Sebastian Ford Transitions From Pacific Northwest Conservation To Bard College

Activist Sebastian Ford made an impact in the Pacific Northwest before moving to the East Coast to continue working in environmental studies, according to reporting from the Bainbridge Island Review. Ford graduated from Eagle Harbor High School in the class of 2025. His interest in marine life began at an early age with cuttlefish, a type of cephalopod related to octopi and squid.

Sebastian Ford, Eagle Harbor High School class of 2025 graduate, stated that cuttlefish were what first drew him toward the ocean because of their intelligence and ability to blend in, adding that he believed he had always wanted to stop wrongs in the world and help heal wounds.

Ford volunteered at the Seattle Aquarium, connecting with the public about marine conservation. However, discussing unresolved ecological problems frustrated him, prompting a desire to make a larger difference. That drive led him to work with the Puget Sound Restoration Fund and inspired a legislative push for marine conservation in Washington state.

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Designating Washington’s Official Marine Forest

Working alongside 23rd District Rep. Greg Nance, Ford helped pass a law in April 2025 designating bull kelp as Washington’s official marine forest, recognizing its crucial role in the region’s ecology, culture, and economy. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill and named Ford the Washingtonian of the Day on April 16, 2025, while also proclaiming that date as Bull Kelp Day.

Rep. Greg Nance, 23rd District Representative, stated that kelp, as a super seaweed, was the key to saving endangered salmon and orca.

Following three years at the Seattle Aquarium and his advocacy at the state level, Ford gained recognition that included a mention in March in The New York Times’ 50 States, 50 Fixes series, which highlighted his environmental activism in Washington.

Conservation Work on the East Coast

Ford is now a student at Bard College in New York, where he plans to major in Biology with a focus on ecology. During the past year, he worked as a paid intern on The Hudson River Eel Project, counting young eels making their way upstream.

The Hudson River Eel Project is run by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hudson River Estuary Program and the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve. Initiated in 2008, the project engages roughly 1,000 volunteers annually to catch, count, and release over one million glass eels that drift across the Atlantic from the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda to the tributaries of the Hudson River.

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In addition to his studies and internship, Ford spent the summer as an apprentice on a homestead in Maine, learning to strengthen his relationship with the physical world. Reflecting on his journey from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast, Ford noted that his experiences have broadened his perspective on environmental work.

Sebastian Ford, environmental studies student at Bard College, expressed hope for a world where his species respects and gives respect to what is real, noting that going to college had expanded his curiosities and interests to the point where he did not yet know what type of environmental work he planned on doing, though he believed he would be working in a relationship with the earth.