Meet Suzie O’Neill, WCOA Fellow with NOAA Fisheries
by Suzie O’Niell
My name is Suzie O’Neill, and I am a West Coast Ocean Alliance Fellow working with the Regional Aquaculture Coordinator for Oregon and Washington at NOAA Fisheries. A quick introduction to me – I grew up in Massachusetts and went to college in Rhode Island to study geophysics. After college, I decided it was time to pursue my interest in sustainable ocean farming, so I moved to Sitka, Alaska and completed a hands-on aquaculture semester program focused on kelp, shellfish, and salmon enhancement aquaculture. I moved to Seattle this past September after spending some time on the East Coast, and I am thrilled to be working at NOAA this year to support sustainable aquaculture development.
I am currently working on two projects as a WCOA Fellow at NOAA. First, I am working with representatives from the Oregon Aquaculture Association, Ecotrust, Oregon Sea Grant, and other entities to develop a state-wide aquaculture plan in Oregon. Second, I am conducting a needs assessment of NOAA consultation biologists who review aquaculture projects within the West Coast Region to understand what support they need to carry out their consultations more effectively.
As I began these two projects, my supervisors encouraged me to lead with the practice of building connection and trust. For my work in Oregon, I met with each steering committee member individually before we came together as a larger group. In doing so, I was able to get to know each member and understand their vision and priorities for the state-wide planning process. As we’ve begun forming our strategy as a larger group, the connections and insights I gained through these one-on-one meetings have been invaluable to the planning process.
Similarly, for my needs assessment of consultation biologists at NOAA, I met with biologists one-on-one to learn about their workloads, the challenges they face, and how the West Coast aquaculture cross-divisional team can better support them. I heard from several interviewees that they felt more comfortable sharing feedback in a one-on-one setting as opposed to a large forum. The one-on-one setting was also preferable to me because I could review my collection of interviews and identify common threads across them. When multiple interviewees brought up similar challenges, I gained confidence in my assessment that those challenges were widely experienced.
Through both of these experiences, I learned that building trust and connection with colleagues is critical to doing work that takes into account everyone’s needs as best as possible. I am excited to continue working on my current projects with these values in mind, and I will certainly carry them forward to future projects!
Tagging juvenile salmon at a hatchery in Sitka, AK. Photo Credit: Sara Ebersole
Hump Island Oyster Company in Ketchikan, AK. Photo Credit: Sara Ebersole
