Monthly Archives: June 2011

Update #2 from the Oregon Capitol!

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June 17, 2011

I’d like to give everyone a brief update of my Oregon Sea Grant Legislative Fellowship, now that the 2011 Legislative session appears to be winding down. It covers the period from April 26, 2011 to June 16, 2011.

Things have been in a pretty constant state of flux since the last update I provided. The main focus of my efforts has been HB 2009, which would implement a series of marine reserves, is currently locked in end-of-session negotiations. Essentially, the bill is being used as a bargaining chip between legislators in various leadership positions. It remains to be seen whether the bill will pass this legislative session.

A bill of particular concern to the Coastal Caucus, SB 736, was left to be debated in the next session. The bill would have banned gillnetting on the lower Columbia River, essentially ending the livelihoods of many fishermen on Oregon’s coast.

My primary duties to this point have included:

• Planning and organizing weekly Coastal Caucus meetings, including generating topics of discussion, arranging invited guests, and preparing agendas.

• Participating in a discussion with representatives from state agencies, the governor’s office, and interested stakeholders re: how to proceed with implementing marine reserves if HB 2009 does not pass this session.

• Collaborating with lobbyists and interested stakeholders to ensure that Oregon’s commercial fishermen continue to have a viable livelihood.

• Facilitating smooth and open lines of communication among members of the Coastal Caucus, to make sure that they stay apprised of issues that may be of concern to them as a group.

All in all, it has been a tremendous experience so far, and I greatly appreciate the opportunity provided to me!

Welcome our 2011 Summer Scholars

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A new class of Sea Grant Summer Scholars arrived on campus this week for orientation, and are now scattered to their host departments and agencies on the coast and at OSU. They are:

  • Shealyn Friedrich is a student at Willamette University in Salem, OR, who will be working on developing a website for the OSU Marine Council under the guidance of the Sea Grant program office at OSU.
  • AnnaRose Adams, an Oregon State University student, returning for her second year in the Summer Scholars program, assigned to work on a Coastal Marine Spatial Planning workshop with the Sea Grant program office.
  • Diego Martin-Perez, a student at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, LA, working at the Hatfield Marine Science Center’s Visitor Center in Newport under the tutelage of public education specialist Bill Hanshumaker.
  • Betty Mujica, of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA, working with veterinarian Tim Miller-Morgan and Extension water quality specialist Rob Emanuel at the HMSC Visitor Center.
  • Lauren Dimock, a Willamette University student assigned to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s marine resource program at the HMSC.
  • Nicole Matthias, of Michigan Technological University, also assigned to the ODFW’s marine resource program.
  • Margaretmary Gilroy, of College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, assigned to the US Environmental Protection Agency lab at the HMSC
  • Sara Duncan, of Hawai’i Pacific University in Honolulu, assigned to EPA extension, where she will be working under the guidance of Ted DeWitt on a project to study the nutrient removal of flora in the Yaquina Resevoir
  • Joanne Choi, of Yale University, who will be working with the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in Coos Bay under the guidance of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

We hope all nine of this year’s Summer Scholars will find time to blog about their experiences.