I recently completed my time as an undergraduate at the University of Washington, where I studied Oceanography and Environmental Studies. Throughout my college career, I have studied a variety of coastal anthropogenic stressors, including ocean acidification (OA), harmful algal blooms, and microplastics. Communication, environmental justice, and diversity, equity, and inclusion principles are central tenets of both my research and community work. Recently, I interned with NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program, helping create a variety of regionalized OA communication and education materials as a Hollings Scholar.
This summer, I will be interning with the Oregon Coastal & Ocean Information Network (OCOIN), a partnership between Portland State University, Oregon State University, Oregon’s Coastal and Marine Data Network, and Oregon Coastal Management Program. Specifically, I will work to enhance the Oregon coastal and ocean information-policy network through a variety of outreach and tech-support projects, including by contributing to OCOIN’s outreach materials, research platform, and website. There will be a focus on equitable data sharing and sovereignty, something particularly exciting to me as a proponent of increased diversity and justice in the geosciences.
My name is Rana and I am a junior studying marine studies with a minor in natural resources at Oregon State University. I am from Saudi Arabia but moved to Oregon for school a few years ago. Having spent my whole life along the coast, the ocean has always held a special place in my heart. I have fond memories of exploring the tide pools, fishing, and gazing out at the endless ocean horizon. Eventually, those memories inspired me to come to OSU, hoping to learn more about coastal studies in a different region. Given the global threats facing our coasts, I decided to concentrate my studies on coastal management and policy to strike a balance between ecosystem protection and public access. I hope to play a vital role in protecting coastal areas and allow others to develop the same sense of wonder for our oceans that I discovered as a child.
This summer, I am excited to take on an internship with ICAN that is focused on coastal management and global collaborations. This experience will help strengthen my existing skills and knowledge while exposing me to new areas that can benefit my grad school application as well as my career path. With this internship, I hope to gain the necessary experience that will allow me to work directly with global ocean initiatives, supporting the implementation of management strategies that will drive significant positive change for our coasts.
My name is Samantha Dillard and I am an incoming senior at Oregon State University. I am studying Marine Studies and minoring in Marine Conservation and Management. I have grown to love writing, researching coastal communities, working with the public, and learning about marine mammals. Many of my classes this year have been about efficient science communication and its application for public use. I want to work with policy creation and including varying stakeholders into the climate change conversation. I have always been passionate about ocean science and am excited to learn more about the people’s side of protecting these resources.
Working with OCOIN this summer, I hope to gain professional experience in the conservation field, and relevant work skills. I am hoping to strengthen my communication skills with a variety of professionals. In my free time, I enjoy tide pooling, reading, and going on hikes!
My journey into stem has been anything but linear. Born and raised in the Great Lakes State, it’s no wonder why I have always found solace being in or around water. I knew from a young age that I wanted to work protecting our natural environment but I never imagined that it would be a possibility, that was, until I moved to Oregon.
Through pure hard work, dedication and determination I was able to land an internship with a local engineering firm, where I was introduced and mainly worked using spatial data and GIS. I currently work as a communications coordinator for a network of STEM hubs within Oregon, which work together to create equitable opportunities for students and educators to engage in STEM across the state.
I am currently a student at Portland Community College and plan on continuing my education at Oregon State University . My greatest academic interests are in water quality, restoration and sustainability. I acknowledge that there are many different ways into the STEM world, and this opportunity is perfect to figure out exactly where I fit into this realm. I am beyond excited to grow my GIS and communications skills which will help build a strong foundation for my STEM career. My dream is to be able to study ecological engineering and take what I learn back to my hometown of Flint, Michigan.
Work hard, play hard. When I am not in class or at work, I take advantage of being on the west coast by exploring and experiencing all it has to offer. My most recent escapade involves the start of my scuba diving certification!
Here I am pictured in the Florida A&M University, School of the Environment laboratories with my pet fish and a few books I am currently reading.
I am Destiny Coleman, a graduating senior studying Environmental Science at Florida A&M University. I plan to pursue a career in research and conservation of marine life and environments, specifically targeting marine mammals. Marine biology has been my passion since I was a child, and science and nature have worked their way into major portions of my life. I have a pet crested gecko (Harlequinn) and 7 “plant babies” that I enjoy incorporating into my daily life. Although I enjoy blurring the line between my career interests and personal life, I do value the friendships I have built throughout my college career and a large portion of my free time is dedicated to maintaining those relationships. I enjoy being the “planner” friend who always has creative ideas to bring diverse individuals together for something that can be mutually enjoyed. In my alone time, I have reclaimed my love for reading, scrapbooking, and I often dive and snorkel with friends from school. This summer, I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute to the SEACOR project and receive hands-on experience in coastal biology before I continue my career as an early scientist.
My name is Linnea Gebauer, and I’m a rising junior at Occidental College in Los Angeles, majoring in Biology with a minor in Religious Studies. I grew up in Southern Oregon, and have always loved taking trips to the Oregon Coast! Marine biology has always been an interest of mine, and I’m especially interested in the impact of human activity on the ecology and biodiversity of marine habitats. This past school year I’ve also had the opportunity to give science presentations at local elementary schools, and I’ve really enjoyed getting more involved in science communication and outreach! I’m passionate about making science accessible and engaging for all audiences. I’m also a student researcher in Occidental’s Computational Biology lab, where we focus on computational methods in urban wildlife ecology and conservation biology. I’m excited to explore the intersection of scientific research, outreach, and education this summer working with the ODFW Water Program!
This is me holding a boa constrictor in my Zoology lab!
Greetings! My name is Sam Cheplick (He/Him) and I am currently a natural resource policy fellow with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Marine Reserves program. I’m based at the ODFW marine resource programs South Beach office in Newport. A little bit of background on Oregon’s five marine reserves. The reserves range from Redfish Rocks on the southern Oregon coast to Cape Falcon on the northern coast, while the three other marine reserves are situated across Lincoln County on the central coast. They were phased in starting in 2012 until 2016 to conserve a variety of marine habitats while minimizing negative impacts to ocean users and coastal communities. Oregon marine reserves are unique in that they are mandated to monitor both the ecological and human dimensions of protecting nearshore ocean ecosystems, without negatively impacting coastal communities. In my role as a fellow, I’m working with ODFW staff to continue monitoring socioeconomic impacts to communities living in proximity to marine reserves along the Oregon coast.
In 2022, a team of academic scientists conducted a legislatively mandated decadal review of marine reserves that aimed to synthesize existing results and provide recommendations to be considered over the next decade. The primary objective of my work focuses on 1) supporting the development of an updated human dimensions monitoring plan, 2) developing tools that can be integrated into an adaptive management framework for monitoring marine reserves; and 3) assessing the economic impacts of nearshore resource management both within and outside marine reserves. What interests me most about this opportunity is the transdisciplinary nature of marine reserves. Approaches in ecology, economics and social science come together to answer broader questions of the role of protecting marine areas that informs management in the face of increasingly variable ocean conditions.
Hello! I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Kayla Stevenson, and I am currently a Natural Resource Policy Fellow with Oregon Sea Grant. I graduated from the University of Washington with a Master’s in Marine Affairs and a Master of Arts in International Studies in 2023. I am a Tribal Climate Adaptation Specialist for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI). The purpose of my position is to write a climate change vulnerability assessment for the Tribe. This involves researching current climate change impacts that directly affect members of the Tribe, including issues such as sea level rise, coastal erosion, changes in precipitation, and more. The report includes an assessment of natural and cultural resources that will be affected by climate change. Impacts that I have so far noted are possible obstacles associated with recreation and harvesting, such as harmful algal blooms and toxic cyanobacteria which has the potential to harm people who are interacting with the environment. The climate change vulnerability report will serve as a jumping-off point for future climate change planning for the Tribe, including a climate adaptation plan.
The climate change vulnerability assessment is a large undertaking and involves becoming an expert in a variety of topics and considering the possible impacts climatic changes will have on the tribe. In this role, it is of utmost importance for me to consider community concerns, as Tribal members are currently and will continue to experience the impacts of climate change. To engage the Tribal community, my supervisors and I crafted a climate change priority survey to assess what CTCLUSI Tribal members are most concerned about regarding climate change impacts. Part of the distribution of this survey included going to Florence to participate in and distribute surveys at the Tribal holiday party in December. It was an honor to be invited to the event. Tribal members sang songs, shared prayers, and enjoyed delicious food. This is a critical part of involvement at a socio-cultural level, as I felt that understanding community concerns about climate change would inform priorities for my research on the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment. Additionally, it was informative to drive down to Coos Bay and Florence to get a visual understanding of CTCLUSI’s ancestral lands and current Tribal properties. Since I work remotely in Seattle, it was important for me to physically travel to Coos Bay and see the ecosystems that I am writing about. It has been an exciting couple of months, stay tuned for more to come!
Just like the marine reserves bill, I’m back in Salem for the 2024 session.
This time around, things are going to be a little different. Though the Legislature convenes every year, on odd-numbered years we hold a “long session” that lasts about five months while on even-numbered years there’s a “short session” that only lasts about five weeks. Last session, I wrote a blog post that used the journey of the marine reserves bill (then HB 2903) to provide a high-level overview of the legislative process. Seeing as we just entered the abbreviated short session, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to continue to use the marine reserves bill (now HB 4132) to do a rapid-fire deep dive into the legislative process. Since I’ve covered it before, I’m not going to rehash what this bill is about and why it’s so important in this post, but if you want to dig into that check out my first blog post here.
State Capitol Building in Salem, Oregon; Credit: RG – stock.adobe.com
Here’s the plan: each week I’m going to focus on a different step in the legislative process – from policy development to a signature from the Governor (fingers crossed the bill makes it that far). In this post, I’m going to cover everything that went into preparing this bill for the 2024 session during the five-month session interim. Let’s get into it!
July – September: The session interim is a time for brainstorming and policy development. First things first, you need an idea. These ideas can come from anywhere, from legislators to staff to advocates to constituents. Once you have an idea, you need to translate it into a bill draft. Typically, this involves forming a working group of advocates, experts, people with lived experience, and other legislators and staff. In our case, a lot of the policy development was informed by conversations with individuals at conservation organizations like the Oregon chapters of Surfrider, Oceana, and the Nature Conservancy as well as community-based organizations affiliated with each of the marine reserves.
Since this working group was formed prior to session last year, we entered the session interim ready to hit the ground running. The moment the 2023 session ended the group began dissecting why the bill didn’t pass and what issues needed to be addressed to set us up for success in 2024. Since our bill relates to a program within the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), we also spent time communicating with ODFW leadership and staff to nail down exactly what resources were needed to address the proposed mandates. After all these conversations, we arrived at the conclusion that the best path forward was to run the exact same bill as last session.
October – November: Once October hit, it was time to start working with Legislative Council (LC). LC is essentially the legislature’s law firm, responsible for drafting every measure and amendment you see during the session. It’s typically the goal to have your bill introduced on the first day of session. In that case, there are several presession deadlines you need to be aware of, one of which is the LC draft request deadline. This deadline typically falls in September for the long session and November for the short session. The moral of the story here is, if you want to work with a legislator on a policy concept, start doing so early. Once these deadlines have passed, especially during the short session, there’s not a lot your legislator can do to address your request until the following session.
Lucky for us, working with LC was a painless process, largely because we were recycling language from the previous session. In no time, LC provided us with a legislative concept (confusingly also abbreviated as LC), which is essentially a formal bill draft with a number and everything.
December: In December, our working group kicked things into high gear, developing outreach materials and lobbying tools designed to build a broad coalition of support for the marine reserves bill. Representative Gomberg’s office also began having conversations with the Chair of the committee our bill would likely be assigned to: the House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water. Though each of these steps are always important, the former is particularly critical during the long session when there is more time to drum up support while the latter is crucial when entering a short session when you need the Committee to schedule your bill for a public hearing during the first week of session.
January: Once you have your legislative concept and additional communication materials on your bill, it’s time to start looking for Sponsors. Over the month of January, we were able to drum up support on both sides of the aisle and across the House and the Senate. The goal is to bring on Sponsors who can act as champions for your bill in relevant Committees and in the opposite Chamber (in this case, the Senate). During session, members can only sign on to a bill as a Sponsor when it’s in their Chamber. Therefore, it’s important to get these kinds of Sponsors prior to the start of session so you know that you have someone prepared to guide your bill through the legislative process when it moves to the opposite Chamber.
Once you’ve gathered your Sponsors, all that’s left to do is file your bill with the Chief Clerk’s Office before the pre-session deadline. Oh, and then you have to do everything else required during session to get your bill over the finish line, but one step at a time. In my next post I’ll cover the first week of the 2024 session and do a deep dive into the public hearing process. If you want to stay up to date with the movement of HB 4132 through the legislative process in real-time, check out the bill’s OLIS page and click “e-Subscribe” in the top right corner (photo below). This is a great way to stay up to date with this bill and any others of interest to you during session.
Well, for anyone who made it this far, thanks for reading! I’ll check back in next week.
As promised, I’m back with an update on HB 2903 and Oregon’s marine reserves. Buckle your seatbelt because you are in for a bumpy ride.
Back when I left you in April, everything was full steam ahead. HB 2903 had passed unanimously out of its first House committee and was sitting in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means awaiting the announcement of the state revenue forecast. To give you some context as to what that means, here is some background on the legislative process.
When a bill is created, it can be introduced in either chamber: the Senate or the House. In this case, the bill got its start in the House. Its first stop is the House floor where the bill will be read before the Chamber and referred to a policy committee for further discussion. In this case, HB 2903 was referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water. Once a bill reaches committee, it needs to be scheduled for a public hearing, during which individuals may provide public testimony in reference to the bill and its objectives. Following the public hearing, the bill must be scheduled for a work session where a committee can act on a bill (e.g., make amendments or take a vote).
At this point, the committee can vote on the bill and, often, the bill will move back to the Chamber for a full vote. However, if a bill has a fiscal ask, as was the case with HB 2903, it has one more stop before it can be called for a vote on the floor: the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. There are some internal processes that go on once the bill reaches Ways and Means that we do not need to get into here. What is important is, if the bill makes its way out of its Ways and Means work session with a “do pass” recommendation, then it is ready to be put to a vote on the floor.
Once a bill successfully makes its way out of the first Chamber it then makes its way to the second, in this case, HB 2903 would have gone on to the Senate. There the bill will be read, make a procedural pitstop in Ways and Means, and then come back to the second Chamber floor for a vote. Assuming the bill withstands all of that, it will finally be passed on to the Governor to be signed into law.
Diagram of the legislative process.
As you have probably gathered, HB 2903 did not make it that far.
The session took a sudden turn when Senate Republicans walked out on May 3rd (I’m not going to dig into it in this blog, but if you want to read more about it, you can do so here and here). In the state of Oregon, the Senate chamber must achieve a 2/3 quorum in order to vote on bills. Therefore, by walking out, Senate Republicans were able to effectively pause all bill movement in the Senate even though the Democratic party held the majority.
By the end of May, there was no sign of the Senate reaching quorum and HB 2903 was trapped in Ways and Means with nowhere to go. It was time to search for other avenues.
On top of policy bills like HB 2903, there are also bills that handle agency budgets. Passing these budgetary bills is one of the most important tasks for the State legislature. While policy bills will just die if they don’t pass during the regular session, budgetary bills must pass, and a special session will be called if the legislature cannot do so during the regular session. Therefore, Representative Gomberg, the Chair of the Coastal Caucus, got in contact with the Co-Chairs of Ways and Means and requested that the fiscal component of HB 2903 be included in HB 5509, which appropriates money from the General Fund to ODFW for a period of two years.
We knew this ask was going to be tough. Each session, the Governor’s office releases a recommended budget, which is essentially a proposal based on state revenue forecasts on how state funds should be allocated. The Governor’s office then negotiates with various parties, including legislative leaders and members of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means to generate a budget that will be voted on at the end of the session. When Governor Kotek released her recommended budget back in January, funds were looking tight, and many agencies were preparing to make cuts to afford for reduced revenues. One of those cuts was the Community Project Leader position within ODFW’s Marine Reserves program. So, the Caucus wasn’t just advocating for new funding, they were also working against a proposed cut.
On the one hand, this cut made sense: the position related to the cut had been vacant for three years. However, advocates and the Coastal Caucus argued the story around this vacancy was more complex and in part the result of two failed recruitments and a hiring freeze during the pandemic. It was the position of the Coastal Caucus that this context made the situation unique from other prolonged vacancies and that to permanently lose this position would be to permanently sever a critical connection point between coastal communities and marine reserves.
At this point, we had one last option: to advocate for the inclusion of HB 2903 and funding for cut position in the end of session budget reconciliation bill. This bill tends to be comprised of several smaller, often unrelated policies or amendments. Its tendency to have a little something for everyone gave this bill its nickname: the Christmas Tree Bill.
Around that time, the Senate returned to the floor, wrapping up the longest walkout in state history and leaving ten days to move all the remaining bills through the Senate. Now the marine reserves bill was not unpopular. In fact, it was extremely non-controversial and had a lot of community support. However, in the flurry of legislative action that followed the Senate’s return, funding for the marine reserves bill never materialized. It is unclear if under different circumstances marine reserves funding would have been given higher priority, but the pace of the final week of session certainly posed a challenge for legislators trying to negotiate for last-minute additions in the budgeting process.
I guess if I were to sum up the major lesson from this process, it would be **** happens. You can craft a bill to sail through the legislative process and a storm can come out of nowhere and sink it. In the end, it wasn’t anyone’s fault, it wasn’t because we didn’t try hard enough, there were just so many incredibly important priorities this session and ours didn’t make the cut. And that doesn’t mean the journey is over. The Coastal Caucus is still very much committed to Oregon’s Marine Reserves Program and is actively strategizing for the coming short session. I’ve learned so much from this experience and I can’t wait to see how the next iteration of this work will turn out.
This is unrelated to marine reserves, but please enjoy this photo of me looking very professional on the Senate floor.
