The Legacy of Passion: In Memory of Anja Sjostrom

April 27, 2022

An episode in honor of Anja Sjostrom.

What is the impact of our passion and what do we leave behind? This episode is centered around the life, work, and legacy of our friend, classmate, and fisheries researcher Anja Sjostrom who passed away in an accident in early January. This episode is meant to serve as an introduction to her work and what drove her to study her passion: the ocean, all the things that live inside it, and the people who are heavily connected and dependent on this resource. We are joined by her mother Natalie Cargill, her Ph.D. advisor at East Carolina University Cindy Grace-McCaskey, and her advisors in her Master’s program at Oregon State University, professors Flaxen Conway and Lorenzo Ciannelli. Anja’s life was centered around the ocean, her curiosity, empathy and ability to connect with people from various backgrounds lead her to a very impressive career at the nexus of social sciences and ecology. She is leaving a huge gap in our hearts, the science community and the world but we are thankful for having had the opportunity to meet such a beautiful soul. 

Please consider donating to the Anja Sjostrom Memorial Scholarship in Coastal Sciences to help young researchers like Anja to continue this important work to give underserved communities a voice in ocean management. 

We want to thank our partners at the American Shoreline Podcast Network and The Coastal Society for this opportunity, and our community for the support and love we have received during this incredibly difficult time. 

Timestamps:

Interview Natalie Cargill, Anja’s mother: 2:04-15:24

Interview Cynthia Grace-McCaskey, Anja’s PhD advisor at ECU: 18:33-35:18

Interview Flaxen Conway, Anja’s MSc-Thesis advisor at OSU: 36:31-48:48

Interview Lorenzo Ciannelli, Anja’s MSc-Thesis advisor at OSU: 48:49-57:46

Contact information: 

Professor Cynthia Grace-McCaskey - East Carolina University: gracemccaskeyc15@ecu.edu

Professor Flaxen Conway - Oregon State University: flaxen.conway@oregonstate.edu

Professor Lorenzo Ciannelli - Oregon State University: lorenzo.ciannelli@oregonstate.edu

Publications: 

Marine Science Policy, "Gathering local ecological knowledge to augment scientific and management understanding of a living coastal resource: The case of Oregon’s nearshore groundfish trawl fishery": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X21002281

Oregon State University, “Lost in plain sight : the evolution of Oregon's nearshore groundfish trawl fleet”: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/technical_reports/s1784t35f

Memorial Scholarship:

https://www.coastalstudiesinstitute.org/anja_sjostrom_memorial_scholarship/

Show Transcription
This transcription was generated by a computer. Please excuse any errors.
Genevieve “GG” Guerry, Kyra Hagge, Rory Kuczek, Kathryn Lienhard, and Nat Blackford

American Shoreline Podcast Network teamed up with graduate and professional students from student chapters of The Coastal Society to highlight voices in coastal science and management. Together they’ve created All Swell?, an innovative podcast that dives into current ocean and coastal issues, their potential solutions, and the people leading the way toward a more resilient future. The podcast creators and hosts this year are from East Carolina University and Duke University. Genevieve “GG” Guerry and Kyra Hagge are Ph.D. candidates at East Carolina. GG is interested in public health and aims to work on the public perception of forever chemicals such as PFAS in the Cape Fear watershed and climate migration. Kyra is integrating behavioral economics and social psychology with hydrogeology to tackle questions about pro-environmental behavior and adoption of green technology along the coast of North Carolina. Kathryn Lienhard, Nat Blackford, and Rory Kuczek are Master of Environmental Management students at Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment. Kathryn is interested in coastal resilience, ecosystem restoration, and community engagement. She is currently working at Duke’s Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC. Nat is interested in how we manage our coastal ecosystems - from coastal forests to marshes to seagrass meadows. These coastal environments are some of the most densely populated areas on the planet, have huge ecological and cultural significance, and sequester and store large amounts of carbon. Aurora Kuczek, is a master of Environmental Management student at Duke University studying Ecosystem Science and Conservation. She is interested in coastal restoration, particularly as it relates to wildlife conservation, and how local communities can get involved in restoration processes to make real change for their environments they are closely intertwined with and rely upon to survive.