Kendall Valentine is joining the UW Oceanography program!

Kendall Valentine is an ecogeomorphologist and will be joining the MG&G option in January 2023 but arriving in Seattle this summer.  Her office and lab will be in OSB.

Kendall received her B.A. in Marine Science from Boston University, her M.S. in Geology and Geophysics from Boston College and her Ph.D. in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences from Louisiana State University for.  She then conducted postdoctoral research at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in the Department of Physical Sciences and is now joining the University of Washington's School of Oceanography in MG&G.

Why did you choose UW Oceanography?

There were a myriad of reasons why to choose UW Oceanography, but here are some of the them:

I’m most excited to be working in a collaborative community, where you can cross disciplinary boundaries to ask scientific questions and solve problems--excited to be working in a building that houses not only geological oceanographers, but biological, chemical, and physical! 

The caliber of research going on in the School is invigorating and inspirational. This is the type of environment that I want to build my career in.

I was also impressed with the community aspect of the department – everyone has been incredibly welcoming to help get me settled, and excited to get projects off the ground.

What are you looking forward to in Seattle?

This move completes my circuit around the United States! I have lived in the North (from Minnesota), the East Coast (Boston and Virginia), and the South (Louisiana) – and now to the West Coast. I’m very excited to be in a whole new part of the country. The best part about living in a lot of places is getting to experience a lot of different cultures, which is great personally -- but also brings about new scientific ideas. Of course I’m excited for hiking, kayaking, and baseball games too.

How did you get into Coastal Ecogeomorphology?

I enjoy the pursuit of knowledge, which is how I got myself into a field that straddles disciplines. I really like the combination of geology, physics, and biology and that these processes work in harmony to drive coastal change. This keeps my mind flexible, and requires outside-the-box thinking, which makes my job more like a puzzle.

Another exciting part about working on coastal change is that my work can impact peoples’ lives. Not all types of science get to do that. My work focuses not only understanding coastal evolution with climate change, but also on real solutions to the changes we are seeing. My career goals are not only to understand the scientific mechanisms that drive change, but also be able to develop ways for people to live with the coast.

I first got interested in ecogeomorphology (although I didn’t know the name of it!) when I was about 5 years old. My family went on a trip to Cape Cod, MA and I did an educational trip through the National Seashore to a salt marsh. I absolutely loved the stinky mud, and from there forward was interested in these unique coastal systems.