy. All photos courtesy Matthew Price.

At the end of the course, students present their project portfolios to the class to share their learning outcomes. At the end of the quarter, students presented on a variety of topics ranging from pikas, cascade blueberries, glacier loss, pink snow algae, Indigenous-Western two-eyed seeing and cross-boundary policy. They wrote to state lawmakers in support of salmon recovery, wildfire mitigation and the removal of the four lower Snake River Dams, among many other advocacy issues. 

The variety of project focuses promotes interdisciplinary and solutions-oriented thinking among students from different majors. Science students learn how to bring their findings to life through storytelling to a general audience, while humanities students study the intricate and interdependent systems driving the ecology of the region. 

In the process of researching topics to discuss in class, Loomis found it surprising that the U.S.-Canada border often interfered with finding information. He sifted through several maps of volcanoes before finding one that included both sides of the border. “For something as totally apolitical as a volcano, it’s really wild that this divide exists.” 

Loomis also referenced the Lummi Nation’s recent lawsuit against the Canadian government for allegedly failing to consult the tribe in its decision to approve the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 port expansion project. The pending case builds on precedent established in R. vs. Desautel, a 2021 Supreme Court of Canada decision that ruled tribes’ whose traditional territories straddled the border warrant consideration by Canada, even if their modern territories are in the U.S.

As U.S.-Canada relations grow increasingly complex, SALI201 provides students with the tools to make sense of science and policy in the region. Through multimedia storytelling and contacting elected officials, students become adept communicators who unearth the narratives of the past and reshape them with their visions for the future. 

“This class is trying to come up with a more inclusive mode of thinking that allows for more integrity and taking care of the environment and its people. I can’t recommend it enough,” said Hunjan. 

Find out more about Western's Salish Sea Institute and its Salish Sea Studies minor at https://salishsea.wwu.edu/.

Mia Limmer-Lai (she/her) is a third-year environmental journalism major with a minor in honors interdisciplinary studies. She serves as the Salish Sea Institute and Office of University Communication’s inaugural Tahlequah’ Communication Intern, which is funded through a generous endowment from Frank Greer and Stephanie Solien.