Category Archives: HMSC Visitor Center

Position opening: Senior aquarist at HMSC

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NEWPORT – Oregon Sea Grant is seeking qualified applicants for a Senior Aquarist position at the Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center in Newport. The application deadline is August 8.

The 12-month, fixed-term appointment requires at least a BS/BA in aquatic biology or a related field and/or 2-3 years professional experience as an aquarist, with demonstrated skills in aquatic animal husbandry, health management  and aquatic marine/freshwater system maintenance.

The senior aquarist works with Sea Grant’s Aquatic Animal Health lead and veterinarian, as well as students and volunteers, to ensure the health and humane handling of the Visitor Center’s aquatic animals. The position is responsible for following accepted protocols for animal collection, display and education plans, managing monitoring and maintenance of the aquarium’s water systems and employing  knowledge of natural history, physiology and ecology of animals in the collection to ensure their  appropriate daily and long term care. The position is also responsible for compliance with federal and international standards for animal care and handling.

For the full position description, and to apply, visit the OSU Jobs Website.

HMSC Visitor Center switches to summer hours

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HMSC Visitor CenterNEWPORT – Oregon Sea Grant’s popular Visitor Center at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center  switches to its summer schedule this Memorial Day weekend, open from 10 am to 5 pm seven days a week.

With an ever-changing array of high-tech exhibits based on ocean and coastal science, hands-on activities including a tide-pool touch tank, videos and presentations on topics ranging from marine mammals to coastal hazards, and a central tank featuring a lively giant Pacific octopus whose three-times-a-week feedings are a favorite of visitors, the Center is a great place to spend a few hours on the central Oregon coast.

There’s no admission charge, but visitors are encouraged to make a donation (suggested at $5/person, $20/family) to help support our animals, our exhibits and our programming.

On Saturdays, you can sign up for behind-the-scenes tours of the animal health wing to learn how our aquarists and volunteers care for the fish and invertebrates in our living exhibits. Later in the summer, guided outdoor tours introduce visitors to the natural wonders of the Yaquina Bay Estuary. And frequent special events include marine animal dissections, talks by ocean scientists, and more.

Visitors also have the opportunity to contribute to science: The Center is the nation’s leading laboratory on free-choice learning, the study of how people learn in aquariums, museums and other non-classroom activities. We use our exhibits to measure how people interact, what they enjoy and what they learn.

The center is managed by Oregon Sea Grant, which also uses it as home base for a lively k-12 marine education program that includes summer science camps, high school career days, and age-appropriate science programs for children from pre-school up. And our bookstore is a great source for books, posters, apparel and games with an ocean theme.

 

Free choice learning on tap in Newport

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Shawn Rowe NEWPORT –  Dr. Shawn Rowe, Oregon Sea Grant’s marine education learning specialist, is the scientist on tap at Rogue Ales’ Brewer’s on the Bay this Friday evening, talking about how people learn science outside the conventional classroom.

The event, part of the Science on Tap series sponsored by the brewpub and OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, is free and family-friendly. Doors open at 5:30 pm; food and beverages are available for purchase.

Rowe heads the Free-Choice Learning Lab at the HMSC Visitor Center, where he is working under a $2.6 million National Science Foundation grant to create  a state-of-the-art laboratory to study how people learn about science in aquariums, museums and other venues. The grant is the largest single research award to Oregon Sea Grant in its 40-year history and among the largest ever made to a Sea Grant program nationwide.

Dr. Shawn Rowe’s team is exploring the use of networked computers, face-recognition , real-time evaluation tools and other emerging technologies to get a deeper understanding of  what and how visitors learn in places like the HMSC.

Speaking with Rowe will be Nancy Steinberg, a biologist and longtime public outreach specialist who is currently involved in the Yaquina Bay Ocean Observing Initiative, an effort to make Newport a hub for ocean observing science in the Pacific Northwest.

 

 

Marine Science Day opens HMSC labs to visitors

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Pearl, the HMSC Visitor Center's newest octopusNEWPORT – OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center will open its doors a bit wider on Saturday, April 14, when the Newport facility hosts its first Marine Science Day.

The free public event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will feature scientists and educators from OSU, federal and state agencies, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and the new NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific. It offers a rare opportunity for the public to go behind the scenes of one of the nation’s leading marine science and education facilities.

Oregon Sea Grant and its marine education program will offer special activities at the HMSC Visitor Center, and behind-the-scenes tours of its ornamental fish laboratory.

Oregon First Lady Cylvia Hayes will speak briefly at 3 p.m. in the Visitor Center auditorium, along with OSU Vice President for Research Richard Spinrad. Bruce Mate, director of OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute, will follow with a presentation showcasing the center’s pioneering role in tracking whales by satellite.

“Marine Science Day will be fun and engaging for people of all ages,” said Maryann Bozza, HMSC program manager. “Visitors will wind through the campus, getting a true behind-the-scenes experience with an unparalleled opportunity to learn directly from marine scientists.”

Most Marine Science Day exhibits and activities will be indoors, but some tours will take visitors outside to walk from one lab to another, and some exhibits will be outdoors.

“The diverse science conducted at the facility reaches from local coastlines and estuaries to the depths of the world’s oceans,” she added, “and in scale from microbes on the seafloor to undersea volcanoes and the whales that swim over them.”

Visitors can meet Pearl, the Visitor Center’s newest octopus and watch her being fed at 1 pm; observe a sea turtle necropsy; and meet fisheries scientists and geologists whose research is described in center exhibits. The public also can participate in self-guided tours through the facility’s marine research labs, library and classrooms, where scientists will have interactive exhibits explaining their research. Highlights include:

  • Hear volcanoes erupt and whales ‘sing’ in an audio display by NOAA and OSU researchers using undersea hydrophones
  • Learn how researchers are supporting sustainable fisheries through innovative, collaborative research
  • Collect biological data from fish, plankton and even a shrimp parasite through hands-on experimentation
  • Explore novel oceangoing and ocean floor instrument platforms and meet the scientists who designed them.

Visitors may also take guided tours of HMSC’s seawater facilities and ornamental fish laboratory. More information, including program and special events, is available at on the HMSC Website.

The event is intended to showcase OSU’s unique partnership with state and federal agencies, which makes the HMSC a national leader in marine research and education, according to director George Boehlert.

“OSU’s Newport campus is known for a diversity of research and the expertise of its scientists, which offer unique opportunities in education and outreach,” Boehlert said. “Visitors to Marine Science Day will get a sense of the innovation and synergy that makes the Hatfield Marine Science Center unique.”

Collaborative research partners that share the campus with OSU labs include six federal and state agencies: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and NOAA Research, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

 

 

 

OSU’s new research vessel arrives in Newport

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R/V Oceanus: Almost homeNEWPORT – Greeted by welcoming blasts from the horns of NOAA research ships berthed nearby, the Research Vessel Oceanus steamed under the arch of Yaquina Bay Bridge in a rainy mist on Tuesday and into her new home port at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center.

It was the end of a 28-day voyage for the Oceanus, which sailed out of its former home at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on Jan. 25 and cruised down the East Coast and through the Panama Canal before heading northward for Oregon and her new home port.

Marine science fans on both coasts were able to follow the voyage via a Webcam affixed to the ship’s mast, which also beamed its geographic coordinates to a Google map set up for the occasion.

OSU acquired the Oceanus via the  University National Oceanographic Laboratory System, a consortium of 60 academic research institutions that operate 16 vessels around the country. OSU, a member of UNOLS, was retiring its venerable research vessel, The Wecoma, and looked to the consortium for a replacement. Although the two vessels are about the same age, a National Science Foundation rapid assessment determined that the Oceanus would be more cost-effective to operate for the next 5-10 years. By that time, OSU hopes to have a new ship.

The Oceanus was greeted by the same sounds that saw her off from Woods Hole: A chorus of horns from other research vessels, this time those docked at the new NOAA Marine Operations Center facility not far from the Hatfield Center docks.

A formal retirement ceremony for the Wecoma is being planned for March.

(Photos by Bruce Mate. Additional photos on the Oregon Sea Grant Flickr gallery)

 

 

Sea Grant research: learning-based tourism could spur major growth in travel industry

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Children learn about octopuses at HMSC Visitor CenterNew research suggests that major growth in the travel, leisure and tourism industry in the coming century may be possible as more people begin to define recreation as a learning and educational opportunity — a way to explore new ideas and cultures, art, science and history.

But in a recent study published in the Annals of Tourism Research, John Falk, Oregon Sea Grant Professor of Free-Choice Learning, says that increasingly affluent and educated people around the world are ready to see travel in less conventional ways, and that lifelong learning and personal enrichment can compete favorably with sandy beaches or thrill rides.

“The idea of travel as a learning experience isn’t new, it’s been around a long time,” said John Falk, an international leader in the free-choice learning movement. Falk is among a group of Sea Grant professionals focusing their research on how people learn in their free time – through travel, in museums and aquariums, and through other experiences outside conventional classrooms.

At OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Dr. Shawn Rowe and colleagues are working under a $2.6 million National Science Foundation grant to create a Free-Choice Learning Laboratory, using high-tech tools to observe and analyze use of the Center’s public aquarium exhibits and what people take away from them.

Falk, meanwhile, holds one of two Free-Choice Learning professorships established by Sea Grant with the OSU Department of Science and Mathematics Education, which has developed a masters’ degree program in the emerging discipline.

Writing in the Annals of Tourism Research, Falk and his partners from the University of Queensland, Australia explore travel as part of a  “life-long and life-wide” learning experience, tracking the history of travel-for-learning back through the centuries, and examining how the experience has grown and changed in recent times.

“You’re already seeing many tour operators and travel agencies offer educational opportunities, things like whale watching, ecotourism,” Falk is quoted as saying in an article about the new research published today in Science Daily. “The National Park Service does a great job with its resources, teaching people about science, geology and history. The push for more international travel experiences as a part of formal education for students is an outgrowth of this concept.

“We’re convinced this is just the beginning of a major shift in how people want to spend their leisure time, and one that could have important implications for intellectual and cultural growth around the world.”

Learn more:

New octopus arrives at HMSC

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Ursula the octopus makes her public debut, October 2010NEWPORT – The Visitor Center at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center has acquired a new octopus for its central display and teaching tank, and aquarists report that the animal is lively, alert and adapting to her quarantine tank in the animal husbandry wing.

According to Dennis Glaze, aquatic animal health and husbandry specialist, “Our new octopus arrived in fantastic shape on Wednesday, Pearl Harbor Day. Furthermore, introduction into her temporary holding tank went remarkably smoothly, and not in typical ‘new octopus’ fashion, she seemed quite comfortable hanging around up front of the tank near the viewing window.”

Typically, the Visitor Center quarantines new octopuses for 30 days to acclimate them to human contact and make sure they’re free of disease or parasites. Since this animal came from outside Oregon waters, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is requiring a 60-day quarantine as a precaution against introducing non-native and potentially invasive organisms into Yaquina Bay via the tank’s seawater system.

The new animal will replace Ursula, the  giant Pacific octopus that has occupied the tank since October 2010. The animals are relatively short-lived, and typically stay at the center no longer than a year before being returned to the sea to complete their life cycles. Aquarists began looking for a new octopus when Ursula began showing signs of aging, including laying eggs on the tank’s walls.

Glaze called the newest octopus “a beautiful specimen, about half the size of Ursula.” As with all new arrivals the animal husbandry team watches for signs that the octopus is adapting to her new surroundings, particularly when she starts eating. Some octopuses take weeks to reach out for food, but Glaze said “this little beauty ate the second day of being here at HMSC.”

Update: Since the in-tank Octocam is out of commission (it’s being replaced with a more sophisticated model), the VC tech gurus have focused a temporary Webcam on the quarantine tank. Check the OctoCam page for a sneak preview of the new animal and watch her get acquainted with our animal husbandry staff!

The octopus tank, which is used to teach visitors about octopus biology and behavior, has been a central feature of the Visitor Center since it’s opening, and is among the most popular exhibits with the visiting public. For the past two years, its popularity has spread to to the Internet via the live, streaming OctoCam. (The in-tank camera is currently offline for replacement by a newer, more sophisticated model.)

Volunteers sought for Whale Watch Week

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Gray Whale breaching (photo courtesy of NOAA)

Gray Whale breaching (photo courtesy of NOAA)

NEWPORT – If you love whales, enjoy meeting people and don’t mind spending some time outdoors on a blustery winter day, Oregon’s winter Whale Watch Week wants you.

Volunteers are being sought for training as interpreters and whale-spotting guides at state parks up and down the Oregon coast for the annual event, which takes place this year from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.

Gray whales can be seen off the Oregon coast year-round, but their numbers peak during their twice-yearly migrations between feeding grounds in Alaska’s Bering Sea and calving lagoons in Baja California. The full round trip  is more than 10,000 miles (16,000 km), the longest known migration for any mammal.

During the peak of the southward migration each winter, as many as 30 whales an hour can be seen off coastal headlands and viewing areas. Gray whales can grow to 40 feet long and 70,000 pounds, and their migrations often bring them close enough to the coast to be spotted by the naked eye, if you know what to look for.

Whale Watch Weeks, started in the late 1970s by Oregon Sea Grant educators at the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center, has grown to a twice-yearly program administered by Oregon State Parks from its Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay. During the winter and spring weeks, as many as 450 trained volunteers take turns at two dozen of the most popular coastal whale-watch sites, helping visitors spot whales and teaching them about the lives and habits of these giant marine mammals.

Volunteer training for Winter Whale Watch Week will take place on Sat., Dec. 10 at the HMSC Visitor Center in Newport. Dr. Bruce Mate, OSU marine mammal specialist, will preside. Additional training sessions for Spring Whale Watch Week will take place in January and February.

Free-choice lab launches blog

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Welcome Oregon Sea Grant’s Free-Choice Learning Lab to the blogosphere!

The lab, based at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, employs cutting-edge research tools and technologies to study informal science learning. The knowledge will be put in practice in the form of  new and improved exhibits in the HMSC Visitor Center, which is managed by Sea Grant.

The blog,  launched last week, will to record the work of graduate research assistant Harrison Baker and other graduate students as they design, build, test and refine the new exhibits.

Under the direction of Dr. Shawn Rowe, Sea Grant’s Free-Choice Learning program specializes in conducting and applying  research on the  learning that happens when people choose to visit science museums, zoos, and aquariums in their leisure time, making specific and conscious choices about what they learn. The program was recently awarded a $2.6 million, five-year, National Science Foundation (NSF) grant – the largest ever received by Sea Grant –  toward the creation of  the new lab, which will employ the Visitor Center’s exhibits as tools for studying how people learn in a free-choice environment.

Sea level rise, increasing storms and the Pacific coast

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Storm waves hitting central Oregon coastNEWPORT – Oregon State University geoscientist Peter Ruggiero will speak at the Hatfield Marine Science Center tonight (Oct. 25) on “The Role of Sea Level Rise and Increasing Storminess in PNW Coastal Change and Flood Hazards.”

The talk starts at 7 pm in the Hennings Auditorium at the HMSC Visitor Center.

Ruggiero is part of a team of scientists from OSU and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries who have been studying increased storm activity and resulting wave height off the Oregon coast, and its effects on erosion, flooding and other hazards.

This past January, the team published an assessment suggesting that maximum heights could be as much as 40 percent higher than previous record levels, especially in the stormy winter months of December and January.  The report said that the cause of these dramatically higher waves is not completely certain, but “likely due to Earth’s changing climate.”

Combined with the effects of sea level rise, higher maximum waves could have implications for erosion, flood control, property damage and development regulations up and down the Pacific Northwest coast.

Ruggiero’s team has received support for its work from Oregon Sea Grant (2008-2010) and from the NOAA Climate Program.