Category Archives: Oregon Sea Grant

Despite storm OSU remains on National Mall

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WASHINGTON, D.C. Day three of the ten-day Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall was cancelled after OSU’s tent and at least nine others were damaged by a massive thunderstorm that swept across the capital on Friday night.

On Saturday morning the 16-foot long plexiglass wave tank, borrowed by OSU from Howard University to demonstrate tsunamis, stood on two tables peeking out from under a frayed blue tarp amid a field of debris. Around it laid bent pieces of metal tent tubing, soggy “Powered by Orange” tee shirts, and muddied posters that describe OSU extension and outreach activities.

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OSU's demonstration area after a severe thunderstorm came through Friday night.

“I was shocked when the festival representative called this morning and said, ‘well, the wave tank is fine but you’ll need you to stay away for the day while we find you a new tent’,” said OSU Director of University Events Shelly Signs. Signs heads up the team of paid staff and volunteers that has traveled from Oregon to demonstrate OSU research and extension activities. These include tsunami education activities, Sea Grant-related surimi and fisheries research, and projects by the 4-H Tech Wizards—an OSU Extension program that provides after-school tech-related activities for underrepresented youth.

The annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival was created in 1967 to examine and showcase different aspects of American and global culture. To mark the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s signing of the Morrill Bill that called for the creation of land-grant universities, Smithsonian invited land-grant universities from around the country to set up exhibits that showcase activities connected with their mission. The program, called “Campus and Community“, features exhibits and activities from 28 U.S. land-grant institutions.

By Sunday, OSU’s tent had been replaced and Signs and her team were busy making tsunamis, rolling out surimi and firing off air-propelled rockets. At tables in front of the wave tank, children and parents snapped together Legos trying to create structures that could withstand the six-inch wave the machine generates. OSU researcher Jae Park and his wife stood by a glass-topped freezer that displayed numerous brands of surimi and spoke to festival goers about how the product utilizes parts of fish that were once discarded (Park’s research and his Astoria-based Surimi School got early support from Oregon Sea Grant). On nearby tables children used surimi molds and rolling pins to make artificial crab and pressed shrimp shapes out of clay.

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Smithsonian volunteer and young festival attendees watch to see which structures will withstand the tsunami.

In Reunion Hall, just across from the OSU tent, 4-H Tech Wizards program manager Octaviano Merecias-Cuevas showed one young festival goer how to connect a motor to a solar cell. Behind him teacher Miguel Angel Cholu Hernandez tested the latest batch of air-propelled rockets that had been made at their table.

Despite losing a day, Signs seems happy with the way things are turning out. “People are learning about how to build structures that are less susceptible to tsunamis, they’re learning sustainable food practices and are seeing the great things that the Tech-Wizards are doing,” she said. “Plus we’ve had an opportunity to build community with all of the other land-grant communities that are also participating. I’d say this is a success.”

To see more photos of the event please visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_register/sets/72157630388536296/

(Rhett Register is a former Corvallis reporter and freelancer now living and working in Washington, D.C., where he is a researcher for National Geographic Travel magazine.)

Sea Grant and OSU at the Smithsonian

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WASHINGTON, D.C. Two research efforts that got their start with Oregon Sea Grant support are among three from Oregon State University in the spotlight at the nation’s capital this summer in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

The festival, billed as the nationals largest annual cultural event, attracts more than 1 million visitors each year. It runs  June 27 – July 1 and July 4-8 on the National Mall.

This year, Folklife is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, which established land grant colleges – the model from which, four decades ago, the national Sea Grant college program was drawn.

For its part in the festival, OSU chose to spotlight three innovative programs demonstrating how its Land Grant and Sea Grant Extension efforts contribute to research, public outreach and education, producing benefits for people, communities and economies around the state. They are:

Jae ParkSurimi School: With Sea Grant support, internationally recognized surimi expert Jae Park and  the OSU Seafood Laboratory in Astoria have developed research and continuing education that have helped transform a traditional Japanese seafood – a gel made from ground-up fish – into tasty new seafood products resulting in a $2.1 billion industry in the US over the past 30 years.

Making Waves: OSU’s O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory will exhibit one of its wave-generating mini-flumes to show how scientists and engineers are learning how wave action affects coastal areas, helping communities better prepare for tsunami and hurricane waves. Sea Grant, with a program emphasis on hazard-resilient coastal communities, has supported several research projects at the lab.

Tech Wizards: Octaviano Merecias-Cuevas and others with OSU’s nationally recognized 4H program will be leading Folklife participants through the process of building robots. A bilingual after-school program that teaches technological skills to low-income, marginalized youth ages 8 through 18, Tech Wizards is now at more than 100 sites around the U.S.

For more information, visit the Smithsonian Folklife Festival site.

 

 

 

New Confluence looks at Oregon Fisheries

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Confluence: Science & Fishermen Working TogetherOregon’s Fisheries: Scientists and Fishermen Working Together is the theme of the summer edition of Confluence, Oregon Sea Grant’s new magazine, available now in print and online.

The cover story, “You Talk and You Change the World,” highlights Sea Grant’s fruitful efforts to connect  Oregon’s coastal fishing communities with ocean and coastal researchers. Written by Nathan Gilles (the program’s 2011 communications intern, now a working journalist), the story traces more than a decade of work by Sea Grant Extension agents such as Ginny Goblirsch to get fishermen and scientists talking – and listening – to each other in small, regular, informal meetings. The resulting Scientist and Fishermen Exchange (SAFE) program provides researchers with the experience-proven insights and knowledge of those who spend their lives working with marine resources – and occasionally with valuable opportunities to conduct research directly from fishing vessels. At the same time, fishermen gain early access to research results, and the opportunity to play a part in the science that helps shape marine resource policy.

Additional articles look at new seafood processing techniques that are generating products, markets and jobs on the south coast, recent discoveries about how hypoxic “dead zones” may be affecting the reproductive capacity of certain fish and other organisms, and a surprising discovery by Sea Grant researcher Guillermo Giannico about where some Willamette Valley salmon spend their winters.

Published three times a year, the new magazine is available – with added video and other content not included in the print edition – at http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/confluence, where a downloadable .pdf version is also available. Print copies are also available, free, by emailing  sea.grant.communications@oregonstate.edu (please include a name and mailing address).

Fishermen invited to Webinar on groundfish research

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West Coast fishermen are invited to take part in a June 5 Webinar ,”West Coast Groundfish Fishery – Reducing Weak Stock Risk While Improving Profit for Fishermen.”

In an attempt to protect the groundfish fishery from stock collapse, fisheries regulators are considering shifting to a type of catch share system called ITQ, or  “individual transferable quotas.” Such a system sets a species-specific total allowable catch, typically by weight and for a given period of time.

With funding from Sea Grant programs in Oregon, California and Washington, researchers from the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Washington are attempting to  identify emerging ecological, social and economic impacts of the transition to an ITQ system. Can strategies be implemented that help fishermen avoid risk from catching weak stocks, while enhancing profit?

The free webinar, from 10 am to 11 am PDT, will present an overview of the research project and its primary questions.

Space in the Webinar is limited; seats can be reserved at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/126483927. (System requirements: PC- Windows 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server; Mac – OSX 10.5 or newer).

Netcasts – Jerri Bartholomew, Salmon Researcher, Glass Artist

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At the intersection of science and art, you’ll find Jerri Bartholomew, a microbiologist and salmon researcher who also has a passion for working with glass.

“I see my artwork as being parallel to my scientific experimentation,” she says. “Science is often a very long process–it may take months, years, or even decades to find an answer to something, whereas art… you can get into the studio and experiment and come out with a product within hours, days, or weeks.”

But whatever the time scale, Bartholomew’s passion for scientific processes is evident as she shares her successes in solving some of the mysteries behind a growing threat to Pacific salmon, a parasite called Ceratomyxa shasta. Like many other parasites, C. shasta has a complex life cycle, requiring both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts to successfully reproduce.

In this installment of Netcasts, we visit the John L. Fryer Salmon Disease Laboratory, where Bartholomew and her team are using genetic tools to piece together a puzzle, searching for the right ways to target parasites while protecting salmon.  We’ll also get a glimpse at some of her artwork, including some more recent pieces in a set called “Pages From a Naturalist Notebook.”

Oregon Sea Grant wins four Hermes Creative Awards

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Oregon Sea Grant has won four awards in the 2012 Hermes Creative Awards competition: a Platinum Award in the Publications/Book category for Pathways to Resilience: Sustaining Salmon Ecosystems in a Changing World; a Gold Award in the Publications/Magazine category for Confluence magazine; a Gold Award in the Video/Educational category for Gems of the Oregon Coast: Cascade Head Scenic Research Area; and an
Honorable Mention in the Website Overall/Government category for the Oregon Sea Grant website.

According to Hermes, the Platinum Award is presented to “those entries judged to be among the most outstanding entries in the competition. Platinum winners are recognized for their excellence in terms of quality, creativity and resourcefulness.” Gold Awards go to “entries judged to exceed the high standards of the industry norm.”

Judges for the Hermes Creative Awards are “industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.” There were about 4,700 entries from throughout the United States and several other countries in the 2012 Hermes Creative Awards competition.

 

Oregon Sea Grant wins two silver awards

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Oregon Sea Grant has won two Silver Awards of Distinction in the 18th Annual Communicator Awards competition, one each for its “Aquatic Animal Health” brochure and its Cascade Head Scenic Research Area video.

The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 550+ member organization of professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts. See www.iavisarts.org for more information.

According to Linda Day, executive director of the IAVA, “The pool of entries we received for this year’s Communicator Awards serves as a true testament to the innovative ideas and capabilities of communications and marketing professionals around the world. On behalf of the entire Academy, we congratulate this year’s Communicator Award Entrants and Winners for their passion and dedication. We are humbled to be given the opportunity to recognize such amazing work.”

This year’s Communicator Awards received  more than 6,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. Visit www.communicatorawards.com for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome our new NOAA Coastal Management Fellow

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Kelsey Gianou is Oregon Sea Grant’s newest NOAA Coastal Management Fellow!

Kelsey, a Marine Resource Management masters student at Oregon State University, has been matched with the Washington State Department of Ecology to provide green shorelines guidance for state and local governments in Puget Sound.

Six states and 11 finalists attended this year’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Management Fellowship matching workshop.  Six finalists were selected to serve two-year terms as coastal management fellows at the six state agencies.  For more information on this fellowship program, click here to visit the Oregon Sea Grant fellowships page.

Congratulations, Kelsey!

Take a quick survey, get a reward

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Have you read, viewed or otherwise used one or more of Oregon Sea Grant’s publications and videos during the past year? Then we could use your help.

We’d like you to take part in a brief, online survey. It should take about five minutes to complete.

For the first 25 US residents* who complete the survey we will offer your choice of

Ready?

Follow this link to Survey Monkey.

* Not including Sea Grant employees. Sorry, but we cannot ship publications and videos outside the US.

NOAA, FEMA urge “Be a Force of Nature”

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Be a Force of Nature - Pledge to Prepare“Be a Force of Nature” is the theme of the first-ever National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, starting this Sunday (Earth Day) and continuing through April 28.

The campaign is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Daily themes will  target public awareness about severe weather hazards and encourage people to get prepared:

  • Monday: Know Your Risk
  • Tuesday: Make a Plan
  • Wednesday: Build a Kit
  • Thursday: Get a NOAA Weather Radio
  • Friday: Be an example for others to follow

Full details – including downloadable posters, media PSAs and emergency preparedness kit checklists – can be found on NOAA’s Weather-Ready Nation Website.

While the effort focuses on hurricanes, tornadoes and other catastrophic storms less common in the Pacific Northwest, Oregonians can still learn from the campaign, according to Patrick Corcoran, Oregon Sea Grant’s coastal hazards specialist.

In this region, coastal storms generally occur from November to March – but recent trends have shown earlier dates for the first storm and later dates for the last storm of the season. And offshore buoys have measured increasingly higher waves during winter storms over the past 30 years. A result has been more impacts by storms on people and infrastructure, from homes to highways.

“Some homes on cliff-backed beaches have found themselves precariously closer to the edge,” said Corcoran. “A few have fallen into the sea. Other properties in lower areas with dune-backed beaches are experiencing larger storm waves, overtopping of shore protection structures, and an overall increase in erosion.”

Corcoran pointed out that although the Northwest is generally spared from tornadoes and hurricane-strength storms, they can happen – and the region is also prone to seismic disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis.

“The steps NOAA recommends to prepare for catastrophic storms make good sense for the types of disasters we in the Northwest face, too,” he said.

Learn more: