Breaking Waves

TACOMA, Wash. -  Oregon and Washington Sea Grant are co-hosting the 2013 National Working Waterfronts & Waterways Symposium March 25-28 in Tacoma.

This is the third national symposium on issues faced by working waterfronts throughout the United States, where increased coastal population is generating increasing conflicts over access to and uses of waterfronts.

The symposium is expected to draw local, regional, tribal and national decision-makers; members of the commercial fishing, marine, and tourism industries, developers and property owners; business owners, community planners and waterfront advocates .

Session topics will include discussions about:

• Economic and social impacts of and on working waterfronts
• Successful local, regional, state and federal Strategies to address working waterfront issues
• The future of working waterfronts: Changing uses and changing climate
• Keeping waterfront industries commercially viable

For complete information about symposium sessions, field trips and registration, visit www.workingwaterfronts2013.org

TILLAMOOK – Hypoxia and ocean acidification get a lot of press, but how many people know what these phenomena are, what causes them and what they mean for marine species and coastal communities? Now’s the chance to find out, in an Oct. 23 public forum that aims to take some of the mystery out of the science behind measuring, understanding and minimizing the effects of of these ocean conditions.

The forum, starting at 6:30 pm in rooms 214-215 at Tillamook Bay Community College, 4301 3rd St., is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. For more information, visit the PISCO Website.

Organized by the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of the Ocean (PISCO) and Oregon Sea Grant, the forum will focus on cutting edge research by scientists from many disciplines, and how resource managers and industries are responding.  A series of speakers will address:

• The definitions of ocean acidification and coastal hypoxia, and how they are related – Francis Chan, OSU Zoology/PISCO
• Why this is happening off our coast and what makes Oregon vulnerable – Burke Hales, OSU College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS).
• How scientists are monitoring the ocean for these changes – Jack Barth (CEOAS/PISCO)
• The impacts of acidification on shellfish hatcheries – Alan Barton (Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery)

Speakers will be followed by a question-and-answer panel featuring scientists and representatives of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The event is hosted by PISCO through funding from Oregon Sea Grant.

PORTLAND – Joe Cone, Oregon Sea Grant’s assistant director and a veteran science writer and videographer, will speak on the science of communicating with the public about climate change at this Saturday’s Climate Change Forum at Marylhurst University.

Cone, who leads the OSG communications team, has been a principal investigator on multiple NOAA-funded research projects with partners in Oregon and across the country, studying how sound information, when grounded in research understanding of the views and concerns of local residents, can help coastal communities  prepare for the changes that will come with climate variability. In addition, he has produced a number of publications aimed at applying social science insights and principles to science communication.

Those projects have resulted in two videos, based on surveys of public knowledge and opinion, addressing questions residents of Oregon and Maine have about the changing climate. Cone has also produced a podcast, Communicating Climate Change, featuring audio and video interviews with leading social scientists on the subject.

His talk, scheduled for 2 pm Saturday, will address “Communication About Climate Change: Research and Practical Experience.” Cone is one of several speakers from OSU.

Learn more:

• Marylhurst Climate Change Forum
• Communicating Climate Change podcast
• Sea Grant videos and publications:
  • Preparing for Coastal Climate Change: What Oregonians Are Asking (video)
  • Building a Resilient Coast: Maine Confronts Climate Change (video)
    
  • NOAA Sea Grant and Climate Change: Helping the Nation Prepare (publication)
  • Public Science Communication Research and Practice (publication series)

2012 Heceta Head Coastal Conference

October 26 & 27 — Florence Events Center, Florence Oregon

Registration Now Open: http://www.hecetaheadconference.org/

Oregon’s Ocean: Bringing the High Seas Home

The Pacific Ocean is a dynamic place full of activity and motion.  But what does that mean for Oregonians? This year’s conference will look closely at connections between Oregon’s Ocean and the rest of the globe. We’ll examine the important science, economics, and policies affecting things that float, swim, drift, stowaway, steam, and bob across the Pacific to Oregon’s shores, and vice versa!

Speakers include the First Lady of Oregon, Cylvia Hayes, Representative Arnie Roblan, and researchers and natural resource managers from around the state.

Click on the above link to view the preliminary program agenda and to register.

NEWPORT – At least 350 school teachers, administrator, scientists and guests will gather in Newport Wednesday for the second annual Lincoln County K-12 Ocean Literacy Symposium, “Understanding the Ocean’s Influence on You and Your Influence On the Ocean.”

The Aug. 29 symposium, part of the Lincoln County School District’s annual Improvement Days for school teachers and administrators, is sponsored by Oregon Sea Grant, OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Lincoln County School District.  Originally aimed at Lincoln SD teachers, the symposium has been expanded this year to teachers from Tillamook County and the Linn-Benton-Lincoln Education Service District.

After convening at Newport High School in the morning, participants will fan out to the HMSC, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Newport bayfront, Yaquina River estuary and other locations for hands-on breakout sessions exploring a variety of marine science topics, curricula and teaching tools. Topics range from ocean conservation to coastal tsunami hazards, spanning disciplines such as biology, oceanography and marine engineering, and include ocean-related activities and lessons for all grade levels and academic specialties, from science to music and physical education.

The goal is to build understanding among coastal students of the essential principles of ocean literacy:

• The Earth has one big ocean with many features
• The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of the Earth
• The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate
• The ocean makes Earth habitable
• The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems
• The ocean and humans are inextricably connected
• The ocean is largely unexplored

The symposium grew out of a three year,  $900,000 per year Math-Science Partnership grant from the US Department of Education, administered via the state of Oregon Department of Education. The project teamed the Lincoln County School District with scientists, informal science educators and science education faculty at several academic, non-profit and government science institutions to develop, implement, and evaluate teacher professional development and student learning experiences that focus on ocean literacy and aquatic and marine science.

Oregon’s Ocean: Bringing the High Seas Home

FLORENCE – The 2012 Heceta Head Coastal Conference brings current ocean science and policy to Oregonians.  Attendees include university scientists, ocean policy agency staff, politicians, students, and the general public.  The conference is co-sponsored by Oregon Sea Grant.

The Pacific Ocean is a dynamic place full of activity and motion.  This year highlights the science of things that float, swim, drift, stowaway, steam, and bob across the Pacific to Oregon’s Ocean.

What to expect: The student poster session is part of a full day program (Saturday, October 27).

A dedicated session allows conference attendees to view posters and interact with student scientists as they explain their research and results.

Why submit a poster?

• Showcase your research
• Gain professional experience
• Practice science communication with a broad audience
• Interact with researchers, decision makers, industry leaders, stakeholders, and other    students
• Awards for top posters (and prizes)!

Submitting a poster: The HHCC invites contributions from advanced undergraduates (juniors or seniors), recent graduates, and graduate students.

The poster submission deadline is September 30. Download the .pdf announcement for details.

For more information on the conference, visit www.hecetaheadconference.org.

West Coast fishermen are invited to take part in a June 5 Webinar ,”West Coast Groundfish Fishery – Reducing Weak Stock Risk While Improving Profit for Fishermen.”

In an attempt to protect the groundfish fishery from stock collapse, fisheries regulators are considering shifting to a type of catch share system called ITQ, or  “individual transferable quotas.” Such a system sets a species-specific total allowable catch, typically by weight and for a given period of time.

With funding from Sea Grant programs in Oregon, California and Washington, researchers from the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Washington are attempting to  identify emerging ecological, social and economic impacts of the transition to an ITQ system. Can strategies be implemented that help fishermen avoid risk from catching weak stocks, while enhancing profit?

The free webinar, from 10 am to 11 am PDT, will present an overview of the research project and its primary questions.

Space in the Webinar is limited; seats can be reserved at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/126483927. (System requirements: PC- Windows 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server; Mac – OSX 10.5 or newer).

Oregon’s Ocean: Catching the Next Wave of Discoveries

FLORENCE – This year’s Heceta Head Coastal Conference, Oct. 29, will feature the fresh faces of ocean research in Oregon. Participants will learn about the cutting edge of marine science in our waters, focusing on new discoveries and future directions, including a student research poster session highlighting the next generation of Oregon’s scientists from colleges and universities throughout our state.

Graduate and undergraduate students who have conducted ocean-related research are invited to submit their projects, and researchers with promising students are encouraged to spread the word.  The poster submission deadline has been extended to September 30. Download the .pdf announcement for details.

Join us as we look ahead to confronting the challenges facing our ocean, how they are being addressed, and how results will affect YOU!  Oregon Sea Grant is co-sponsoring and organizing the conference. Watch for the full program announcement here this summer.

Federal agencies are teaming with nongovernmental organizations to sponsor a symposium on “Energy use in Fisheries: Improving Efficiency and Technological Innovations from a Global Perspective,”  November 14-17 in Seattle.

Sponsored by NOAA Fisheries Service, NOAA National Sea Grant, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Pacific Marine Expo, the World Bank and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, the symposium will look at  the direct and indirect effects of global energy costs on the seafood harvesting, processing and marketing sectors.

The symposium resulted from planning by the Sea Grant Safe and Sustainable Seafood Supply (SSSS) focus team. More than 90 presentations by experts from all over the world will address local and regional solutions for addressing energy challenges. Participants will identify and discuss management strategies, alternate gear and vessel designs, alternate fuels, vessel operation and maintenance strategies, and a set of metrics to measure the level of energy reduction.

Guest speakers include Jeff Steele, who led a green refit for the F/V Time Bandit, a vessel featured on Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” television show, and Chris Dixon who supplied a South Carolina shrimp boat with waste vegetable oil from the Margaritaville Restaurant.

To register and to learn more: http://www.energyfish.nmfs.noaa.gov/index.html

Oregon Sea Grant’s first class of undergraduate Summer Scholars will present their projects and research in an August 11 symposium at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.

The symposium runs from 1 to 3 pm in the Guin Library Seminar Room.

Sea Grant’s Summer Scholars program, launched this year, provides undergraduates with hands-on experience and training in marine science and resource management. Students are placed with Oregon resource agencies for the summer, assigned to specific research or outreach programs, and trained in subjects such as ecosystem-based management, professional and scientific communication, field-based scientific methods, natural resource policy development, and roles of federal, state and local governments in natural resource management.

The scholars who will be presenting their work on Aug. 11 are:

• AnnaRose Adams, Oregon State University, assigned to the Oregon Sea Grant program office on the OSU campus, under the mentorship of program director Steve Brandt and Julie Risien.
• Daniel Brusa, SUNY-Rockland Community College, New York, who is assigned to the Lincoln County Sea Grant Extention team in Newport, under the mentorship of Extension faculty member Kaety Hildenbrand.
• Ian Heller, Vassar College, New York, assigned to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s West Coast Ecology Division at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, under the mentorship of Ted Dewitt.
• Phillip Sanchez, University of Florida-Gainesville, assigned to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s West Coast Ecology Division at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, under the mentorship of Jim Power.
• Katie Wrubel, California State University-Monterey Bay, assigned to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Charleston office, under the mentorship of Scott Groth.