Fellowship, scholarship deadlines near

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Students in marine science and policy-related fields: Application deadlines are coming up in January for a number of graduate and undergraduate fellowships and scholarships offered by NOAA and administered by state Sea Grant programs. You need not be an Oregon resident to apply, but the opportunities are open only to US citizens. For complete application information, visit our Website.

Oregon Sea Grant-sponsored scholars have gone on to great jobs in ocean and coastal research, policy-making and administration, and in the non-profit sector. Check out our map to see where some of them are today.

Willamette Valley water future: Mostly bright, with some gaps

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Over the next 85 years, temperatures in Oregon’s Willamette River basin are expected to rise significantly, mountain snowpack levels will shrink dramatically, and the population of the region and urban water use may double – but there should be enough water to meet human needs, a new report concludes.

Fish may not be so lucky. Although ample water may be available throughout most of the year, the Willamette Valley and its tributaries likely will become sufficiently warm as to threaten cold-water fish species, including salmon and steelhead, the scientists say.

These are among the key findings of the Willamette Water 2100 Project, a five-year, $4.3 million study funded by the National Science Foundation and led by Oregon State University, in partnership with researchers from the University of Oregon, Portland State University and University of California at Santa Barbara.

Oregon Sea Grant’s Sam Chan, who specializes in watershed health and invasive species, led the “broader impacts” outreach effort for the project.

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Key Players in Coastal Resilience (Part One)

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When I started doing coastal resilience work for Oregon Sea Grant I first wanted to find out who else is working in this area and what they are doing. What I discovered is that there are dozens of organizations, big and small, dedicated to coastal resilience around the US. As coastal communities around the country become more interested in resilience, they may look for resources to help them navigate this complex landscape. So, I thought it would be useful to share with you three large organizations who are well established in this field of research and practice. I will follow up in another post with smaller, state level, organizations working in this area. For now, here are three national organizations working hard to make our coasts more resilient.

First, the Coastal Resilience Network is a web-based community of researchers led by the Nature Conservancy. Their work is “addressing increasing threats due to sea level rise and storms by bringing science and action together where nature is part of the solution to reduce risk.” They partner with a number of organizations in achieving their goals, including United States Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Center for Integrated Spatial Research at the University of California, Santa Cruz. You can learn more about their work by going to their website (CoastalResilience.org) or by following them on Twitter @Coastal Resilience.

Second,  NOAA developed the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, which is designed to “provide scientific tools, information, and expertise to help people manage their climate-related risks and opportunities, and improve their resilience to extreme events.” Further, “the site is designed to serve interested citizens, communities, businesses, resource managers, planners, and policy leaders at all levels of government.” Anyone who navigates to the website: toolkit.climate.gov will find an array of useful information and a variety of tools designed to help communities become more resilient to their location specific hazards. The site contains everything from risk analysis frameworks and metrics, to temperature and rainfall data sets that can be used to inform decision making.

Third, The Coastal Hazards Center was developed post Hurricane Katrina by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Jackson State University also co-lead the organization. Their mission is to “enhance the Nation’s ability to safeguard its people, property, and economy by increasing their resilience to the consequences of natural hazards.” Though much of their work has taken place along the eastern coast of the United States, they are starting to do more work out here in the west. The group supports a number of projects focused on things like developing cutting-edge storm surge models, local municipality resilience plan development, and educating students interested in  coastal hazards management careers. You can learn more about this group by going to: CoastalHazardsCenter.org

Please feel free to comment to elaborate on or provide feedback regarding the information I have provided here.

(Miriah Russo Kelly is Oregon Sea Grant’s Coastal Resilience specialist. Follow her new blog, Resilience Roots, to learn more about her work, and the program’s).

 

 

 

 

 

Port Orford Field Station Holds Open House Nov. 14

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PORT ORFORD – Oregon State University’s two-year-old research field station in Port Orford will hold an open house Nov. 14 to celebrate its expanded role in coastal research, outreach and education.

The open house runs from 3-6 pm at the station, 444 Jackson Street, in Port Orford. It’s free and open to the public; light refreshments will be served.

The field station is supported by numerous programs at OSU that have a role in marine studies, including Oregon Sea Grant, the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (COMES), the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and the OSU Research Office.

Port Orford Sustainable Seafood, a local fish processor, is also located in the building and its staff will be on-hand during the open house to describe its operation.

“The field station has been a place that professional scientists, students and citizen scientists can use as a base of operation to study topics ranging from the ecology of marine reserves to gray whale foraging behavior,” said Cynthia Sagers, OSU’s vice president for research. “The field station provides two laboratories, classroom and office space, and housing for visiting researchers.”

Station manager Tom Calvanese said that in June, the station installed a SCUBA air fill station to support scientific divers conducting underwater surveys. “Recently, we began to make this service available to recreational divers seeking to explore the rocky reefs in the area – a known diver destination,” he said.

Funding for the facility was launched with a $425,000 allocation by the Oregon Legislature in 2011 to purchase the building. OSU has funded its operation since.

Photographers sought for King Tides documentation project

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How might a changing climate and rising sea levels affect the Oregon coast? For the sixth straight year, Oregonians are invited to bring their cameras and smartphones to the coast and join in an international effort to document unusually high “King Tides” to help answer these questions.

This year the project focuses on three sets of extreme tides: Oct. 27-29, Nov. 24-27 and Dec. 23-25. Organized in Oregon by CoastWatch, the project invites anyone who can get to the coast during these tides to take shots at the highest reach of the tide on those days. Photos can focus on any feature, but the most useful show the tide near the built environment – roads, seawalls, bridges, buildings, etc.. Ideal photos would allow the photographer to return later, during an ordinary tide, to get comparison shots.

CoastWatch is making a special effort this year to document King Tides near Oregon’s four marine reserves (Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, Otter Rock, Cape Perpetua and Redfish Rocks.) Participants will be able to share their photos on Flickr and should be prepared to include the date, description and direction of the photo. The Oregon King Tides Photo Initiative website will include an interactive map to help photographers determine the latitude and longitude of their shots.

For information about the project, and about the special effort to document King Tides in the marine reserve areas, contact Fawn Custer, CoastWatch volunteer coordinator (and an Oregon Sea Grant marine educator) at (541) 270-0027, fawn@oregonshores.org

 

Science Pub in Coos Bay: Why Salmon Need Estuaries

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Dan BottomCOOS BAY – “Why Salmon Need Estuaries” is the question veteran NOAA Fisheries biologist Dan Bottom will explore in a Science Pub presentation at 7 Devils Brewing on Saturday, Oct. 3. The talk begins at 7 pm; there is no cover charge or admission.

For more than a century, resource managers and scientists in the Pacific Northwest have worked to enhance, protect and restore salmon. That’s often meant controlling populations or their environments to improve survival. Despite such efforts, salmon populations have declined, fisheries have been restricted and stocks have been added to the federal list of threatened and endangered species.

Recent watershed restoration efforts in Oregon offer useful case studies in salmon diversity and resilience. The region’s heavily developed Columbia River basin and its most heavily restored estuary, the Salmon River, demonstrate the importance of diverse habitats and life history to salmon in a changing world.

Dan Bottom has 38 years as a state and federal fishery research biologist. he is a co-author of Oregon Sea Grant’s book, Pathways to Resilienc: Sustaining Salmon Ecosystems in a Changing World.

The event is co-sponsored by 7 Devils Brewing, the Native Fish Society and Oregon Sea Grant.

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Spots still available for fall Career, Home School days at HMSC

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NEWPORT – Spots are still open for two popular, day-long youth education programs offered by Oregon Sea Grant’s marine educators at the Hatfield Marine Science Center this fall.

Career Day, a program for 9th-12th-graders interested in exploring careers in marine science, takes place Oct. 23 from 9:30 am-3:30 pm. Participating teens will enjoy a full day of events including:

  • Hearing from researchers about upcoming projects and recent discoveries
  • Exploring science through hands-on activities and behind-the-scenes tours
  • Helping researchers collect data

Registration costs $25 per student. Information and registration are available on the HMSC Visitor Center website.

Home School Day, Nov. 6 from 10 am to 4 p.m., is a family program with activities grouped into “strands” of fun and educational activities  families will follow all day.  Registration is $25 per person. Learn more and register at the Visitor Center website.

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.

OPB’s “Unprepared:” Are we ready for the Big One?

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“Unprepared,” a special edition of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Field Guide series airing Oct 1, examines whether Oregonians are ready for the magnitude 8 or stronger earthquake scientists are predicting for the offshore Cascadia Subduction Zone within the next .

The program looks at what it takes to get ready for a disaster of that scope – and the potential consequences if we don’t.

Oregon Sea Grant’s coastal hazards specialist, Patrick Corcoran, is among the experts who contributed to the program. Corcoran is accustomed to talking people through preparedness, from how families can create a “Quake Kit” of supplies that can be grabbed at the first sign of earthquake to how entire coastal communities can – and should – relocate critical facilities such as hospitals and schools from the likely path of the devastating tsunami that likely would accompany such a quake.

“Unprepared” is part of a year-long initiative by OPB and Oregon Field Guide to inform people about the dangers of a megaquake, and to examine ways that our region can be better prepared for such a disaster. Visit the OPB Website for more information.

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Teachers: Register now for Oct. 9 Coastal Learning Symposium

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NEWPORT – Registration is open for the 2015 Coastal Learning Symposium, an annual event aimed at giving pre-K-12, informal and post-secondary educators creative ways to address learning objectives using the ocean, forest and community as context.

The symposium, which takes place Oct. 9 at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport and OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, features break-out sessions by Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon State Parks, the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and several learning technology companies, on topics ranging from Connecting Math and Science: Exploring the Math in Boyle’s Law data to Creating Art in Nature.

Field trips include learn-to-surf and paddle-board workshops at Agate Beach emphasizing beach and ocean safety, and guided interpretive walks of Yaquina Head and Brian Booth State Park, Oregon’s newest coastal park.

Greg Smith, professor at Lews & Clark College’s Graduate School of Education, will deliver a keynote address, and the day will culminate with a Learning Symposium Cruise of Yaquina Bay by Marine Discovery Tours.

Schools sending three or more teachers receive 30% off registration fees with the promotional code “GROUP” if they register by Sept. 25. Graduate credit is available through Portland State University.

The symposium is part of the  COASTALearning series, a project of the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Lincoln County School District.

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