Salish Sea Director Ginny Broadhurst retires

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Salish Sea Director Ginny Broadhurst retires

April 30, 2026

Ginny Broadhurst, the founding director of Western Washington University's Salish Sea Institute, retired this week after nearly nine years leading WWU's interdisciplinary center devoted to transboundary collaboration and engagement across the Salish Sea region.

Broadhurst, who started as the director of the Salish Sea Institute in June 2017, retired on April 30. At Western she led the development of the State of the Salish Sea report and was instrumental in creating the Salish Sea studies minor. She also led several Salish Sea Ecosystem Studies conferences, developed the international Salish Sea Fellows Program and created A Network of Hope for the Salish Sea, a series of workshops and writings focusing on effective work to restore and protect the Salish Sea.

She raised more than $1.25 million for the institute in gifts from private donors, including support for the State of the Salish Sea Report, the Salish Sea Endowed Tahlequah Communications Internship, the Salish Sea Fellows Program and seed money for an endowed Salish Sea Studies professorship.

"It's been an honor to run the Salish Sea Institute and build programs to connect students and the community to the Salish Sea in meaningful ways," Broadhurst said. "I am looking forward to taking some time off, but I expect that by fall I will be finding new ways to engage in promoting Hope for the Salish Sea."

Today, 56 students have graduated with a Salish Sea minor and 58 more are working toward their degrees. The Salish Sea Institute also collaborates with 19 core and affiliate WWU faculty from a variety of disciplines. And the third cohort of Salish Sea Fellows has begun their transboundary work on conservation projects with the institute.

"Ginny has made the Institute a critical resource and key player in the protection of the Salish Sea," said Cindy Elliser, associate director. "Our initiatives influence students, researchers, managers and policymakers to work together to care for this shared region. Her impact will continue to be felt in the work we do far into the future."

Broadhurst's work at Western culminated a 25-year career in stewardship of the Salish Sea region, including a decade as executive director of the Northwest Straits Commission. She has also served on many regional and international advisory groups related to marine debris, ocean acidification, marine protected areas and coastal ecosystem health. In April 2023, Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Broadhurst to the Northwest Straits Commission board of directors.

"It's been a gift to work with Ginny over the last 25 years of her career, including her most recent tenure leading the Salish Sea Institute," said Joe Gaydos, a wildlife veterinarian, director of the SeaDoc Society and member of the Salish Sea Institute Advisory Board. "In the world of conservation things can happen slowly but Ginny's persistence working to unify U.S. / Canadian / Tribal efforts to develop a healthy Salish Sea have already borne fruit in improving how we collectively care for this place. And the structures she set up will continue to bear fruit for years to come. Whether you know her or not, we are all better off for the work that Ginny has done."