Oregon Sea Grant

How is Oregon Sea Grant making a difference - for Oregon, for science, for the public, and for the future? Learn about some of our research and outreach accomplishments over the past decade and longer.

Our 2010-2013 Strategic Plan outlines our research and outreach goals in six key issue areas. Here are just a few of our recent accomplishments:

Community Resilience to Natural Hazards and Climate Change

Preparing for the effects of a changing coastal climate - NOAA and the National Sea Grant program recognize the critical need for timely and relevant information on how coastal areas can adapt to climate change.  We apply our unique combination of research, education, public engagement and communication toward meeting that need, engaging and collaborating with people who can use science-based information to make decisions about climate-related changes where they live and work. Read more ...

Facing the risks of living on shaky ground - Oregon sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, near the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a region prone to potentially devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. Oregon Sea Grant has been working since the 1990s to help coastal residents and visitors understand the risk of living in a seismically active region. Our recent efforts have led coastal counties and communities to update local public safety plans to include tsunami preparedness and evacuation. Read more ...

See also:

• Oregon Sea Grant helps coastal residents prepare for tsunami (revised 2011) [.pdf | text]
• Coastal Storms Program helps residents prepare for severe weather (2007) [.pdf | text]

Coastal Learning and Decision Making

Commitment to the future -  Recognizing the importance of training new generations of marine scientists and resource managers to address the health, safety and sustainability of our ocean and coastal ecosystems, OSG has invested almost $2 million over the past five years toward the career development of more than 200 marine science graduates and undergrads. Our paid internships and fellowships place team students with marine science professionals in Oregon and across the country to undertake projects that address real-world ocean science and policy issues. Read more ...

Learning how we learn - Oregon Sea Grant is a recognized leader in the art and science of free-choice learning, the study of how people learn when left to their own choices. A five-year, $2.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation is helping us create a state-of-the-art free-choice learning lab at the HMSC Visitor Center in Newport. Read more ...

Helping coastal communities describe themselves - NOAA Fisheries relies on community profiles to inform resource managers about the effects of their regulatory decisions. Fishing communities have long complained that the agency's brief profiles failed to give a true picture of the impact commercial fishing has on entire populations. Sea Grant Extension trained three communities on the Oregon coast how to develop deeper, richer, more detailed profiles that re serving as models for other coastal towns. Read more ...

See also:

• Lessons from the Magic Planet - Researchers are engaging the curious in meaningful inquiry (2009) [.pdf | text]
• Sea Grant offers graduate students experience and financial support (2005) [.pdf | text]
• Survey results give insight into public attitudes about coastal issues (2005) [.pdf | text]
• Grooming a new generation of scientists (2005) [.pdf | text]
• Developing the art and science of free-choice learning (2004) [.pdf | text]
• Sea Grant research makes connections with prehistory (2004) [.pdf | text]

Fisheries and Seafood

Fish disease, changing climate and salmon survival - Building on more than a decade of Sea Grant-supported research into the life cycle of parasites that infect Pacific salmon, scientists at OSU's Center For Fish Disease Research are working to understand how rising temperatures and other aspects of climate change affect wild salmon populations. Read more ...

Innovative packaging spurs new seafood products - Locally processed seafood products are the cornerstone of the coastal economy - and new products help local businesses grow, expand and more efficiently use the resource. With Sea Grant assistance, a new line of flexible seafood pouches is adding value to community and tribal fisheries and providing consumers with new choices, adding an estimated $4.67 million a year to the local economy. Read more ... 

Connecting shoppers to the seafood source - With consumers increasingly concerned about the sustainability of their seafood choices, Sea Grant is working to connect shoppers with the source of the fish they buy, removing the hype and mystique from what makes fish and shellfish stocks "sustainable." Read more ...

 See also:

• Salmon otoliths reveal increased use of estuary following dike removal (2011) [.pdf | text]
• Program Development Grant helps researcher create fishing history project (2010) [.pdf | text]
• Early gear-retrieval project helps secure stimulus funds (2009) [.pdf | text]
• Fishermen monitor pregnant fish to aid conservation (2009) [.pdf | text]
• Tiny capsules may lead to big advances for aquaculture (2007) [.pdf | text]
• Understanding the role of parasites in salmon mortality (2006) [.pdf | text]
• Getting more value from fewer fish (2005) [.pdf | text]
• High pressure treatment could be "Holy Grail" for oyster processors (2003) [.pdf | text]

Multiple Uses and Spatial Planning

Seeding new energy resources - By 2025, the state of Oregon plans for 20% of its energy to come from non-hydro renewable resources. Oregon Sea Grant was an early investor in OSU research that demonstrated how ocean waves could supply some of that power. Businesses are now developing and testing devices based on patents that stemmed from that research, and Sea Grant is working with coastal communities to make sure their voices and needs are heard in wave energy siting decisions. Read more ...

See also:

• Electrical experts plot ways to use waves' potential (2005) [.pdf | text]

Oceans and Human Health

Recruiting teachers, students to help top invaders - By some estimates, invasive species are a $143 billion a year drain on the US economy. In Oregon, the state has identified several high-priority invaders, and called for public education and awareness. Oregon Sea Grant is helping by training teachers and their students in early detection and response. Read more ...

Probing the deep for potential medicines -  Since the early 1990s, Oregon Sea Grant has supported research into the potential medical properties of marine organisms, many of which have evolved novel chemistry to adapt to harsh environments and survive predation. Current research focuses on organisms from some of the harshest environments on earth, the hydrothermal vents on the deep sea floor. Read more ...

Survival at sea - Oregon's Dungeness crab fishery is the deadliest commercial fishery in the US. Oregon Sea Grant is helping crab fishermen stay alive by teaming with the Coast Guard to provide fishing crews with free at-sea safety and life-saving classes, and teaching them how to perform required monthly shipboard safety drills. Read more ...

See also:

• Invasives education: Putting Oregonians on the lookout (2010) [.pdf | text]
• Nanotech gadgets to be built by algae? (2005) [.pdf | text]
• Research explores effects of marine bacteria on toxic algae (2004) [.pdf | text]
• Ornamental fish program helps people keep their pet fishes healthy (2003) [.pdf | text]

Watersheds and Water Resources

Restoring watersheds, protecting water quality - Since the 1990s, Oregon Sea Grant's Watershed Stewardship program has trained and certified hundreds of rural land-owners, resource managers and others to work with their communities on local water conservation and quality issues. Today, we help builders, planners and individual homeowners and gardeners learn how to create gardens, landscaping and paved areas that help conserve and protect the water supply. Read more ...

See also:

• Watershed Extension program helps citizens implement the Oregon Plan (2005) [.pdf | text]
• Graduate students explore relationship of salmonids with estuary (2004) [.pdf | text]
• Integrating estuaries in a whole watershed perspective on salmon (2004) [.pdf | text]
• OSU researcher develops test to determine fecal pollution source (2002) [.pdf | text]