Sea Grant blogs and podcasts

Oregon Sea Grant entered the blogosphere in 2006, when marine educator Bill Hanshumaker chose the blog format to chronicle his experiences on an Antarctic research cruise. Enthusiastic response to the journal led Sea Grant Communications to begin experimenting with blogs as a way of producing timely and engaging content about ocean and coastal matters.

What is a blog? The word derives from "Weblog," a more-or-less frequently updated Web site where entries appear in reverse chronologicial order, newest first, and offer news or commentary on one or more subjects. Blogging offers advantages over more traditional newsletters by making it easy for writers to update on the fly, and for readers to search for past entries by date or topic. And for those readers whose e-mail boxes are already overflowing, there are a variety of desktop and Web browser-based tools to provide notification when your favorite blogs are updated.

Our blogs:

Breaking Waves

Produced by Sea Grant Communications, Breaking Waves delivers timely and frequently updated news about Sea Grant publications and videos, grant and fellowship opportunities, research outcomes, conferences and other ocean and coastal topics, in a short, easy-to-read format with links to more in-depth information. Entries are archived by date and category, and a search tool makes it easy to find older information.

• Read Breaking Waves
• Subscribe

H2ONCoast: Water, Climate and Community on Oregon's North Coast

The North Coast of Oregon is impressively wet - so wet, in fact, that it can be hard to remember that the region faces surprisingly complex problems related to water quality, supply and the potential hazards of flooding and erosion. Rob Emanuel, Sea Grant Extension's Tillamook-based water resources and community development educator, attempts to bring those issues to light with interesting and engaging discussion of water resource issues facing the region, the nation and the planet.

• Read H2ONCoast
• Subscribe

Sounds from the Southern Ocean

Marine educator Bill Hanshumaker's journal of a NOAA-sponsored research expedition to Antarctica in 2006 was our first foray into blogging, and an opportunity for readers to get on-the-scene reports from our planet's southernmost continent, complete with photographs of the frozen landscape and some of its animal inhabitants. While no longer active, the blog's archives provide a rich example of how blogging can bring science to life, as it happens, even from the farthest corners of the earth.

• Read Sounds from the Southern Ocean
• Read more about Hanshumaker's blogging experience

And podcasts, too!

Communicating Climate Change

A new audio podcast featuring interviews with prominent social scientists on the challenges of communicating complex scientific concepts, such as climate change and variability, to the public. Produced by Oregon Sea Grant's Joe Cone.

• Visit Communicating Climate Change
• Subscribe via RSS
• Subscribe via iTunes

Ocean Learning

An audio-visuual introduction to the exhibits and science at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center, available to download to your iPod or computer.

• Read about the Ocean Learning podcast
• Subscribe via RSS
• Subscribe via iTunes