Author Archives: Cait Goodwin

Day three on the Oceanus: Unexpected Gifts

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By Tracy Crews

This post is part of a series about the 2018 STEM research cruise taking place this week on board the R/V Oceanus. Other posts in this series include Tracy’s report from Day One, and a post from high school student Alishia Keller from Day Two.

Pacific white-sided dolphins

Pacific white-sided dolphins

We started out our research cruise off the Oregon Coast, but as the wind increased down south impacting visibility, we tried our best to outrun it by heading north, into the waters off of Washington. We started out the day over Gray’s Canyon, surrounded by thick fog, wondering if we had traded one weather problem for another. But as the sun rose higher in the sky it burned off the fog and we were able to resume our survey tracks, zig-zagging back and forth from the shallower edge of the canyon, through the deeper water, then back to the other side again. Our quest today was to find those large, elusive whales known to prefer deep water, like sperm whales, beaked whales, and blues.

It wasn’t long before we saw a large pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins, estimated to be 230 in number by our two marine mammal researchers. Soon the dolphins surrounded the boat, darting out of wave crests, performing acrobatics and dancing in the wake of the vessel. The speed and agility they displayed was truly astounding. But as much as we enjoyed their antics, it was time to resume our search for their larger relatives.

Sperm whale fluke

Soon thereafter, as we made our way into deeper water, a solitary sperm whale was spotted. Everyone was excited to see such a rare sight but it wouldn’t last for long. Immortalized in books like Moby Dick, these large, toothed whales are impressive divers and once submerged can stay down for 45 minutes or more. Unsure when or where it would resurface, we continued along our survey transect.

As we moved back into shallower waters, we began to see more of the humpback whales that we have become so familiar with over the last few days. Most were traveling in small, close-knit groups, synchronized as they moved through the water. Others could be seen diving together then “logging” at the surface, floating to conserve energy and recover before diving once again.

deploying CTD

More oceanographic surveying

As the day wound down and wind picked up, we shifted gears to conduct some more CTDs (oceanographic surveys) and decided to conduct another nighttime plankton tow to compare to what was caught the previous night in the Astoria Canyon, off the Columbia River. As we gathered outside on the back deck to watch the sun sink below the horizon, one of the teachers pulled out his guitar and harmonica and we were presented with one last amazing gift, something mariners often wait a lifetime to see- a green flash.

Sunset Day Three

Waiting for the green flash

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Tracy Crews is the Marine Education Program Manager for Oregon Sea Grant, the Student STEM Experiences Coordinator for the Oregon Coast STEM Hub, and the Principal Investigator for the STEM research cruise taking place this week on the R/V Oceanus.

This cruise is funded by Oregon Legislative funds with additional support from Oregon Sea Grant and Oregon State University. Track the R/V Oceanus at marinetraffic.com, and see more photos of this expedition on the Oregon Coast STEM Hub Facebook page.

 

 

Whales, Shrunken Cups, and Plankton Tows by Moonlight

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By Alishia Keller
Bandon High School ’19

This post is part of a series about the 2018 STEM research cruise taking place this week on board the R/V Oceanus. For an introduction to the cruise, read yesterday’s post by the cruise’s Principal Investigator Tracy Crews. Today’s post is from a student’s perspective:

humpback whale flukeToday was the first full day at sea. Though much of the group spent yesterday in their bunks with seasickness, they all were present for today’s activities.

We woke and gathered in the dining area for breakfast before heading up to the flying bridge to observe marine mammals. There were patches of bait balls (groups of small fish) followed by flocks of gulls. Though we saw a few individual humpback whales, they were typically seen in pods of three or four.

making marine mammal observations from the ship's deckDuring our whale observations, we witnessed a whale lunge feeding. This is when a whale lunges out of the water, exposing its enlarged buccal cavity which expands like an accordion to accommodate a large amount of water and the krill on which it feeds.

Seeing consistent whale activity led us to deploy the CTD to collect oceanographic data, and a plankton tow to observe the abundance of food available.  Afterwards, we continued to observe the humpback whales. Though we saw many whales, not many flukes were visible, which made it difficult to photograph and identify the individual whales.

getting ready to deploy the CTD with styrofoam cups attached

Styrofoam cups ready for deployment

Right before lunch we gave up due to increasing winds which made observations difficult, so we headed North to Astoria Canyon off the Columbia River to conduct a series of CTDs. During the deepest deployment, we attached bags of Styrofoam cups decorated by our group, as well as students from some of their classrooms. The cups were sent to over 700 meters depth causing them to shrink to half their original size due to the high pressure.

styrofoam cups after their trip to the deep ocean

Styrofoam cups after their trip to the deep ocean

After recovering the CTD and cups, our group gathered to eat ice cream and enjoy the magnificent sunset in the West, mirrored by the full red moon to the East. Our last research effort for the night was another plankton tow which yielded more krill, lantern fish, a baby octopus, and many other cool critters.

full moon at sunset

Ice cream on deck

sunset

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Alishia Keller is a senior at Bandon High School in Coos County, Oregon. After high school she plans to go to college to study ecology and sustainability.

Shipboard Experience on the Oceanus

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By Tracy Crews

Surveying the horizon for marine mammals and seabirds

Surveying the horizon for marine mammals and seabirds

This weekend, a science party of 13 researchers, students, and teachers gathered aboard Oregon State University’s research vessel, the Oceanus, to begin a four-day research cruise aimed at providing mentoring and career connections at sea. The team mission is to conduct marine mammal and sea bird surveys and correlate sightings with oceanographic data and prey distribution. Participants in this cruise include high school teachers and students from Bandon High School, Taft High School in Lincoln City, and Warrenton High School, as well as college students from Southwestern Oregon Community College, Oregon Coast Community College and Oregon State University.

Deploying the CTD

Deploying the CTD

While adapting to life at sea, these teachers and students are learning to handle lines and deploy oceanographic equipment, how to identify marine mammals, seabirds, and plankton. They aren’t just observers but active participants in the science party, operating critical equipment, including hydraulics and data collection systems.

The first day we experienced sunshine and many successes.  Participants mastered their seasickness, and went on to deploy and retrieve plankton nets and CTDs. The abundance and types of plankton (small floating plants and animals) captured in the fine-mesh nets, and the physical parameters of conductivity (salinity), temperature, and depth measured by the CTDs will help researchers characterize the water column.

In addition, we surveyed over a dozen humpback whales and numerous porpoises, and used a drone to capture video footage of a humpback whale from above. The video data will help researchers from OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute assess the whale’s body condition, an indicator of overall health.

Life on the water is often exhausting, and after a 14 hour day, we are all ready for some much needed sleep. Laying in our bunks as we are rocked to sleep, we dream of what tomorrow will bring.

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Tracy Crews is the Marine Education Program Manager for Oregon Sea Grant, the Student STEM Experiences Coordinator for the Oregon Coast STEM Hub, and the Principal Investigator for the STEM research cruise taking place this week on the R/V Oceanus.

This cruise is funded by Oregon Legislative funds with additional support from Oregon Sea Grant and Oregon State University. Track the R/V Oceanus at marinetraffic.com, and see more photos of this expedition on the Oregon Coast STEM Hub Facebook page.

SeaCode Computer Science Camp

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By Ruben Krueger

An intergalactic spaceship that flies through the blackness of space, shooting lasers, and dodging aliens—all while getting a high score. This was the game that 16 middle and high schoolers from Lincoln County coded over the course of three weeks in SeaCode, a free, introductory computer science camp.

SeaCode students and the teaching team met in the Boone Center of Newport High School. In this photo, they are wearing the camp t-shirts. (Photo: Brian Hanna)

Our society has been revolutionized by computer science, yet most of the general population is unaware of what “coding” —writing instructions for a computer—even means. Thus, Newport High School teacher Brian Hanna and I wanted to ameliorate this by creating SeaCode. Undergraduate students Jane Myrick, Gatlin Andrews, Ryan Russell and Alex Rash graciously helped us teach the camp. Interestingly enough, all five of us are former students of Mr. Hanna!

Gatlin, Ryan, and Alex are now computer science students at Oregon State University, and Jane is an English and Education double major, also at Oregon State. Brian is a math, physics, and nascent computer science teacher, and a winner of the 2015 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Typing away in the Boone Center of Newport High School, the students used a web editor to write Javascript code (with help of the p5.js graphics library). The first day was an introduction to drawing with the p5.js library, and by the end of the two hour class, the students made a ball bounce off the edges of the screen, changing color each time. The next five days were a crash-course into the fundamentals of computer science, and included concepts such as variables, functions, and object-oriented programming.

During the remainder of the camp, the students worked on their games. Each day was focused on a implementing a major game feature (the star background, the spaceship, or aliens, for example), and this was broken down into a number of tasks for them. The tasks described what they had to do, but it was their responsibility to write the solution—they were not “handed” any code. Par for the course for emerging software engineers, this challenged the students and often necessitated extended debugging sessions and concept reviews.

A student coding the game.
Photo: Brian Hanna

Once students were finished with the day’s tasks, they added new features. For example, after finishing the star background, some students made their stars twinkle and others added in a “hyperdrive” feature which made the stars move past the ship at lightspeed. By the end of the camp, all of the games looked very dissimilar as the students added different types of aliens, lasers, spaceships, and even two-player modes!

Although we wanted all of the students to finish their games, creating an enjoyable experience for the students was our main goal. Thus, we abstracted away concepts that would be overly burdensome for a beginner, keeping only what was critical for the game. Moreover, we handed out incentives: all students received a t-shirt which said “I can code” and ice cream on the last day, and we raffled off a miniature drone and Arduino microcontroller.

Our next priority was exposing the students to the esoteric world of computer science. Currently, our educational system is inept at making students aware of this field. According to computer science education group Code.org, only forty percent of all high schools have computer science programs, when more than half of all new STEM jobs will be in software development. When I attended Newport High School, we lacked a computer science course; consequently, I was only introduced to coding when I joined our school’s robotics team. Fortunately, Brian Hanna has been working to change this. He attended SuperQuest workshops*, and this year he created and taught an introductory programming course, the first of its kind at Newport High School. However, with this camp we wanted to reach students across the county, from a wide range of ages, and students who would not be able to enroll in Hanna’s semester-long course.

It is our belief that even if a student left the camp without understanding what a variable is, then at least the student is aware of this field and would be more inclined to enroll in an introductory computer science course in the future. Additionally, we highly encouraged the students to further their study of computer science, and showed them free, online resources to do so.

You Can Code

Although the students, most of whom had no experience with computer science, made prodigious growth in their abilities, we, the teaching team, learned even more. This was my first time teaching computer science and I quickly realized that knowing a subject is necessary but not sufficient to teach that subject. Clearly communicating concepts such as variable scope, functions, and objects, I now appreciate, is much more difficult than actually using them.  As an ancillary benefit, we all became more familiar with Javascript, including some of its atrocious features such as implicit variable creation, type coercion, and automatic semicolon insertion by the interpreter. (These idiosyncrasies caused a majority of the student’s bugs.)

With these reflections, we have started planning next year’s camp, and are eager to accept more volunteers, grants, or any other type of assistance. For SeaCode 2019, we hope to create two camps—one for middle schoolers, one for high schoolers—and recruit more students from demographics underrepresented in software engineering.

SeaCode was sponsored by the Partnership Against Alcohol & Drug Abuse (PAADA), the Lincoln County School District, and Mo’s Restaurants. Additionally, this camp would not have been possible without the help of Brian Hanna, who helped me create and organize the camp.

More Information

*The summer SuperQuest teacher professional development workshops in Newport were offered by the Oregon Computer Science Teachers Association and the Oregon Coast STEM Hub.

About the author
Ruben is a graduate of Newport High School and is currently a sophomore computer science major at Stanford University. His first experience with coding was during his senior year of high school through his afterschool robotics team which competed in the MATE ROV Competition. When not being productive, you may find Ruben running, watching Family Guy, or reading. He is currently working at QuickCarl (www.quickcarl.com), a tech startup based in San Diego. You can contact Ruben at ruben1@stanford.edu or www.rubenkrueger.com

 

 

 

Student Research on the R/V Pacific Storm

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The Oregon Coast STEM Hub was awarded funding from Oregon Sea Grant to support a series of research cruises in 2018 on the Oregon State University research vessel Pacific Storm. This new program is designed to provide at-sea opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to conduct their own research, as well as work with OSU researchers on a variety of nearshore research projects. Below is a report from Sonora Meiling, an OSU undergraduate student who used this opportunity to gather data for her research question about the use of zinc anodes in crab pots:

 

High School Students Help OSU Undergraduate With Her Research
By Sonora Meiling

Handling crabsGenerally, commercial crabbing boats along the Oregon coast put zinc anodes in their crab pots not only to alleviate corrosion issues, but also because of a long held belief that if they don’t, they won’t catch any crabs. Speaking to captains of commercial crab boats from the Newport area, they reported that crabs are deterred from pots without zinc anodes by the heat and charge generated by the corroding steel. A year ago, I looked into the scientific findings behind this, and found none. When added to the crab pots, the positive charge of the sacrificial zinc anodes ground the pot, creating a neutral charge. So I decided to set up preliminary lab trials in which crabs were given a choice of bait in a steel ring with or without zinc. To my surprise, there were a significant amount of crabs that chose the ring with zinc.

Sonora and crab potTo further investigate this phenomena, during the 2017-2018 crabbing season I went out on the F/V Winona J, a renowned commercial fishing boat on the Oregon coast, and also on the OSU research vessel, the Pacific Storm. On the Winona J, I simply observed the deckhands work and recorded data from the few pots that they had removed the zinc from. On the Pacific Storm, I was able to collect my most valuable data yet. Over the course of a week, I went out to sea on three day trips in which I deployed paired pots with and without zinc.

The first day we deployed all of the pots at two different depths and two different longitudinal locations. Three days later, I was joined by juniors from Toledo High School to retrieve and redeploy the pots. Once on board, the students determined the sex, counted, and measured the carapace width of the crabs. Some already knew how to determine the sex of the crabs, and the ones who hadn’t, quickly learned. With three roles (recorder, crab holder and crab measurer), every student was able to participate in a job they were comfortable with. They did an awesome job recording data and interpreted, without provocation, there to be no difference in abundance of crabs between the pots.

Collecting data on the R/V Pacific StormThe second day of data collection, I was joined by juniors from the IB Biology class at Newport High School. Unfortunately, there were only three students healthy enough to help out. Fortunately, these select few were eager to dive into the pots. One student had clearly handled crabs before and was able to determine their sex on their own. Another student helping was promptly able to sex the crabs on her own once I showed her a few examples.

I am very grateful for the help with days at sea through funding from Oregon Sea Grant and data collection assistance from the Toledo and Newport high school students. My hope is that engaging in a real research project led by someone that they can relate to who is not much older than they are, will encourage the high schoolers to pursue their own research interests.

 

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The Oregon Coast STEM Hub regularly shares opportunities for students to participate in STEM experiences. For example, the Hub is currently recruiting high school students to participate in a four day research cruise on OSU’s R/V Oceanus. The research cruise, which will be led by OSU researchers who study marine mammals and plankton, will take place on September 24-27, 2018, departing from Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Only students from the Oregon Coast who will be seniors for the 2018/19 school year are eligible to apply. Application materials are due by June 18. Download a flyer with details.

 

April 28 – Student underwater robotics competition

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Oregon underwater robotics competition connects students with marine technology in the Pacific Northwest

April 23, 2018 — Oregon Sea Grant has issued a challenge to students: Design and build an underwater robot that can locate the wreckage of an airplane, deploy equipment to monitor earthquakes, and install renewable energy devices, all of which will be simulated in the Lincoln City Community Center pool on Saturday, April 28, 2018.

The Oregon Regional MATE ROV competition is an annual event that encourages students from across the state to learn and apply science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills as they develop underwater robots – also known as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). These underwater robots are used to complete missions based on real world issues and events.

The competition theme and missions change each year. Because the international competition will take place near Seattle, Washington, this year’s contest will highlight the role ROVs play in the Pacific Northwest, including activities that deal with archaeology, seismology and renewable energy. Through the competition scenario, students learn about the region’s seismic activity, emerging renewable energy technology, and rich aviation history.

Students also are being exposed to business practices as they are tasked with creating mock companies that work together to “manufacture, market and sell” their ROVs. This simulated company approach promotes entrepreneurship and leadership skills as students manage a project and budget, brainstorm ideas and engage in problem solving, prepare reports and marketing materials, and deliver presentations, all necessary skills for future careers.

 

The forty student teams participating in this year’s competition are from:

  • Curry County 4-H STEM from Port Orford, Brookings & Gold Beach, OR
  • Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, OR
  • Siuslaw Middle School from Florence, OR
  • Toledo Elementary from Toledo, OR
  • Newport Middle School from Newport, OR
  • Newport High School from Newport, OR
  • Taft Jr./Sr. High School in Lincoln City, OR
  • Tillamook Jr. High School in Tillamook, OR
  • Tillamook High School in Tillamook, OR
  • Warrenton Grade School in Warrenton, OR
  • Warrenton Middle School in Warrenton, OR
  • Valor Christian School International in Beaverton, OR
  • Oregon Islamic Academy in Tigard, OR
  • Tigard High School in Tigard, OR
  • Wasco County 4-H in The Dalles, OR
  • Wallace and Priscilla Stevenson Intermediate School in White Salmon, OR
  • Knights STEM Association in Ridgefield, WA

 

The Oregon Regional MATE ROV Competition is supported by Oregon Sea Grant, the Oregon Coast STEM Hub, Oregon State University, the MATE Center, the Marine Technology Society, and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. Each year, approximately 50 volunteers serve as divers, scorekeepers, and judges for the competition, evaluating the students’ ROVs, poster displays and engineering presentations. Volunteers for this year’s competition work as engineers and researchers at the Sexton, Corp.; Garmin; Oregon State University; the Environmental Protection Agency; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Oregon Sea Grant; and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The Oregon Regional MATE ROV Competition is one of 31 regional contests held around the world that are supported by the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center. Those upper level teams that qualify will advance to the MATE International ROV Competition, which will be held June 21-23, 2018 at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.

The public is invited to attend the regional competition and cheer for their local teams. The Oregon competition will be held from 8 am to 5 pm on April 28, 2018 at the Lincoln City Community Center at 2150 NE Oar Place, in Lincoln City. For more information, contact Tracy Crews, Regional Coordinator, at tracy.crews@oregonstate.edu.

Watch a video of last year’s competition:

Student Perspective: ‘Taking Root’

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Nathan Malamud is a senior at Pacific High School in the small coastal community of Port Orford, Oregon. Last Fall, he created this 3 minute video to share what local communities can do to slow and reverse the effects of climate change. Are you looking for community and student stewardship ideas? Here’s a suggestion that Nathan hopes will be “Taking Root”:

 

Nathan’s video was shared with teachers attending the Climate Change “MWEEs by the Sea” workshop last month at OSU’s Port Orford Field Station. What a great inspiration for the teachers and their students!

h/t to OSU’s Port Orford Field Station

 

 

Aquarium Youth Team Place First at Salmon Bowl

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By Oregon Coast Aquarium 

Photo: Oregon Coast Aquarium

Photo: Oregon Coast Aquarium

Newport, Oregon— “Hailing from the central Oregon coast, the ‘Nerdi Nautili’ have battled 50 mph winds, 60 foot waves, and countless cheesy jokes to be here today!”

This spirited statement is part of the group biography for the “Nerdi Nautili,” the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s team of six high school students that placed first at the Salmon Bowl this past Saturday. Their win secured them a spot to compete at the National Ocean Sciences Bowl in Boulder, Colorado in April.

The Salmon Bowl is a regional competition where teams of high school students compete for a spot at the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, a nationally recognized and highly acclaimed academic competition managed by The Consortium for Ocean Leadership. The program provides a forum for talented and passionate students to test their knowledge of the marine sciences, including biology, chemistry, physics, and geology.

The Aquarium Team, comprising of high school students Genevieve Coblentz-Strong, Abbey DuBois, Noah King, Jeremy Schaffer, Jensen Davis, and Noah Goodwin-Rice, won first place out of fourteen teams. Students, teachers, families, coaches, and volunteers traveled from all over the state of Oregon and Idaho to participate in and watch the event hosted by Oregon State University (OSU). In addition to the trip to the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, the first place prizes include an OSU scholarship for Juniors and Seniors, a Marine Discovery Tours cruise, an annual membership to the National Marine Educators Association for the coach, and of course, the coveted Salmon Bowl First Place Trophy.

Teresa Mealy, Oregon Coast Aquarium Youth Programs Coordinator, coached the team leading up to and during the event. “Our team is made up of youth volunteers who have been active in our Summer Youth Program,” Mealy said. “The program aligns with the Aquarium’s mission. These students are looking to take that next step and learn more about the ocean while also diving deep into a possible career.”

In addition to testing marine science knowledge, the competition provides a unique and rare resource to connect students with other like-minded peers and current ocean experts and policy-makers. “Many of the sponsoring organizations are universities that offer marine science programs,” explained Mealy. “This might be the first or only opportunity for a student to directly connect with or learn about higher level education in this invaluable field.”

For students interested in participating next year or simply in pursuing an interest in marine science, Mealy encourages contacting the Aquarium about our Summer Youth Program and/or the Oceanscape Network. Youth interested in volunteering are also invited to the Aquarium’s official Volunteer Recruitment Day on Saturday, April 14.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is a partner with the Oregon Coast STEM Hub. The Oregon Coast Aquarium creates unique and engaging experiences that connect all to the Oregon Coast and inspire ocean conservation. An accredited Association of Zoos & Aquariums institution, this 501(c)3 non-profit organization is ranked as one of the top 10 aquariums in the U.S. Visit us at 2820 S.E. Ferry Slip Rd., Newport, OR. www.aquarium.org, 541-867-3474. Follow on Facebook.com/OregonCoastAquarium, or Twitter.com/OrCoastAquarium for the latest updates.

Trash Talk Project

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From the Haystack Rock Awareness Program:

Photo: Lisa Habecker

Photo: Lisa Habecker

The Haystack Rock Awareness Program has created a wearable art jewelry line crafted from marine debris named “Trash Talk,” intended to support our program and spark conversations that lead to more environmental stewardship.

Frequently, people ask how they can assist our program’s stewardship efforts beyond volunteering or donating financially. This new project is a great way anybody can help support us on their own time. Nearly every beach in the world has micro-plastic landfall. Participants in this project are invited to collect micro-plastics (small plastic trash that washes up on our beaches), and donate it to our program to be repurposed into wearable art jewelry.

Not into collecting beach debris? Not a problem! We are also accepting donations of old or broken jewelry that will be reused in these new pieces.

Micro-plastic collections and old, broken jewelry should be placed in a bag or container and left in the garbage bin labeled “Haystack Rock Awareness Program Marine Debris,” located at the back entrance of Cannon Beach City Hall next to the dumpster. In your bag, please include your contact information so we can send you a thank you and a small wearable bottle filled with some of the Marine Debris. One gallon of beach Debris is sufficient material to host 2-5 workshops, make over 30 pieces of jewelry or one 12×12 art piece.

Photo: Lisa Habecker

The funding received through this project supports HRAP’s ongoing efforts to provide high quality STEM, STEAM, and Citizen Science programs, and to spread awareness to a diverse multitude of visitors- positively impacting our community.

 

 

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The Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) is a stewardship and environmental education program in Cannon Beach, OR. For more information, visit http://www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us/hrap. For questions or comments about the Trash Talk project, contact Pooka Rice, Haystack Rock Awareness Program Outreach Coordinator at 503-436-8079 or lrice@ci.cannon-beach.or.us.

 

 

 

Teams Head to 2017 MATE ROV International Competition

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Two Oregon teams will be competing with their student-built underwater robots at the International MATE ROV Competition held in Long Beach, California this weekend, June 23-25, 2017!

  • Lazarus Industries from Clatsop Community College will compete in the EXPLORER class. Read more
  • Finnovators from Newport High School will compete in the RANGER class. Below is information shared by the team:
Finnovators from Newport High School - Photo: A. Brown

Finnovators from Newport High School – Photo: A. Brown

Newport, OR –  The “Finnovators” won the Oregon Regional MATE ROV Competition held in Lincoln City on April 29th, and this week they will soon be headed to the International Competition in Long Beach, California. The Finnovators is one of the three robotics teams at Newport High School, and is composed of eight seniors. This will be the second consecutive year that the team has advanced to the international event.

At the regional competition, teams across Oregon demonstrated their ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) by completing underwater tasks. This included, among other challenges, retrieving contaminant data from the bottom of a pool, turning a valve, and disconnecting a power cable. Finally, the teams presented marketing and technical reports about their ROVs, and judges correspondingly asked questions. For the tasks and presentation, the teams were awarded points, and the Finnovators ended with the most.

The process culminating in this victory was arduous and required hundreds of hours. However, the result was a complex machine. The ROV features a claw, motors, cameras, and parts that were 3D-printed at Newport High School. The electronics of the ROV require two different coding languages, Python and Arduino, with code written by the team members.

The other two teams from Newport, the Cybernautics and Marine One, were also successful. These students were able to create their own ROVs for the competition, despite their lesser amount of experience. Further, these teams had some of the sophistication of the Finnovators, as they also used software code, 3D-printed components, and soldering. Like the Finnovators, the majority of the components for their ROVs were hand-made.

The Finnovators' student-built ROV. Photo: G. Andrews

The Finnovators’ student-built ROV. Photo: G. Andrews

This demonstrates the benefits of the robotics teams: the robotics teams allows high school students of all ages and backgrounds to explore careers, learn teamwork and technical skills. As robotics is an extracurricular club, the teams do not receive funding from the school district.

Instead, the students fundraise a significant amount of their budget. However, this would not cover all of their expenses, which includes electronics, building materials, and traveling costs. Thus, the team has sponsors from companies and organizations such as Georgia Pacific, AUVSI, Siletz Tribe, Marine Tech Society, Sexton Marine, Oregon STEM hub, Figaro’s and Lincoln County. The team is also accepting donations to fund their trip to the international competition through a GoFundMe page, which can be found under the title “Send NHS ROV team to Internationals.”

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Follow the action this weekend!

For more information about the MATE ROV program, visit the following websites: