6-1-26
Oregon Sea Grant, a marine research, public engagement and education program at Oregon State University (OSU), has awarded $1.45 million to six scientists. The researchers will use the funds to study dulse farming, salmon disease, pink shrimp management, coastal sediment, eelgrass, and water security.
Oregon Sea Grant receives a share of congressionally appropriated funds every two years that it awards – via a competitive process – to scientists at Oregon universities who are studying ocean and coastal issues important to the region and the nation.
For 2026-28, Oregon Sea Grant is awarding all of that funding to researchers at OSU and University of Oregon. Each project will receive between $180,000 and $250,000 over two years.
The lead researchers and their projects are:
- Ford Evans, Oregon State University: Increasing Year-round Productivity and Harvest Quality of Pacific Dulse (Devaleraea mollis) at Commercial Farms Along the Oregon Coast Using Supplemental Illumination
- Corbin Schuster, Oregon State University: Regional Assessment and Etiology of Adult Salmon Enteritis: A Partnership-based Approach to Understanding Prespawn Mortality in Pacific Northwest Salmon
- Lorenzo Ciannelli, Oregon State University: An Ecological Characterization of Early Life History of Pink Shrimp in Oregon Coastal Waters to Improve Management and Local Knowledge
- Aaron Galloway, University of Oregon: Quantifying the Impacts of Coastal Sediment Dynamics on Oregon’s Kelp Forests
- Lillian Aoki, University of Oregon: Eelgrass Status, Ecological Interactions, and Ecosystem Services in Southern Oregon
- Meghna Babbar-Sebens, Oregon State University: Operationalizing Resilience in Oregon’s Coastal Communities via One Water Security
Read full descriptions of the projects under the tab “Oregon Sea Grant Biennial Research Project Grants (2026-2028)" on Oregon Sea Grant's “Current Research” page.