Breaking Waves

Residents of coastal Oregon, Washington and California have until Jan. 31 to take part in a survey designed to identify ocean and coastal research and information priorities for  the region.

The survey, jointly sponsored by Sea Grant programs in the three states, is part of a federally funded effort intended to:

• Ensure the region’s unique resource management challenges are better understood and represented at the federal level
• Help the region progress toward effective, ecosystem-based management
• Identify the common needs of west coast communities of place and interest to encourage further region-wide collaboration on critical ocean and coastal issues

The project, supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and endorsed by the governors of all three states, is a response to recent national recommendations calling for a regional approach to research planning.

Survey responses will be combined with comments received during a series of community meetings held up and down the West Coast in 2007, and will be incorporated into a final report to be delivered to NOAA in 2008.

The survey, along with information about the planning process and collected comments from community meetings, can be accessed here.  Although three versions - one for each state - are provided, the questions are identical and all responses will be compiled for the final report. Respondents whose interests overlap state boundaries need only respond to one survey.

What does it cost to charter a Russian ice-breaker? How do you keep camera batteries charged in frigid antarctic temperatures?

Portland-area science buffs can learn the answers to these and other questions on Nov. 26, when OMSI’s Science Pub hosts Bill Hanshumaker, Sea Grant Extension’s public marine educator at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center.

Hanshumaker will present an informal talk, with slides, about his experiences on Antarctic research expeditions in 2005 and 2006. As part of the “Sounds from the Southern Ocean” research team, Hanshumaker took part in a two-phased project to observe sounds - and sights - of the seafloor in the Antarctic Bransfield Strait and Drake Passage in an effort to learn more about tectonic and volcanic activity at the bottom of the world. He posted same-day reports of the adventure on his blog, Sounds From the Southern Ocean.

OMSI’s Science Pub is an informal get-together where you can interact with experts and where there’s no such thing as a silly question. No scientific background is required - just curiosity, a sense of humor, and an appetite for food, drinks, and knowledge. While the Science Pub is intended for adults, minors are welcomed at Bridgeport until 10 p.m. No reservations required (but the event has been drawing big crowds, so get there early!)
What: OMSI Science Pub, Sounds from the Southern Ocean
When: Monday, Nov. 26, 7 p.m.
Where: bridgeport brewpub + bakery, 1313 N.W. Marshall, Portland, OR
More information

Sea Grant programs in Oregon and Maine are collaborating on a two-year effort to help the nation’s coastal communities understand and prepare for climate change.

The project is supported by a $290,000 grant is from NOAA’s Sectoral Applications Research Program .

Leading the project is Joe Cone, assistant director of Oregon Sea Grant and head of its communications team. The project aims to develop and test a model of public outreach about climate change that may ultimately be used by Sea Grant programs in all US coastal and Great Lakes states.

 Read more …

Oregon Sea Grant plans to support as many as four undergraduate students this year in conducting research related to ocean or coastal science, resources or public affairs, starting winter term of the 2007-2008 academic year.

Each fellowship will provide a resident tuition waiver (or partial tuition support for non-Oregon residents), a per-term stipend,  and modest travel and supply expenses, totalling a maximum of $9,000 per student for the academic year.   Fellows will be expected to work 10 hours/week on their research projects during winter and spring terms and 20 hours/week during the summer.  The deadline for applications is Oct 31, 2007.

More information is available here.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (Sept. 12, 2007)- An invasion of American beach grass is under way along the Oregon coast, threatening to change dune ecology and reduce the ability of dunes to protect roads, property and towns from coastal storms.

Sea Grant-funded scientists at Oregon State University have documented a slow but steady takeover by this beach grass, an invasive species. They found that protective “foredunes” covered by the new grass species are only about half as high as those created by the European species of grass that were formerly dominant.

(Read more …)

Oregon State University (OSU) professor Chris Langdon wants to help feed the world by using tiny beads.

The OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center researcher is building a better fish food for use in aquaculture, enclosing nutrients and medicines in microscopic beads in order to deliver them to animals ultimately destined for the dinner plate.

Feeding farmed fish and shellfish exactly what they eat in the wild, or other live food, while desirable, poses a number of problems. “Live feed is often very expensive and of uneven quality,” Langdon said.

Read more at
http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/communications/releases.html#langdon

Sea Grant programs in Oregon, Washington and California are collaborating on a NOAA-funded project to identify ocean and coastal research and information needs for the West Coast, and they’ve launched a new survey to find out what coastal residents, scientists, resource managers, and other stakeholders view as the critical issues that deserve scientific attention. The plan, required by the federal government and being developed in collaboration with West Coast governors, is meant to help guide future marine research planning and funding decisions throughout the region.

Interested in having your say in the process? Visit the Regional Planning Web site and take our survey.