Rosa Hunter, lab manager at the Salish Sea Research Center, wants aspiring young scientists to know it’s never too late. Hunter dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and worked every job, from digging ditches to housekeeping, before jumping head first into college at age 32. It was there that she found her love for ancient organisms like tardigrades, trying to reveal their secrets. Her studies led to her work in the sea, where she realized that her grandmother’s guidance clamming as a child could inform her work identifying toxic shellfish in our oceans. “I was like, holy moly, my ancestors were scientists. I come from a line of scientists. That blew my mind,” Hunter said.

There’s nothing Kwasi Addae loves more than Puget Sound.

Biologist Steven Clark bushwhacks his way up a trail as he searches for the Gorge daisy.

Mikayla Weary has been community organizing since the sixth grade. Now, at 17, Weary is the president of Black Coffee NW. Darnesha Weary, owner of the shop, intentionally gave her daughter a title of power so she can walk into a space and be a stakeholder of Black Coffee. Mikayla says working in the position has opened her eyes to how power structures play out in the corporate workspace. “I've learned in America titles mean everything and Black people usually don't get the big titles, but they do the work,” Mikayla said. They hope that by hiring more youth, they can provide more opportunities to diversify the coffee industry.

The Wearys say they never want a Black family to feel alone. The family business has been a target of racism in the predominantly white neighborhood.

Without these buzzy pollinators, the food on our plates could look — and taste — a lot different.