Monthly Archives: May 2009

Documentary Preview: Michael Harte

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In this preview to an upcoming documentary featuring Climate Change in Oregon, Michael Harte (Oregon State University’s College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, or COAS) explains that the effects of global climate change on our day-to-day lives are not necessarily the effects talked about in the larger discussion of climate change.

The documentary, scheduled for release this summer, will feature interviews with researchers that are already identifying effects on Oregon’s coast linked to climate change.  Part of the film will include recent research findings by Jack Barth (COAS) who discusses how local salmon are affected by changes in ocean conditions.  Sea Grant Extension agent, Robert Emmanuel, will describe recent increases in flooding in Tillamook, and Nathan Mantua, from the University of Washington, will talk about the effects of increasing winter storm activity.

Transcript is available at the above link

Oregon Sea Grant fellow studies effects of jellyfish off Oregon coast

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lanayafitzgerald2The numbers of jellyfish in the Pacific Ocean have been increasing dramatically over the past few years, and scientists are concerned. Why? Because jellyfish eat certain fish larvae—which not only reduces the numbers of those fish but puts jellyfish in direct competition with other predators. Further, jellyfish can thrive in low-oxygen (hypoxic) waters, giving them an added advantage for survival.

Oregon State University (OSU) student Lanaya Fitzgerald, a fellow in Oregon Sea Grant’s Undergraduate Marine Research Fellowship Program, has been conducting research to determine the effects of one particular species of jellyfish—the sea nettle—on fish larvae off the Oregon coast. Her research indicates that sea nettles do, indeed, have a voracious appetite for several commercially important fish species, including Pacific cod, Pacific tomcod, and walleye pollock.

Fitzgerald’s work with jellyfish began in 2008, when she participated in a National Science Foundation-sponsored program called “Research Experience for Undergraduates” at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC), with mentors Ric Brodeur and Tom Hurst of NOAA. Co-mentor Bill Hanshumaker of HMSC helped supervise her Sea Grant fellowship. In early May of this year, Fitzgerald presented a poster highlighting some of the results of her research at OSU’s “Celebrating Undergraduate Excellence” symposium (see photo). On Saturday, June 27, her work will come full circle with a presentation (including some live jellyfish and fish larvae) at HMSC’s annual Seafest, in Newport, Oregon.

For more information, contact Ms. Fitzgerald at fitzgela@onid.orst.edu.

Exploring Beach Recovery

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In the Hinsdale Wave Research Lab at Oregon State University, Associate Professor Tuba Ozkan-Haller studies how beaches recover after winter storms.  The hope is that this information will go into predictive models that can help developers make smart decisions about how to protect properties or infrastructure along coastlines.  “People who have lived near the coast know that in the summertime the dry beach actually increases,” says Ozkan-Haller.  “There’s more sand that is just sitting on the dry beach area in the summertime. And that sand actually goes away in the wintertime because of the storms and forms a bar, sort of a submerged island offshore. It’s the way that the beach protects itself…. as the summer then approaches again during springtime, waves move that bar, that mound, back onto the beach. And, we found out that we’re actually very bad at predicting how that happens.”

She is joined by civil engineering professor Merrick Haller, who describes how the instrumentation is used to interpret the data.  After the data is analyzed, they hope to build numerical models that will help predict what will happen to the beaches after severe storms, and whether there will be increased need for protective structures or beach nourishment.

View Transcript

Oregon Sea Grant’s “Oregon Coast Quests” featured in magazine

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“Some call it a treasure hunt, but Quest coordinator Cait Goodwin, a marine educator with Oregon Sea Grant at ocmagcovermayjune09Newport’s Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC), is quick to point out that the Quest Box at the end is not a treasure chest.”

So writes Julie Howard, Oregon Sea Grant program assistant, in the May/June 2009 edition of Oregon Coast magazine. Her article, “Oregon Coast Quests,” explains what Quests are and where to find them, and describes the experience of going on an actual Quest.

For more information about Oregon Coast Quests, call 541-867-0100 or visit the program’s Web site.

Celilo Falls in Newport, Monday, May 11

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The educational documentary, Celilo Falls and the Remaking of the Columbia River, by Joe Cone of Oregon Sea Grant, will be shown at the Hatfield Marine Science Center Visitors Center auditorium, Monday, May 11, 6-7 p.m. The half-hour film will be introduced by Cone, and discussion will follow the screening. The award-winning film, previously aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting, is part of the 2009 Water Film Series, Newport Edition. Watch a short preview.

On the Trail of America’s First People

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Loren Davis, the executive director of the Keystone Archaeological Research Fund, is the subject of a profile in the current issue of the OSU research magazine, Terra. The former Sea Grant graduate student’s excavation of a site at Oregon’s Cape Blanco in 2002 is captured in a short video produced by Joe Cone. The video was part of a series of lively short subjects on the theme, “The Fun of Science.”

We’ve moved!

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Breaking Waves, along with Sea Grant’s other blogs and podcasts, has made the virtual move across campus to blogs.oregonstate.edu, the new WordPress blogging community for Oregon State University departments, faculty and students. With the move comes an updated redesign, but you’ll still be able to find all our archived news and information posts, along with new features we expect to add soon.

Please bookmark our new address: http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/breakingwaves/

If you subscribe to the blog via FeedBurner, you won’t need to do a thing – the feed will automatically bring you updates from the new location, whether you subscribe via a feed reader or by e-mail.

For more information about Oregon Sea Grant’s growing number of marine science blogs and podcasts, visit our Web site.

Oregon Sea Grant wins four awards in international competition

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hermes-logo6Oregon Sea Grant has won four awards – two Platinums, a Gold, and an Honorable Mention – in the international Hermes Creative Awards 2009 competition.

On the Lookout for Aquatic Invaders won a Platinum in the Design/Publication Overall category; Boats of the Oregon Coast was awarded Platinum for Publications/Handbook; Oregon Sea Grant Program Report 2007 earned a Gold for Video/Internal Communication; and Oregon Sea Grant Publications & Videos 2008 received an Honorable Mention in Publications/Catalog.

The Hermes Creative Awards, named for the ancient Greek messenger, is “an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media.” It is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals. This year’s competition attracted some 3,700 entries from around the world.

Congratulations to everyone involved in writing, editing, designing, illustrating, and laying out these four outstanding Oregon Sea Grant products!