September 26, 2002

Wetlands scientist Andy Castelle dies

When the going got tough, Andy Castelle got people laughing.

Castelle

That's what colleagues and clients recall about Castelle, a wetlands and soils scientist with Adolfson Associates, who died this past weekend of cancer. He was 45.

"Sometimes it was like working with Jerry Seinfeld," says Molly Adolfson, the firm's president. "He would just keep us laughing all the time. He had a great way of defusing tension with humor."

Rich Perteet of Perteet Engineering recalled a Christmas party where Castelle attempted to corral everyone into a sing-a-long. Problem was nobody really knew the words, including Castelle.

Beneath the knee-slapping one-liners (Castelle liked to slap his own knee at particularly successful quips) lay technical brilliance coupled with a passion for the job, said Adolfson.

Many people, she said, did not even realize Castelle was sick during his three-year treatment for the disease because he kept working and kept his sense of humor.

Castelle was known throughout the region for his work on wetlands, most recently taking on the issue of stream buffers for a number of local jurisdictions.

Also, he taught in the University of Washington's Wetlands Science and Management certification program, where Dyanne Sheldon of Sheldon Associates said, "he made such an indelible mark on the beginning careers of so many wetland ecologists in the region."

Castelle, who held degrees from the University of Virginia and Trinity College, began with Adolfson while a part time graduate student in 1989. He never left, becoming vice president and director of the firm's natural resources practice.

During his tenure he helped build one of the largest natural resources consulting groups in the Pacific Northwest. Castelle served in a number of professional wetland science groups as well.

A memorial service will be held for Castelle at 4 p.m. today at the Shilshole Bay Beach Club, 6413 Seaview Ave. N.W.

Castelle is survived by his wife, Karin, and son, Cooper. A scholarship fund for Cooper has been set up at Washington Mutual. Contributions can be made at any branch.