About kightp

Pat Kight is the web and digital media specialist for Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University.

Shark Day at the Visitor Center – now with live Web stream!

Posted on January 7, 2011 by kightp

NEWPORT – Shark Day is returning to the Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center this Saturday (Jan. 8) – and this year, Internet audiences are invited to join in learning more about these fascinating marine animals via a live-streamed shark dissection and “ask the scientist” chat.

At 1:30 pm (Pacific Time), Bill Hanshumaker, Sea Grant public education specialist, will be dissecting a seven-foot salmon shark (Lamna ditropis), which has been in the deep freeze since it was hauled up as by-catch by a hake trawler last summer and donated to the center. Dr. Hanshumaker will systematically dissect the shark to reveal its nervous, circulatory, digestive and reproductive systems, and talk about shark biology and adaptations.

This year’s Shark Day dissection will be streamed live over the Web via the center’s ScienceCam – and a new feature will allow Internet visitors to join in a live, moderated chat where they can ask questions about shark biology and behavior.

Follow this link to view the dissection live and find out how to take part in the live chat.

Samples of the shark’s tissue and vertebrae will be collected and passed on to researchers who will determine the animal’s age and test test for parasites and mitochondrial concentration.

The specimen is on display at the Center today and through Saturday, until the dissection.

The ScienceCam is one of the Visitor Center’s new initiatives to expand marine education and outreach offerings to those unable to visit the Oregon Coast. In addition to occasional public presentations, it is being used to stream marine science demonstrations to school classrooms, many of them far from the ocean.

(Illustration: Sharks of Oregon poster, available from Oregon Sea Grant)

HMSC Visitor Center launches Glass Quilt giving campaign

Posted on December 10, 2010 by kightp

NEWPORT – Would you like to help support the future of marine education on the Oregon coast – and help create a beautiful piece of public art?

The Visitor Center at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center announces its 2011–12 Glass Quilt Giving Campaign, an opportunity for donors to contribute to the Center’s marine education programs while building a beautiful glass quilt, filled with images of Oregon’s marine life and the names of donors, in the center’s lobby.

The quilt is a series of 160 interlocking glass tiles, symbolizing the great web of life we experience in nature—and the web of support the Visitor Center relies on each day. Sponsor your own glass quilt square, imprinted with your name or a tribute to a loved one, for a tax-deductible donation of $250 or more.

All donations will support the Visitor Center’s marine education mission, teaching young and old to understand, appreciate and protect our oceans and coast.

To read more, and to make your tax-deductible donation through the OSU Foundation, visit http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/visitor/glassquilt

The glass quilt, featuring photographic images of Pacific marine animals fused into colorful glass squares was designed by artist David Adamson, of the 9th Street Gallery in Newport. A 1991 OSU graduate with a degree in biology, Adamson spent 10 years working as an HMSC marine educator, aquarist, field technican and videographer before leaving to work full time as an artist.

Call for preliminary research proposals, 2012-2014

Posted on December 9, 2010 by kightp

Oregon Sea Grant invites preliminary proposals for research on important marine and coastal issues from researchers who are affiliated with any institution of higher education. Proposals will be entered into a highly competitive review and selection process. Funding comes from OSG’s $1.8 million NOAA research allocation for 2012-2014.

The deadline for submitting preproposals is Friday, Feb. 4, 2011 before 5 pm. Full proposals are due May 6, and funding decisions will be announced on Sept. 12.

The two primary criteria for evaluating proposals are scientific excellence and societal relevance. An ideal proposal would apply the best sicence and an innovative approach to a well-defined coastal or marine problem that is important to Oregon, the Pacific Northwest and the nation. Successful proposals are also likely to show significant progress within two years, focus on outcomes, clearly show how and two whom the work would make a difference, and have co-funding from interested stakeholders and partners, among other qualities. All proposals are required to include community outreach and engagement components.

For more information, including a timeline and specific guidance for preparing proposals, visit http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/funding/rfpcall.html. For questions about potential proposal ideas contact Sea Grant Director Stephen Brandt at 541-737-02714 or by email to stephen.brandt@oregonstate.edu

Oregon Sea Grant to lead regional invasive species effort

Posted on December 2, 2010 by kightp

Sam Chan, Oregon Sea Grant Extension’s aquatic invasive species educator, will lead a two year, $416,000 effort to combat high-priority aquatic invasive species identified by natural resource managers in the Pacific Northwest and Southwest, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Dec. 1.

Chan’s team at Oregon State University will work with Sea Grant programs and others throughout the region to develop a method to better predict the risk of aquatic invasive species and better understand the economic value of early detection and rapid response.

These programs will also develop strategies for managing the risk of non-native mussels invading West Coast waters through long-distance water tunnels and will investigate school classrooms as a potential source of new invasions (via educational aquariums).

Geography Awareness Week focuses on freshwater

Posted on November 17, 2010 by kightp

Over at H2ONCoast, Oregon Sea Grant Extension blogger Rob Emanuel highlights Geography Awareness Week, a project of National Geographic which, this week, is turning the spotlight on clean, safe, abundant water as “one of the defining issues of the 21st century.” Check out their resource-rich Web site, with information and activities for parents, teachers and young people, including games, quizzes, and multimedia, all aimed at increasing awareness of this life-sustaining resource.

Visit the Geography Awareness site.

Sea Grant director gives fish-eye view of Gulf spill

Posted on November 8, 2010 by kightp

Oregon Sea Grant director Stephen Brandt will give a public talk tonight about findings from six seasons of subsurface exploration in the low-oxygen waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. And he’ll share what was different about this year’s cruise, which began after the United States’ largest recorded oil well blow-out was capped in July.

The informal talk starts at 6 pm at the Old World Deli in Corvallis, as part of the Science Pub series.

“Recently there has been an alarming increase, in the spatial and temporal extent of low-oxygen conditions in estuarine and coastal waters,” said Brandt. “We call them ‘dead zones’ in the media because we presume there are drastic impacts on living resources such as shrimp and fish.”

In his talk, Brandt will show how low-oxygen conditions, which scientists call “hypoxia,” can affect habitat quality, food webs and growth rates. Some fish, he added, may actually benefit from these conditions.

Brandt’s team, which has been collecting subsurface data on ocean conditions and marine life in the Gulf for six years, received a National Science Foundation emergency response grant this year to do another sampling cruise following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. He kept a blog during the trip.

Science Pub Corvallis is part of a series of free, informal science lectures sponsored at pubs around the state by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry; the Corvallis lectures are cosponsored by OSU’s Terra magazine and the Downtown Corvallis Association.

Seattle symposium: Energy use in Fisheries

Posted on November 2, 2010 by kightp

Federal agencies are teaming with nongovernmental organizations to sponsor a symposium on “Energy use in Fisheries: Improving Efficiency and Technological Innovations from a Global Perspective,” November 14-17 in Seattle.

Sponsored by NOAA Fisheries Service, NOAA National Sea Grant, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Pacific Marine Expo, the World Bank and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, the symposium will look at the direct and indirect effects of global energy costs on the seafood harvesting, processing and marketing sectors.

The symposium resulted from planning by the Sea Grant Safe and Sustainable Seafood Supply (SSSS) focus team. More than 90 presentations by experts from all over the world will address local and regional solutions for addressing energy challenges. Participants will identify and discuss management strategies, alternate gear and vessel designs, alternate fuels, vessel operation and maintenance strategies, and a set of metrics to measure the level of energy reduction.

Guest speakers include Jeff Steele, who led a green refit for the F/V Time Bandit, a vessel featured on Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” television show, and Chris Dixon who supplied a South Carolina shrimp boat with waste vegetable oil from the Margaritaville Restaurant.

To register and to learn more: http://www.energyfish.nmfs.noaa.gov/index.html

New HMSC octopus readies for public debut

Posted on November 2, 2010 by kightp

NEWPORT – A new octopus will make its public debut on Nov. 13 in the central aquarium at the Visitor Center in Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, and the public is invited to meet the animal and learn its new name. Meanwhile, Web visitors may be able to get a sneak preview of the new star.

The event, called “Octopus Day,” will feature activities for children, a display of a dissected octopus with its internal anatomy labeled, and the official unveiling – and first public feeding – of the new octopus at 1 pm.

From now through Nov. 12, visitors are invited to submit suggested names for the new animal when they stop by the Center, located on Yaquina Bay in Newport’s South Beach area. The person who submits the winning name will receive a prize. Only in-person submissions are being accepted.

This is the latest in a long series of giant Pacific octopuses to greet visitors at one of the Center’s most popular and endearing exhibits. The new animal is the successor to Deriq, the octopus who took the Internet by storm earlier this year when the Visitor Center installed a live, streaming Web video feed dubbed the OctoCam (http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/visitor/octocam).

More fellowship opportunities

Posted on October 28, 2010 by kightp

Oregon Sea Grant is accepting graduate and postgraduate student applications for two prestigious Washington, D.C. fellowships:

The NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship (application deadline Jan. 28, 2011) was established in 1996 to provide on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management and policy for postgraduate students and to provide project assistance to state coastal zone management programs. The program matches postgraduate students with state coastal zone programs to work on projects proposed by the state and selected by the fellowship sponsor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center. This two-year opportunity offers a competitive salary, medical benefits, and travel and relocation expense reimbursement. Read more …

The Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships (application deadline Feb. 18, 2011) provides a unique educational experience to students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. The program matches highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative and executive branch of government located in the Washington, D.C. area, for a one year paid fellowship. Read more …

Meet some of our current and recent fellows.

Breaking Waves

Oregon Sea Grant: Coastal science serving Oregon

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