Monthly Archives: December 2014

Rare Holiday Fare: Authentic Lutefisk Recipe

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Bill Wick, ca. 1980

Bill Wick, ca. 1980

Back in 1991, the former Oregon Sea Grant director, William Q. (Bill) Wick, sent around the attached description  of how to prepare lutefisk, the Norwegian version of what to do with dry salted cod to make it edible—even, to some, tasty and delicious. Wick, of Danish/Norwegian heritage, was a World War II veteran before becoming an Extension agent and then Sea Grant director, and he navigated academia with practical common sense and good humor. This practical bent and dry humor are apparent in the recipe, which he no doubt hoped would cause others to appreciate this Scandinavian delicacy: as he writes, “there’s no such thing as ‘bad’ lutefisk.”

To Prepare Foolproof Lutefisk (.pdf)

Sea Grant expert featured on National Geographic tsunami special

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Pat Corcoran visits Japan to see aftermath of tsunami, 2012Patrick Corcoran, Oregon Sea Grant’s coastal hazards specialist, along with OSU researchers Chris Goldfinger and Tuba Ozkan-Haller are featured in “The Next Mega Tsunami,” a new TV special scheduled for its US premiere on the National Geographic Channel this coming Friday, Dec. 26.

The program is scheduled to air at 9 pm Pacific Time; check local listings for possible changes.

The special commemorates the 1oth anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean undersea megathrust earthquake which sent a devastating tsunami hurtling into Indonesia and the south Asian coastlines, killing an estimated 230,000 people in fourteen countries.

Seismic researchers – including OSU’s Goldfinger – say geologic conditions off the Oregon coast make it vulnerable to similar megathrust in the region known as the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The geologic and historic record shows that such “megathrust” quakes have occurred at regular intervals throughout the planet’s history, and scientists say the region is overdue for another.

Corcoran, who is based in Astoria, has worked for years with the state of Oregon and coastal communities to help develop local tsunami inundation maps, community and individual tsunami preparedness plans, and to help communities increase their resilience against such disasters by consider the relocation of hospitals, schools and other critical or vulnerable facilities to higher ground.

Ozkan-Haller, a professor of geology with OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, specializes in predicting how near-shore waves behave along coastlines, a field which has led her into tsunami-related research at OSU’s Hinsdale Wave Research Lab.

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Biennial grant competition – call for preliminary proposals

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Oregon Sea Grant invites preliminary proposals (pre-proposals) from researchers affiliated with any Oregon institution of higher education for research projects that address cutting-edge socioeconomic and biophysical science related to important marine and coastal issues.

Pre-proposals will be entered into a highly competitive review and selection process. Proposed work may begin on either February 1, 2016, or February 1, 2017. Individual requests for funding are not to exceed $115,000 per year. Available funding is set by the NOAA Sea Grant Program based on congressional appropriations, and is subject to change and rescission.

Pre-proposals are due to the Oregon Sea Grant office by 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, 2105.

For full details, visit our Biennial Grant Competition page.

Graduate fellowship deadlines approach

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Oregon Sea Grant is seeking qualified applicants for four graduate and postgraduate fellowships in marine science and policy.

The NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship (deadline Friday, January 23, 2015) provides on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management and policy for postgraduate students while assisting state coastal zone management programs. The program matches postgraduate students with state coastal zone programs to work on projects proposed by the state and selected by the fellowship sponsor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center. This two-year opportunity offers a competitive salary, medical benefits, and travel and relocation expense reimbursement. Any student who will complete a master’s, doctoral, or professional degree program in natural resource management or environmental-related studies at an accredited U.S. university between January 1, 2014, and July 31, 2015, is eligible.

The National Marine Fisheries Service/Sea Grant Graduate Fellowship Program in Marine Resource Economics (deadline Thursday, January 29, 2015) expects to award at least two new PhD Fellowships starting Aug. 1, 2015 to students who are interested in careers related to marine ecosystem and population dynamics. The Fellowships can provide support for up to three years for highly qualified graduate students working toward a PhD in quantitative ecology, ecosystem ecology, population dynamics or related fields of study. Fellows will work on thesis problems of public interest and relevance to NMFS under the guidance of National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) mentors at participating NMFS Science Centers or Offices. Applicants must be United States citizens, and at the time they apply must be admitted to a PhD program in a relevant field of study at a US institution.

The NMFS/Sea Grant Graduate Fellowship Program in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics (deadline  Thursday, January 29, 2015) generally awards two new PhD Fellowships each year to students who are interested in careers related to the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing the economics of the conservation and management of living marine resources. Fellows will work on thesis problems of public interest and relevance to NMFS under the guidance of NMFS mentors at participating NMFS Science Centers or Offices. The Fellowship can provide support for up to two years for highly qualified graduate students working towards a Ph.D. in in marine resource economics, natural resource economics, or environmental economics. Applicants admitted to a PhD degree program in resource or environmental economics at a US institution.

Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships (deadline Friday, February 13, 2015)  provides a unique educational experience to students enrolled in graduate programs in fields related to marine or Great Lakes studies. The program matches highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative branch, the executive branch, or appropriate associations and institutions located in the Washington, D.C. area. Recipients spend one year working on substantive national policy issues related to marine issues; a stipend is provided. The Fellowship is open to any student, regardless of citizenship, who is enrolled toward a degree in a graduate or professional program at an accredited US institution.

For all four opportunities, completed applications must be delivered to the Oregon Sea Grant program office in Suite 350 of the University Plaza Building, 15th and Western in Corvallis,  by 5 pm on the deadline date.

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New study finds “saturation state” directly harmful to bivalve larvae

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Hatchery-reared oysters (photo by OSU News & Research Communication)The mortality of larval Pacific oysters in Northwest hatcheries has been linked to ocean acidification, yet the rate of increase in anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the decrease of pH in near-shore waters have been questioned as being severe enough to cause the die-offs.

However, a new study of Pacific oyster and Mediterranean mussel larvae found that the earliest larval stages are directly sensitive to saturation state, not carbon dioxide (CO2) or pH. Saturation state is a measure of how corrosive seawater is to the calcium carbonate shells made by bivalve larvae, and how easy it is for larvae to produce their shells.

It is important to note that increasing CO2 lowers saturation state, the researchers say, and saturation state is very sensitive to CO2; the challenge interpreting previous studies is that saturation state and pH typically vary together with increasing CO2. The scientists utilized unique chemical manipulations of seawater to identify the direct sensitivity of larval bivalves to saturation state.

Results of the study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, are being reported this week in the journal Nature Climate Change.

“Bivalves have been around for a long time and have survived different geologic periods of high carbon dioxide levels in marine environments,” said George Waldbusser , an Oregon State University marine ecologist and biogeochemist and lead author on the study, “The difference is that in the past, alkalinity levels buffered increases in CO2, which kept the saturation state higher relative to pH.”

“The difference in the present ocean is that the processes that contribute buffering to the ocean cannot keep pace with the rate of anthropogenic CO2 increase,” added Waldbusser, who is in Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.  “As long as the saturation state is high, the oysters and mussels we tested could tolerate CO2 concentrations almost 10 times what they are today.”

The idea that early bivalve development and growth is not as physiologically linked to CO2 or pH levels as previously thought initially seems positive. However, the reverse is actually true, Waldbusser noted. Larval oysters and mussels are so sensitive to the saturation state (which is lowered by increasing CO2) that the threshold for danger will be crossed “decades to centuries” ahead of when CO2   increases (and pH decreases) alone would pose a threat to these bivalve larvae.

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Sea Grant’s Ruby Moon featured on new OSU coast video

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The CoastOregon: The Coast is a new interactive, multimedia application that’s part of Oregon State University’s Beaver Nation campaign, aiming to document how OSU people and programs connect with the state, the nation – and the world beyond. And it features Sea Grant Extension agent Ruby Moon in a feature about buying fresh seafood off the docks from the people who catch it.

“I was nervous,” says Moon, who worked with David Baker of OSU’s Interactive Communications unit this summer to produce her segment. “But they made me look smart.”

Moon works out of the Lincoln County Extension office in Newport on issues related to fisheries, seafood and marine renewable energy.

Check out Oregon: The Coast and the rest of the growing collection of Beaver Nation Is Everywhere multimedia programs at OSU’s Interactive Communications site.