Category Archives: news

OSU to host Marine Science Day this Saturday, April 8

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Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center will hold its annual Marine Science Day on Saturday, April 8, giving visitors an opportunity to see laboratories behind the scenes, interact with student scientists and learn more about current marine research.

The event is free and open to the public, and takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the center, located in Newport southeast of the Highway 101 bridge over Yaquina Bay. It will feature interactive, hands-on exhibits and opportunities to talk with researchers from OSU and other federal and state agencies.

The theme is “Celebrating Student Research,” and student scientists will be among the researchers presenting exhibits on marine mammals, oyster aquaculture, ocean acidification, ocean noise, seagrass ecology, fisheries, deep-sea vents and more. Visitors can learn about research diving with the OSU Dive Team, observe microscopic plankton, tour a genetics lab and hear about the NOAA Corps’ 100th year as a commissioned service.

Special activities for children will be offered by Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The Oregon Coast STEM Hub and representatives from OSU and Oregon Coast Community College will also be available to engage K-12 students interested in pursuing marine studies.

Special events include:

  • A lecture at 2:30 p.m. by José R. Marín Jarrín, Charles Darwin Foundation, Galápagos, Ecuador, on “From Hatfield to the Charles Darwin Foundation: The importance of student research experiences”
  • Opening celebration at 10:30 a.m. for the Experimental Seawater Facility, funded by the National Science Foundation
  • A public feeding of Opal the octopus at 1 p.m. in the Visitors Center

Visitors may also learn about the progress of OSU’s Marine Studies Initiative, which seeks to host 500 students-in-residence in Newport by 2025.

“With a new teaching and research facility in the fundraising and design phase, Marine Science Day offers a great opportunity to understand why we are so excited about OSU’s Marine Studies Initiative,” said Bob Cowen, director of the Hatfield Marine Science Center.

“It is also a chance to learn about our scientists – who we are, what we do, and how we, as university, state and federal partners, work together and with communities to better understand and solve our marine and coastal challenges.”

More information about the event is available here.

(From a news release provided by Maryann Bozza, HMSC)

Photo caption: An octopus will be among the many exhibits and activities during Marine Science Day at the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center. (Photo courtesy of Oregon State University)

 

Grant to fund field trips to marine science center in Newport

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Oregon Sea Grant will receive $3,000 on Feb. 3 from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund to support field trips to Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC).

“This grant will allow up to 30 classrooms from schools with low-income populations in the tribal service area to visit the center and learn about coastal habitats and marine research,” said Kathryn Hawes, the coordinator of Oregon Sea Grant’s marine education program.

The program offers classes and camps for K-12 youths. The activities take place at HMSC, where Oregon Sea Grant’s Visitor Center is located, and in the nearby Yaquina Bay estuary. This program serves approximately 9,000 students each year, Hawes said.

Oregon Sea Grant will allocate the field trip scholarships on a first-come, first-served basis to Title 1 schools in the Siletz tribal service area. For more information and to apply, visit http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/visitor-center/webform/2017-scholarship-application.

The grant will be awarded Feb. 3 at the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City during a ceremony that begins at 6 p.m.

Photo (above right): Students learn how to dissect a shark in a 2016 camp offered by Oregon Sea Grant’s marine education program, which is based at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Oregon Sea Grant has received a grant from the Siletz Tribe that will allow low-income students to participate in similar educational activities at the center. Photo by Hana Laughton.

Oregon Sea Grant publication wins Silver Award of Distinction

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Oregon Sea Grant has won a Silver Award of Distinction in the 2016 Communicator Awards competition, for its field guide Key Aquatic Invasive Species Watch: Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris in the Eastern Pacific.CommSilver1

According to the Communicator Awards’ website, the competition is sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, “an invitation-only group consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms.” The competition, which receives “over 6,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes,” honors work that “transcends innovation and craft – work that made a lasting impact.”

The Award of Distinction is presented for “projects that exceed industry standards in quality and achievement.”

You can download a free PDF or order printed copies of Key Aquatic Invasive Species Watch here.

New Sea Grant publication encourages collaborative engagement

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A new publication from Oregon Sea Grant, Collaborative Science-Stakeholder Engagement, encourages collaboration among scientific disciplines and extending that collaboration to include participants outside the academic world.

The 20-page publication outlines various types of collaboration, both among researchers of diverse disciplines and among reseh16001-coverarchers and stakeholders. It explores collaborations seeking to achieve different goals in natural-resource research and management (sustainability, climate change adaptive management, decision-making tool development, alternative futures exploration). In also provides examples of stakeholder engagement in these contexts for the understanding and management of various natural resources, and summarizes literature from other research on science-stakeholder engagement elements.

Finally, the guide lists the lessons learned, necessary elements and impacts from these case studies.

The guide is intended as a resource for anyone interested in connecting science producers and science users. It summarizes literature from a broad swatch of research with science-stakeholder engagement elements.

The research was conducted and text written by Laura Ferguson, Oregon State University Marine Resource Management program, with review and contributions by Samuel Chan, Mary Santelmann and Maria Wright.

Collaborative Science-Stakeholder Engagement is available as a free, downloadable PDF here.

OSG announces 2016-18 funded research

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Oregon Sea Grant will support eight research projects by scientists at three Oregon institutions during 2016-18, on topics ranging from sea-level rise to invasive jellyfish. The grants are funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of a biennial appropriation from Congress to Sea Grant programs around the country.

The grants will go to eight principal investigators at OSU, Oregon Health & Science University, and the University of Oregon for research into ocean and coastal issues.

“Oregon Sea Grant is committed to supporting the science needed to address challenges facing our coastal communities and ecosystems,” said Sea Grant director Shelby Walker. “These projects reflect a broad array of issues important to the future of coastal Oregonians, communities and our environment.”

Learn more:

DeFazio holds earthquake early warning roundtable in Eugene Sept. 22

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EUGENE – Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) will host a roundtable policy discussion, “Earthquake Early Warning in the Pacific Northwest: Preparing for the Big One,” on Tuesday Sept. 22 at 10:30 am in the HEDCO Education Building, Room 230T at the University of Oregon, 1655 Alder Street, Eugene.

Among the invited participants is Oregon Sea Grant’s Pat Corcoran, a specialist in coastal earthquake and tsunami preparedness.

The event brings together local, state and federal officials and scientists to discuss earthquake resilience programs and efforts, the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system and the next steps for developing an offshore earthquake early warning system.

DeFAzio is the ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

The event will be livestreamed at:http://media.uoregon.edu/channel/livestream for those who cannot attend.

Now available: The 2015-16 Oregon Coast Quests Book

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The 2015-16 edition of Oregon Sea Grant’s popular Oregon Coasts Quests Book is now available for sale. This 216-page, spiral-bound book features:Quests-book-cover

Directions for 24 Quests
Updates to existing Quests
Two brand-new Quests
Ten Quests created by youth
Quests in four Oregon counties (Lincoln, Coos, Curry, and Benton)
One Quest with directions in both English and Spanish

The book retails for $10 and is being sold by booksellers around the state. To find out where you can buy a copy, visit the booksellers page on the Quests website: http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/quests. If you happen to be or know of a bookseller interested in selling Quest books, please contact OregonCoastQuests@oregonstate.edu for ordering information.

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Oregon Coast Quests now has a Facebook page, where you can get updates, “like” the page, and share your Questing adventures with friends and neighbors: https://www.facebook.com/OregonCoastQuests

Happy Questing!

Winds drive jellyfish-like creatures onto Oregon beaches

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Velella velella blown ashore by prevailing winds, Fort Stevens State Park, April 2015

Velella velella blown ashore by prevailing winds, Fort Stevens State Park, April 2015 (photo by Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium)

Striking blue sea creatures, Velella velella, have washed up by the thousands on Oregon beaches including at Seaside, Manzanita, Astoria and Rockaway Beach in recent days, tourism officials report.

The small jellyfish-like animals normally live out at sea, floating on its surface. But every spring, thousands get blown by strong westerly winds onto the sands of Oregon, California and Washington and die, said Bill Hanshumaker, a senior instructor at the Hatfield Marine Science Center and chief scientist for Oregon Sea Grant.

When strong westerly winds blow over the Pacific coastline, Velella velella are swept by the thousands onto beaches including those at Seaside and Manzanita. They are often called By-the-wind Sailors, because they have their own small sails and move with the wind.

Velella velella (vuh-lell-uh vuh-lell-uh) can be beautiful to look at but start to give off a fishy smell as they decay. They don’t sting people who touch them, but experts at Oregon State University advise against walking barefoot through a pile of them because they contain a mild neurotoxin.

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Field guide helps you identify aquatic invaders

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Oregon Sea Grant is pleased to announce the release of its latest field guide, On the Lookout for Aquatic Invaders: Identification Guide for the West. The guide is an updated, revised, and expanded edition of its popular predecessor, which covered aquatic invasives in the Northwest only.On-the-Lookout-cover

Nonnative species are altering freshwater and marine ecosystems in the West, and more species are introduced every year.

This identification guide was developed to help watershed councils and other community-based groups increase their understanding of aquatic invasive species, and to initiate monitoring efforts for species of particular concern to their watersheds.

The introduction provides an overview of activities that can spread invasive species, a look at their economic impacts, and suggestions for ways we can work together to prevent and control their spread. The rest of the book covers background information and key identification characteristics of many aquatic invaders that are already established or likely to become established in the West, and tells where to access additional experts and how to report sightings of invasive species.

The 92-page guide is lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs to aid identification, is coil bound to lie flat when opened, and has a laminated cover for water resistance.

On the Lookout for Aquatic Invaders is available for just $8.95 per copy, plus $4.50 for shipping and handling. You can order it here.

Invasive species aide named OSU Student Leader

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Jennifer LamJennifer Lam, an Oregon State University graduate student who has been part of Oregon Sea Grant’s aquatic invasive species team since 2009, has been named one of OSU’s Outstanding Student Leaders for 2014 by the OSU Women’s Center.

The award will be presented as part of the Women’s Center’s annual awards program on Monday, May 19 from 2:30-4:30 pm.

Lam, who is working on a master’s degree in Marine Resource Management, was nominated by her Sea Grant supervisors for her “outstanding initiative and leadership in helping us educate the public about the ecosystem threats posed by invasive animals and plants.”

Since coming to Sea Grant as a PROMISE intern, she has worked with the program’s watershed and invasive species team led by specialist Sam Can, developing k-12 curricula and public information guides, producing Congressional briefing papers as part of a multi-state legislative framework for controlling the spread of highly invasive mussels by recreational boaters, and conducting her own research into the problem of household pharmaceuticals winding up in the public water supply through improper disposal. Among the products she developed for the program is a classroom “pet pledge” – available in English and Spanish – to educate k-12 teachers and students about how classroom science “pets” can become invasive if released into the wild.

As an undergraduate, Lam served as event coordinator for the MU Program Council, receiving a 2010 award for her work; as a graduate student, she serves as a representative to the Student Advisory Committee of the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences.

Learn more…