Teachers: Register now for Oct. 9 Coastal Learning Symposium

NEWPORT – Registration is open for the 2015 Coastal Learning Symposium, an annual event aimed at giving pre-K-12, informal and post-secondary educators creative ways to address learning objectives using the ocean, forest and community as context.

The symposium, which takes place Oct. 9 at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport and OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, features break-out sessions by Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon State Parks, the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and several learning technology companies, on topics ranging from Connecting Math and Science: Exploring the Math in Boyle’s Law data to Creating Art in Nature.

Field trips include learn-to-surf and paddle-board workshops at Agate Beach emphasizing beach and ocean safety, and guided interpretive walks of Yaquina Head and Brian Booth State Park, Oregon’s newest coastal park.

Greg Smith, professor at Lews & Clark College’s Graduate School of Education, will deliver a keynote address, and the day will culminate with a Learning Symposium Cruise of Yaquina Bay by Marine Discovery Tours.

Schools sending three or more teachers receive 30% off registration fees with the promotional code “GROUP” if they register by Sept. 25. Graduate credit is available through Portland State University.

The symposium is part of the  COASTALearning series, a project of the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Lincoln County School District.

Learn more:

Join us for Sea Grant Scholars Day, Nov. 13

Join us for the 2014 Oregon Sea Grant Scholars Day Former Sea Grant director Bob Malouf listens to presentation during 2012 Scholars SymposiumSymposium on Thursday, November 13, 2014 from 1:30 pm to 5 pm in the Joyce Powell Leadership Center Journey Room in the OSU Memorial Union!

Several of our student fellows and other scholars will be making presentations or presenting posters about their Sea Grant-related work. This gives students the opportunity to gain valuable experience presenting their research and experiences to a public audience and receive feedback on their work and presentation skills.

See the draft agenda here.

COASTALearning Symposium Oct. 9-10

NEWPORT – Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Coast STEM Hub are partnering with the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Lincoln County School District to run the annual COASTALearning Symposium in Newport on October 9 and 10.

This professional development event is expected to reach 350 teachers and administrators on the Oregon Coast and focuses on using marine science and coastal natural resources as a context for learning across grades and subjects.  Breakout sessions include topics such as Marine Debris, Fish Habitat and Passage, Ocean Engineering, Watershed Studies, Stewardship Projects, and more.

Learn more:

Markham symposium highlights work of HMSC graduate researchers

Hatfield Marine Science CenterNEWPORT – The 19th annual Markham Symposium, a celebration of graduate student research and scholarship, will be held at the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center  in Newport on June 19. This year’s symposium will feature student research presentations in an exciting, fast-paced format.  Poster presentations and an informal reception will give attendees a chance to meet students and their mentors. The event, from 10 am-12:30 pm in the Visitor Center auditorium, is free and open to the public.

Read more about the Symposium in Currents, the HMSC newsletter – now available via RSS feed – and while you’re at it, check out the redesigned HMSC Website.

The  HMSC is celebrating its 47th year as a leading marine laboratory distinguished by its many collaborative research partnerships. Originally established as a marine laboratory for OSU, the center currently hosts research and education programs from seven OSU colleges and six state and federal agencies on a 49-acre campus. on the south shore of Yaquina Bay. The facility is also home to the HMSC Visitor Center, managed by Oregon Sea Grant as a public and K-12 education facility and a social laboratory for OSU’s  Free-Choice Learning Lab.

Register now for Working Waterfronts symposium

Working Waterfronts Symposium 2013TACOMA, 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

Public forum aims to demystify ocean acidification, hypoxia

How is Oregon's ocean affected by hypoxia and acidification?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.

OSG’s Cone to speak at Marylhurst climate forum

Joe ConePORTLAND – 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:

 

Registration now open for the 2012 Heceta Head Coastal Conference

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.

 

 

Lincoln teachers gather for ocean literacy symposium

Newport's bayfront is among the living classrooms for this week's ocean literarcy symposiumNEWPORT – 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.

Students invited to submit posters for the 2012 Heceta Head Coastal Conference

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.