Breaking Waves

Oregon Sea Grant is advertising a new professional faculty position to coordinate K-12 marine education programs at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, on the central Oregon Coast. The person hired will manage a team of marine educators, coordinate k-12 classroom instruction at the HMSC visitor center, and work with faculty to design, promote, implement, and evaluate the center’s marine education programs. The application deadline is July 11, 2008.

Read the position announcement and apply on line through Oregon State University’s Job Search site

Read more about HMSC education programs

Marine fossils and sea turtles take center stage in February and March as OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center presents two special learning and exploration events for the whole family.

On Saturday, Feb. 9 at 11:30 a.m., join us for FossilFest, one of our most popular winter events and a chance to learn about the fascinating fossils you can find on the Oregon coast. Bring your own specimens for expert identification or to swap with other fossil enthusiasts, or pick up a free fossil from our sample table and start a new hobby. Guest speakers include Dr. William Orr of the University of Oregon and Guy “the Oregon Fossil Guy” DiTorrice of Newport. Children’s activities, presented by the North America Research Group (NARG) include digging for shark teeth, making a shark tooth necklace, painting a fossil replica, and an ammonite toss.

On Saturday, March 1, come learn about the fascinating world of sea turtles as the Visitor Center hosts Sea Turtle Saturday, starting at 11:30 a.m. Speakers include Dr. Larry McKenna, author of “Almost Gone,” the story of the endangered leatherback sea turtle, and Dr. Selena Heppell, an OSU marine biologist who will talk about successful turtle conservation efforts around the world. Kids can take part in a Leatherback Painting Contest where everone goes home a winner!

The Visitor Center is located on Yaquina Bay in Newport, just south of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. Admission is by donation.

NEWPORT - Sea Grant Extension’s Sam Chan and Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Ed Jahn team up on Monday, Aug. 20 for “Scenes of a Changing Coastal China: How Oregon and China are connected through a desire to control invasive plants and animals,” a presentation that starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Hatfield Marine Science Center’s Hennings Auditorium.

The presentation is based on a recent trip Chan led to China’s Fujien Province, where he and other invasive species and natural resource education and communications specialists from Oregon, Washington, and Florida got a first-hand look at how the Chinese are dealing with invasive marine grasses that threaten vital coastal mangrove forests.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Visitors to OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center in Newport can now tune in to video tours that describe the center’s exhibits, the work of HSMC researchers and what goes on behind the scenes to keep the public aquarium healthy and functioning.

The short videos, produced by Oregon Sea Grant Communications, are available as podcasts, downloadable to your personal computer, iPod or other hand-held device.

Visitors can download the videos at home to get a preview of what’s in store for them - or they can check out iPods when they arrive at the Visitor Center and use them as portable guides to the center’s interactive exhibits. Most of the videos are also great for anyone interested in learning more about marine science.

It’s all part of a larger effort to understand more about how people learn in “free-choice” settings such as the Visitor Center. Sea Grant’s Free-Choice Learning educator, Shawn Rowe, and his team of student asssitants are surveying visitors to determine whether adding iPods to the Visitor Center mix might change or enhance learning.

Subscribe to the podcasts via iTunes or our direct RSS feed

Kids from kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to enter our children’s poster contest as part of SeaFest, the summer marine festival and open house at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, on Oregon’s central coast

Young artists are invited to enter hand-drawn posters reflecting one of four age/theme categories about the ocean and our changing climate. The contest is sponsored by the HMSC, Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

The deadline for entering is June 8; winning posters will be awarded prizes, and will be displayed at the science center during this year’s SeaFest on Saturday, June 23.

Read the contest rules
Visit the SeaFest site

Newport, Ore. - Join us at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center on Saturday, May 12 to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day. Activities feature a special auditorium presentation on “Antarctica’s Gentoo Penguins: Parallel Adaptations to Northwest Seabirds.”

• More events from the Visitor Center