Category Archives: marine education

Sea Grant Summer Scholars accepting applications now

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2010 Summer Scholars get acquainted on the OSU Challenge CourseOregon Sea Grant is accepting applications from undergraduates for the Summer Scholars program.

This 10-week program places high caliber junior and senior undergraduate students from around the country with federal, state, and local public agencies to provide students with hands-on experience under the mentorship of a career professional, with a goal of  preparing them for graduate school and careers in marine science, policy, management, and outreach.

Participants gain  professional skills, agency workplace experience, and real-life practice in marine resource science, policy, management, and outreach and support agency programs and initiatives.

The 2011 Summer Scholars will be placed in Oregon in Lincoln, Coos, and Benton Counties, where they will assist host agencies with field work, lab work, analysis, natural resource policy research, public education, outreach and community engagement efforts.

The program is open to any undergraduate student who will have completed two years of study by summer 2011, and who is currently enrolled in any U.S. college or university may apply. Students of color, from first nations, non-traditional students, and those from other diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. We seek students with a variety of interests including marine science, biology, ecology, zoology, environmental science, journalism, education, political science, or economics.

More information and application guidelines available here. The deadline to apply is April 1.

Registration nears for HMSC Career Day

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Young scientists build their own ROVNEWPORT – Registration opens Feb. 1 for “CSI: Careers in Science Investigation,” the popular Hatfield Marine Science Center program for high school-aged students interested in exploring careers in marine and natural sciences.

The career day program takes place on Friday, April 8 from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm at the HMSC Visitor Center in Newport. The cost is $15/student.

Presented each spring and fall by the Oregon Sea Grant marine education program, the day-long program offers 9th-through-12th-graders an opportunity to spend a day interacting with working scientists on field research projects, learning about current research, recent discoveries and cutting-edge techniques, and taking part in hands-on activities – including building their own Remotely Operated Vehicles.

A highlight of this spring’s program will send participants out onto the Yaquina Bay mudflats to work alongside scientists sampling the rate of parasitic isopods in local ghost shrimp populations. Budding scientists are advised to bring boots and  rain gear, and to expect to get very wet and muddy!

Other sessions will focus on marine mammals, deep-ocean vents, wave energy, and marine invertebrate biology.

Space is limited, and reservations go fast. Read more and download a printable registration form.

OSG beach publication solves a Great Lakes Mystery

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Beach Ball illustrationWhen a Duluth man walked into the Minnesota Sea Grant office recently seeking help identifying a couple of weird-looking balls of of stuff he’d found on the shore of  Lake Superior,  science writer Sharon Moen found the answer from a sister program in Oregon.

An Internet search led her straight to Oregon Sea Grant and its free publication, “Flotsam, Jetsam, and Wrack.”

The balls found by Glenn Maxham,  about 2½ inches in diameter and made of grasses, twigs, a bird feather and degraded polymer mesh,  match a similar phenomenon found on the Oregon coast, where locals (and some tourist shops) have dubbed them “whale burps.”

They have nothing to do with whales; rather, it’s the action of waves and surf that gather loose natural (and unnatural) debris and roll it over the sand until it compacts into a ball. The preferred name is “beach balls” or “surf balls,” according to retired OSG marine educator Vicki Osis, who helped develop the publication. Similar phenomena have been reported in Egypt, Australia, and on the shores of California’s Little Borax Lake.

“Flotsam, Jetsam, and Wrack” is among some 150 publications available free for the downloading from Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University. Topics range from enjoying the beaches to building your own water-conserving rain garden, salmon restoration,wave energy, tsunami preparedness and safe seafood preparation. Most are available in both printable .pdf format and accessible plain-text versions.

The Oregon and Minnesota Sea Grant programs are among 30 Sea Grant college programs across the nation, organized under NOAA’s National Sea Grant program.  Affiliated with major universities in the nation’s coastal and Great Lakes states, the Sea Grant programs conduct marine research, education and public outreach that  foster science-based  use and conservation of the nation’s aquatic resources.

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

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Sharks of OregonNEWPORT – 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

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Glass Quilt tilesNEWPORT – 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.

Sea Grant director gives fish-eye view of Gulf spill

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Steve Brandt at seaOregon 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.

Sea Grant, State Parks collaborate on iPhone guide to newest park

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NEWPORT – A new iPhone application gives visitors an inside look at Oregon’s newest state park, the Beaver Creek State Natural Area south of Newport.

The application, “Paddle Beaver Creek,” was developed jointly by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University. It is available free for downloading from the iPhone store.

The project is designed to provide park visitors with an additional way to learn more about the park. “We are adapting to the needs of present and future generations of park visitors,” stated Mike Rivers, Ranger Supervisor for Oregon State Parks. “Having a park-specific smart phone guide to water trails, wildlife and natural history will hopefully deepen our visitors’ experiences in Oregon State Parks’ 2010 park of the year, Beaver Creek State Natural Area.”

The core of the application is an interactive map of the Beaver Creek Water Trail – about three scenic miles of an easy-paddling waterway in a pristine coastal marsh open to kayaks and canoes. With no feasible way to post interpretive signs along a water trail, the application provides iPhone-equipped canoeists and kayakers a way to track their progress via GPS, and interactively highlights points of interest along the way, from nesting ospreys to beaver lodges.

Oregon Sea Grant’s interest in developing new tools for effective science education brought them to this cooperative project. “We are always exploring tools that deepen understanding of the coast,” said Dr. Shawn Rowe, Sea Grant Extension’s free-choice learning specialist at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. “Giving visitors the ability to seek the depth of information they prefer is the future of parks and interpretive centers.”

Beaver Creek State Natural Area  is located seven miles south of Newport, just east of Ona Beach State Park. The park, which celebrated its grand opening Oct. 1, offers recreation for boaters and nonboaters alike. A newly created Visitor Center features interpretive exhibits, an ADA-accessible deck overlooking the wetland, and trail access. Free Wi-Fi access allows visitors to download the iPhone App on the spot.

Other Sea Grant personnel involved in conceptualizing and creating the application and coordinating logistics include Mark Farley, Nancee Hunter, Joe Cone and Evelyn Paret. Plans are in the works for additional applications, in versions for a variety of mobile smart-phone platforms.

Oregon Sea Grant, founded in 1968 and based at Oregon State University, supports research, education, and public engagement to help people understand, responsibly use, and conserve ocean and coastal resources.

NPR features free-choice learning

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In National Public Radio’s science blog,  “13.7: Cosmos and Culture,” Ursula Goodenough writes:

Myth: The American populace is science-ignorant, lagging well behind other “developed” nations in scientific literacy.

Fact: It turns out that the U.S. curve is U-shaped: Elementary-school children perform as well in science-understanding metrics as their peers elsewhere, even though formal science teaching at these grade levels is at best sporadic, whereas middle- and high-school students perform abysmally even though they take required science courses. But American adults demonstrate scientific knowledge on a par or above adults in other “developed” countries, even though only 30 percent of adult Americans have ever taken even one college-level science course.

How to explain? Goodenough cites an “excellent” article in a recent edition of American Scientist by John Falk and Lynn Dierking, Oregon Sea Grant’s professors of free-choice learning. Falk and Dierking specialize in studying the kind of learning that takes place outside the classroom – the learning that we do on our own, by visiting museums and aquariums, reading, investigating things on the Internet or pursuing our passions, from star-gazing to collecting tropical fish.

It turns out that, for most Americans, free-choice learning is how we pick up most of what we know about science.  And while Falk and Dierking support efforts to improve school-based science literacy, they also call for broadening opportunities for adults to pursue their inherent curiosity about science, technology, engineering and math.

(Oregon Sea Grant’s Free-Choice Learning program is aiding in that effort by using OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center as a living lab for studying how people learn in informal settings. Read more at http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/visitor/free-choice-learning .

Read Goodenough’s blog entry  here.

New blog showcases scholars

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Summer Scholars at fish disease lab

Oregon Sea Grant’s graduate and undergraduate fellows and interns are sharing their summer experiences in marine science, policy and resource management in a new blog, Sea Grant Scholars.

Sea Grant annually places qualified university students and recent graduates in fellowships and internships with marine science labs, resource agencies and legislative bodies, in locations from the Oregon Coast to Washington, D.C. The positions offer those interested in marine science and resource management careers an opportunity to learn first-hand what those careers entail, while providing valuable support to scientists, managers and policy-makers on real-world projects.

Our first scholar-bloggers are taking part in our new Summer Scholars program for undergraduates. They are:

AnnaRose Adams, Oregon State University,  assigned to the Oregon Sea Grant program office on the OSU campus, under the mentorship of program director Steve Brandt and Julie Risien.

Daniel Brusa, SUNY-Rockland Community College, New York, assigned to the Lincoln County Sea Grant Extention team in Newport, under the mentorship of Extension faculty member Kaety Hildenbrand.

Ian Heller, Vassar College, New York, assigned to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s West Coast Ecology Division at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, under the mentorship of Ted Dewitt.

Phillip Sanchez,   University of Florida-Gainesville, assigned to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s West Coast Ecology Division at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, under the mentorship of Jim Power.

Katie Wrubel,  California State University-Monterey Bay, assigned to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Charleston office, under the mentorship of Scott Groth.

OctoCam: Live, streaming octopus!

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NEWPORT – An iconic celebrity of the central Oregon coast is ready to writhe and wiggle his way onto a computer screen near you.

Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center this week unveiled its new OctoCam, streaming live video of the Visitor Center’s resident giant Pacific octopus to the world at:

http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/visitor/octocam

Employing two Webcams – one outside and slightly above the tank and one inside the tank – OctoCam treats visitors to a live 24-hour show featuring the resident cephalopod interacting with tank mates and curious on-lookers. Viewers also have the option of watching archival footage of the octopus investigating the camera when it was first installed; more more archival footage will be added periodically.

The giant Pacific octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini , occupies a central spot among the Visitor Center’s many aquatic animal exhibits. The trademark critter has been a favorite of visitors almost since Science Center opened its doors in 1965. Of course, it hasn’t been the same octopus; typically an adult octopus stays in the tank for between six months and two years. Younger octopuses, often donated by local crabbers, are cycled into the tank to replace the older animals, which are then released back into Yaquina Bay to find a mate and spawn.

Many people plan their HMSC visits to coincide with the animal’s thrice-weekly live crab feedings so they can watch this marine predator stalking and pouncing on prey while learning a bit about octopus biology and behavior. Feeding dates and times vary from season to season, and the current schedule is posted on the Center’s Web site (hmsc.oregonstate.edu/visitor).

Getting the octopus on the web took the combined efforts of nearly every program at the Visitor Center as well as OSU Media Services.

Read more …

Archival footage: Deriq investigates the Webcam: