Join us for Sea Grant Scholars Day, Nov. 13

Join us for the 2014 Oregon Sea Grant Scholars Day Former Sea Grant director Bob Malouf listens to presentation during 2012 Scholars SymposiumSymposium on Thursday, November 13, 2014 from 1:30 pm to 5 pm in the Joyce Powell Leadership Center Journey Room in the OSU Memorial Union!

Several of our student fellows and other scholars will be making presentations or presenting posters about their Sea Grant-related work. This gives students the opportunity to gain valuable experience presenting their research and experiences to a public audience and receive feedback on their work and presentation skills.

See the draft agenda here.

A summer opportunity – Oregon South Coast Tourism

College students: Looking for a great way to spend the summer while learning and working with coastal Oregon communities? Take a look at our newest fellowship opportunity on Oregon’s south coast!

Oregon Sea Grant and the Wild Rivers Coast Alliance (WRCA) are offering an epic summer outreach experience. One upper-level undergraduate or graduate level student will experience the beauty of the south coast and help develop WRCA coastal tourism programs and initiatives to vitalize south coast communities. This hands-on experience features mentorship by a career professional, student housing in Bandon, Oregon, if needed, and a summer stipend. The fellowship dates are flexible -between June and September- and will span about ten weeks.

Visit http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/education/fellowships for more details about the fellowship and to submit an application.

Application deadline: May 30, 2014.

 

Invasive species aide named OSU Student Leader

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…

 

 

Fellowship opportunities in the new year

Check out several new fellowship opportunities, including the newly announced 2015 Knauss Fellowship:  http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/education/fellowships

Current opportunities

Want to find out more what it’s like to be an Oregon Sea Grant Scholar? 

Jane Lubchenco reflects on her term as NOAA chief

Jane LubchencoNEWPORT – Oregon State University scientist Jane Lubchenco will look back on her four years at the helm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for this Thursday’s edition of the weekly Hatfield Marine Science Center Seminar, starting at 3:30 pm in the HMSC Visitor Center auditorium.

Dr. Lubchenco will draw on her term as NOAA Administrator for the talk, “Science Serving Society: Reflections on My Four Years in D.C.” She plans to share tales and reflections about her experiences with the federal agency in charge of weather forecasts and warnings, climate records and outlooks, nautical charts, stewardship of oceans and fisheries management in US waters, and the research, satellites and education that support those activities. The talk with draw on examples dealing with scientific integrity, the Deepwater Horizon disaster, weather forecasts and warnings, satellites, fisheries and climate change.

The talk is free and open to the public, and will be preceded by refreshments in the HMSC Staff Lounge starting at 3 pm. (No food or drink is allowed in the auditorium)

The seminar will also be available as a live Internet broadcast  via Adobe Connect at http://oregonstate.adobeconnect.com/hmsc-fw407/

Learn more:

 

Oregon Sea Grant wins APEX 2013 Award of Excellence

2013_winnerOregon Sea Grant has been awarded the APEX 2013 Award of Excellence in the “One-of-a-Kind Education & Training Publications” category for its work on The Oregon Coast Quests Book, 2013-14.

APEX 2013, the 25th Annual Awards for Publication Excellence, is an international competition that recognizes outstanding publications from newsletters and magazines to annual reports, brochures, and websites.

According to the APEX 2013 judges, “The awards were based on excellence in graphic design, quality of editorial content, and the success of the entry in conveying the message and achieving overall communications effectiveness.” This year’s competition was “exceptionally intense,” drawing 2,400 entries in 12 major categories.

E-13-001 Quests book 2013-14 250Quests are fun and educational clue-directed hunts that encourage exploration of natural areas. In this self-guided activity, Questers follow a map and find a series of clues to reach a hidden box. This edition of the Oregon Coast Quests Book contains 26 Quests in three counties (Lincoln, Coos, and Benton), including six brand-new Quests and one in both English and Spanish.

The Oregon Coast Quests program is coordinated by Oregon Sea Grant Marine Educator Cait Goodwin, who also oversaw production of the book. Oregon Sea Grant Managing Editor Rick Cooper performed the editing and layout.

You can order copies of The Oregon Coast Quests Book here.

Boating access advocates to convene in Portland

Marina, Coos BayPORTLAND – “New Dimensions in Boating Access,” the national conference of the States Organization for Boating Access, comes to Portland Sept. 30-Oct. 3, bringing speakers and workshops on topics ranging from reducing conflicts between public boating access and commercialk shipping to the implications of sea level rise on recreational boating.

Registration is open now, at a significant discount for those who register by Aug. 30.

SOBA is a nonprofit organization that advocates for recreational boating; its membership is drawn from state and territorial agencies, boating groups, consulting firms and boating-related businesses. The annual conference brings members together to discuss issues related to recreational boating access, technology, and environmental/legislative issues.

Among the speakers at this year’s conference are Oregon Sea Grant Extension specialists Sam Chan, discussing invasive species; Megan Kleibacker, talking about Oregon’s implementation of the Clean Vessel Act; and Jamie Doyle, with updates on the National Working Waterfronts Network.

Join Oregon Sea Grant at da Vinci Days!

Join Oregon Sea Grant at da Vinci Days this Saturday and Sunday, July 20-21, on Oregon State University’s lower campus in Corvallis, Oregon. Discover interesting biofacts about the diverse life forms found on our beaches; meet some of our undergraduate Summer Scholars and hear about their projects; find out how invasive species impact our aquatic ecosystems; and learn more about Oregon Sea Grant’s integrated research, education, and public engagement on ocean and coastal issues. There is something for everyone at this family-friendly event!

How to feed a giant Pacific octopus

Ever wonder how to feed an octopus? Well, now you can find out–by watching How to Feed a Giant Pacific Octopus, a video produced by Oregon Sea Grant for NOAA’s Ocean Today kiosk.

The three-minute video features a very hungry Reuben the Octopus, along with Bill Hanshumaker, Oregon Sea Grant’s marine public education specialist at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon.

How to Feed a Giant Pacific Octopus

Summer issue of Confluence magazine now online

The summer 2013 issue of Oregon Sea Grant’s magazine, Confluence, is now online at http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/confluenceconfluence-2-1-cover

Articles in this issue, which focuses on aquaculture in Oregon, include “The Whiskey Creek Shellfish Acid Tests,” “Priced out of our own seafood,” and “The traveling ornamental defender.”