Author Archives: kightp

About kightp

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

NOAA’s Spinrad named research director at OSU

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Rickard SpinradCORVALLIS, Ore. – A leading federal science director and accomplished oceanographer, who has overseen research efforts at two major federal agencies, is the new vice president for research at Oregon State University, OSU officials have announced.

Richard W. (Rick) Spinrad, assistant administrator for research for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will leave his Washington, D.C., post and return to Corvallis, where he received his master’s degree (1978) and doctorate (1982) in oceanography. He will begin his new duties at OSU on July 1.

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How-to guide can help gardeners restore natural water cycle

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Rain Garden GuideA new guide on building sunken-bed rain gardens to collect and filter runoff water can help Northwest homeowners learn how to redesign home landscapes to help protect rivers and streams.

Rain gardens can help restore the natural water cycle, according to Rob Emanuel and Derek Godwin of Oregon Sea Grant Extension at Oregon State University.

“As our landscapes became developed, rain falling on hard surfaces was directed to pipes, ditches and storm drains that route to streams or into stormwater sewer systems,” Emanuel said. “The result is too much water arriving in a short amount of time and carrying pollutants.”

Rain gardens work like a native forest, meadow or prairie.

“They capture and redirect stormwater from hard surfaces such as roof tops, driveways, parking lots and streets,” Godwin said. “Rain gardens help keep watersheds healthy by filtering out toxins before they pollute streams and lakes, and they can actually recharge aquifers by encouraging water to soak into the ground.”

The new 44-page illustrated guide, “Oregon Rain Garden Guide: Landscaping for Clean Water and Healthy Streams,” was written by Emanuel, Godwin and Candace Stoughton, who works for the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District.

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Download the publication: [.pdf – 14 MB file] [HTML – 106 KB file, illustrations omitted]

Sea Grant seeks new Extension program leader

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Oregon Sea Grant invites applications for the position of Extension Program Leader, an administrative faculty appointment to lead an innovative program and team of Sea Grant Extension faculty and staff located on the Oregon State University campus, in offices along the Oregon coast, at the state capital, and the metro/Columbia River area.

This position supervises approximately 20 Extension agents, specialists and professional faculty who engage with and address stakeholder and community issues. The successful applicant will provide leadership, vision, focus and development for the Oregon Sea Grant Extension program to foster statewide partnerships with coastal stakeholders and across institutions and to work with Sea Grant leadership on program development, new initiatives and proposals to grow the program.

The successful applicant will show evidence of a deep commitment to collaborative work and engage with other institutions, agencies, and Sea Grant programs regionally and nationally to develop and sustain effective marine extension programming, networks and relationships.

A PhD degree or equivalent professional experience and a record of excellence in outreach leadership and management in marine, coastal, natural resources or a related field are required. Strong listening, writing and speaking skills, knowledge of Sea Grant, ocean issues and coastal resources, and experience with proposal writing are preferred. We seek someone with a proven commitment to diversity and team building, and to working productively with diverse sets of stakeholders.

For more information and application materials, visit the OSU Jobs site. The application deadline is Feb. 28, 2010.

Whale Watch Week is coming up

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Gray whaleVolunteers take their positions at state parks up and down the Oregon Coast next Saturday to help visitors look for migrating gray whales during the annual Winter Whale Watch Week, Dec. 26-Jan. 1.

The program, launched by Oregon Sea Grant’s Don Giles in 1978 and now coordinated by the Oregon State Parks and Recreation’s Depoe Bay Whale Center, draws thousands of winter visitors to the coast each year, armed with binoculars in hopes of spotting some of the giant marine mammals as they migrate south to their  breeding grounds off Mexico’s Baja California.

To learn more about whales and their migrations before you head to the coast, download the free Sea Grant publication, Gray Whales, from our Web site, in English and Spanish language versions, as a printable .pdf or a fast-loading text version. Also available: A Watching Whales fact sheet with tips for spotting the animals – and how to tell a whale spout from a wave –  is also available.

When you need to warm up, stop by OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center, open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. every day of Whale Watch Week except Jan. 1  with special programs and activities, including a daily marine mammal program in Hennings Auditorium featuring hands-on baleen, skulls and other whale “biofacts”.  The Center is also a great place to find out where whales are being seen – they’ll be keeping a running list of reported sightings and locations.

For more information, including a list of parks where volunteers will be stationed, visit the Whale Spoken Here Web site.

OSG, ODFW offer two new fellowships

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Postgraduate students in fisheries and related fields are eligible to apply for two new natural resources fellowships that will give them a year of on-the-ground work in resource conservation and management.

The fellowships, part of the Sea Grant Scholars program are a collaborative effort between Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. They are open to any PhD. or Masters level graduating student or recent graduate who will have completed a degree in marine ecology, zoology, fisheries, resource management, or related fields by the time the fellowships start.

The purpose is to provide two postgraduates with one year each of technical work experience and training while contributing to ODFW mission to protect and enhance Oregon’s fish and wildlife and their habitats for use and enjoyment by present and future generations.

Both fellows will be based at ODFW’s office in Newport, OR. One will concentrate on historical rockfish catch in Oregon’s commercial and sport fisheries; the other will work on a quantitative description of bottom-dwelling invertebrates in Oregon’s rocky nearshore zone.

For more information about these and other Sea Grant Scholars opportunities, visit:

http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/funding/fellows.html

NOAA launches marine planning site

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A new Web site from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gives visitors tools to learn about marine spatial planning – the ocean equivalent of land-use planning.

The site, at www.msp.noaa.gov, not only lays out basic concepts, but helps visitors  stay on top of current  news and information about marine spatial planning initiatives in the U.S., at both the federal and state levels.

The site also provides access to the tools and data used by organizations involved in marine spatial planning, including mapping and modeling tools, downloadable software and direct access to relevant government databases.

The site’s “In Practice” section profiles a number of state and regional projects involving marine spatial planning, including current Oregon efforts to plan for offshore wave energy projects.

Scholar urges change in renewable energy approach

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Maria StefanovichPolicymakers would do well to change their approach to “selling” renewable energy by focusing on more than  just the potential environmental good.

So writes Maria Stefanovich, Oregon Sea Grant Malouf Scholar, in an editorial in a recent issue  of Sea Technology Magazine.

Stefanovich cites an Oregon  energy policy survey by researchers at OSU that found strongest support for wave energy development among conservative,  “human values”-centered males – a group not conventionally viewed  as friendly to  “green” projects.

Instead of focusing entirely on the environmental benefits of renewable energy, Stefanovich writes,  “policymakers may be more effective in getting the public to adopt renewable energy more quickly if they leverage the public’s economic bias and stress the socioeconomic benefits that wave energy could provide.”

A native of Bulgaria with degrees in Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations from the Affiliated Institution of the University of Sheffield in Greece, and   in Business Administration and Southeast European Studies the American University in Bulgaria, Stefanovich came to Oregon State University in 2007 to pursue a PhD in Environmental Science.

She is the 2009 recipient of Sea Grant’s Robert E. Malouf Marine Studies Scholarship.

Read Stefanovich’s editorial in Sea Technology.

Squid Search: Understanding the spread of a marine predator

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Humbodt Squid necropsyHumboldt squid (aka “jumbo squid”) are large predators that have been turning up in growing numbers in fishermen’s nets off the Oregon coast over the past decade. Now an Oregon State University researcher, with support from Oregon Sea Grant, is working with fishermen and  other partners to develop a database describing the squids’ advance.

Researcher Selena Heppell and her team plan to  focus on the relationship between the expansion of the squids’ northern range and ocean conditions, and the role the animal plays in coastal food webs. Collaborators include collaborate tuna, salmon and hake fishermen, California Sea Grant, the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Oregon Sea Grant Extension, and various departments and faculty at OSU.

Read more about the project in the Heppell Lab blog.

Sea Grant partnership wins Presidential award

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Coastal America Logo

The Ocean Conservation and Education Alliance Northwest (OCEAN), a partnership of Oregon Sea Grant and several other coastal groups, will receive a 2009 Coastal America Partnership Award for outstanding efforts to restore and protect the coastal environment.

The Presidential award represents the highest level national recognition for  outstanding  multi-agency, multi-stakeholder collaborations that pool resources from many sources to accomplish coastal restoration, preservation, protection and education projects.

The award was announced on Nov. 6 by the Coastal America Partnership, an action-oriented, collaborative partnership of federal agencies, state and local governments, and private organizations. The partners work together to protect, preserve, and restore our nation’s coasts, accomplishing tasks that no one group could accomplish alone.

OCEAN is receiving the award for “efforts to bring together a network of innovative educators … to engage students and inspire ocean science literacy,” according to Coastal America director Virginia K. Tippie.

OCEAN started three years ago as a joint effort by Oregon Sea Grant’s marine education program at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Lincoln County School District to help make local k-12 students among the most ocean-literate in the country.

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“Medicines from the Sea” lecture at HMSC

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NEWPORT – Dr. George Robert Pettit, a noted biochemist, will talk about “Medicines from the Sea – From marine organism constituents to human cancer clinical trials” this Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in the HMSC Hennings Auditorium.

Dr. Pettit,  professor of chemistry at Arizona State University, is spending a month in residence at the HMSC, collaborating with researchers from various departments on the potential development of a marine drug and biodiscovery unit at Oregon State University.

He is the latest scholar to take part in the Lavern Weber Visiting Scientist Program, which provides opportunities for researchers from other institutions to have an extended stay at the HMSC to work with faculty and students exploring new research questions of mutual interest.