National Heritage Areas are based on partnerships: bringing together a range of Tribes, organizations, businesses, and governments around heritage resources and stories. One of our partners is the Port Townsend STEM Club. If you are interested in becoming a partner, learn more on our become a partner page.
Since she was in middle school, Ella Ashford has been a member of the Port Townsend STEM Club. Now finishing her dual bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Science and Archeology, Ella has helped government agencies across the Olympic Peninsula clean up marine debris using underwater robots, contributing to important environmental stewardship efforts. She directly attributes her success in college to the foundation of science and communication skills she learned during her years in the STEM Club.
When Gabi Ashford, Ella’s mom and a former GIS (Geographic Information System) technician, founded the club in 2011, her goal was to help children in her community navigate an increasingly digital and complex world. What began as a group of students interested in robotics grew quickly into a sophisticated team that builds underwater robots, preserves the diverse ecology of the Puget Sound, and inspires other students to learn about STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) principles through experiences on the water.
Club Projects
A key project of the Port Townsend STEM Club is the Sea Dragons team, where students partner with local government and environmental organizations to design and operate underwater robots called ROVs (remotely operated vehicles). These robots help recover derelict crab pots from 200 feet underwater.
Derelict fishing gear and debris like crab pots can trap and kill marine life. Over 12,000 crab pots are estimated to be lost annually in Washington State alone, killing up to 180,000 male Dungeness crabs per year. Recovering them can help preserve marine biodiversity and even contribute positively to coastal communities economically by saving valuable catch.
Before the Port Townsend STEM team started cleaning up local waters, they needed to learn to build robots and coordinate with government agencies. Ella was there from the beginning as the club grew from a garage-based gathering into a multi-school effort to bring fun STEAM activities to the Olympic Peninsula. She recalls an early experience at the annual “maker faire,” where her friends were clustered around an ROV in a bucket saying “whoa, it’s like a robot, but it’s in the water. How does that work?”
Over years, the Sea Dragons grew from gathering around a robot in a bucket to inspecting an inaccessible fuel pipe for the Port of Brownsville to competing in statewide competitions in pools to recovering crab pots from the seafloor.
All the while, they have maintained a commitment to their roots on the Olympic Peninsula. When other competitors were backed by tech giants like Microsoft, the scrappy underdogs from Port Townsend made sure that their team members could afford to build their robots by writing grants and mustering support from their community.
Inspiring Lifelong Interests
Ella has still been involved in the club while in college but in more of an administrative capacity. “Now, when I go into the robotics classroom, there [are] so many faces I don’t know. It’s this moment of awe that this little thing that we started has gone on to impact so many people across the community, and that definitely feels very, very special,” said Ella.
Ella attributed her success at Willamette University to the skills she attained as a member of the club. While at university, she has conducted drone surveys of archaeological sites in Greece and worked aboard the famous deep-water research ship the Nautilus. Ella said that the time she spent drafting grants, permits, and proposals as part of the Sea Dragons contributed to her interest in effective science communication.
Ella’s mother Gabi beamed while she explained how other young people have grown similarly after joining the club. One success story involves a member who is now pursuing a master’s degree in robotics at Texas A&M University. Ella’s two siblings, also former members of the Port Townsend STEM club, have also chosen paths like hers, one pursuing degrees in physics and biology, and another pursuing science education.
Community Impacts
In 2023, the club received a grant from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to share its members’ underwater robotics expertise with students from five other school districts across the Olympic Peninsula. In these sessions, Ella and her team showcased their work and shared how these robots contribute to marine conservation, fostering both environmental awareness and interest in STEM education amongst their peers.
Over the years, Gabi has seen the organization’s impact evolve beyond individual projects, providing opportunities for students to engage in meaningful work that benefits their communities—whether environmentally, historically, or culturally. “This whole growth at the Port Townsend STEM Club has really been about empowering community resilience,” said Gabi.
“Not all of the students [who participate in Port Townsend STEM Club] are going to become engineers, but they will have enough of a background in it—as well as interest in stewarding local resources—that whether they become artists, or cooks, or musicians, that they have a vested interest in and connection with their community, to be able to return and bring whatever skills they want,” said Ella.
As Gabi and Ella look forward to the club’s future, they remain committed to its core mission: fostering the next generation of innovators who will use their skills to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. By blending art with science and technology, the Port Townsend STEM Club equips young people with the skills and resilience needed to thrive in an increasingly digital and interconnected waterfront—helping to inspire the next wave of the maritime sector.
The Port Townsend STEM Club has many programs and is open to students kindergarten through college in Jefferson County. To learn more about joining, please email [email protected].