My research addresses the concept that estuarine tidal marshes have the potential to provide productive feeding grounds with sufficient prey input from terrestrial systems; however, utilization of the marshes in sub-optimal conditions could reduce physiological condition prior to seaward migration. I collected juvenile fall chinook from tidal marshes in Nehalem Bay, Oregon. They were opportunistic feeders and utilized the fluctuating estuarine habitats to feed on otherwise unavailable terrestrial derived prey. In the laboratory, I investigated the physiological responses to fluctuating salinities and to different feeding rates. These results showed that juvenile chinook are highly adaptive to a wide variety of salinity conditions. However, diet is crucial for proper osmoregulatory control.

More about Crystal

I’m investigating how lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) use habitat provided by bays and estuaries along the Oregon coast. My field work involves tagging sub-adult lingcod in Yaquina Bay to determine the spatial and temporal patterns of movement, and conducting periodic SCUBA surveys to compare seasonal lingcod densities.

More about Tad

My thesis examined spatial and temporal changes in trawl fishing effort on Oregon fishing grounds with concurrent fishery management measures, related these distribution changes to the benthic habitat type over which they occurred, and developed methods for enhancing spatial review of targeted fishing effort to adequately address habitat conservation concerns. My results indicated that the 2000 Pacific Fishery Management Council footrope restriction, in conjunction with associated landing limits, was effective in protecting rocky habitats from trawl fishing impacts.

More about Marlene

Age, growth and maturity data was collected for 350 longnose skate individuals from the U.S./Mexico border to the U.S./Canada border in the summer of 2003. The same data was collected from monthly samples (~25/month), which came from local Newport groundfish landings, for one full year. These monthly samples were taken mainly for the purpose of validating the ageing technique. The vertebral centra are being used to determine the age of each individual. Past NMFS groundfish survey data will be used to determine any changes in longnose skate distribution over the past twenty years. Current patterns in longnose skate distribution (in the summer) will also be investigated using 2003 and 2004 NMFS groundfish slope/shelf survey data. Finally, a natural mortality estimate will be made for this species.

More about Josie

Abby McCarthy is a recent graduate from the Master's program in fisheries. Her Master’s research used data from satellite-tracked turtles in combination with data from commercial and scientific longlining cruises to define pelagic habitat for loggerhead (Caretta caretta ) sea turtles in the North Atlantic. She used oceanographic data including temperature, chlorophyll, bathymetry, and geostrophic currents as explanatory variables for presence/absence of turtles from bycatch records. She also examined the movements of satellite-tracked individual turtles relative to the same oceanographic variables and found that animals are more likely to exhibit foraging behavior in shallower, higher chlorophyll regions of the North Atlantic. She is currently working as a technician on the Pacific/ Atlantic Sea Turtle Assessment project with Selina Heppell.

The goal of my research is to assess the timing of reproduction in black rockfish (Sebastes melanops), and its influence on population dynamics. An enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) has been created to quantify circulating levels of vitellogenin (Vg)—as an indicator of maturity. The ELISA in conjunction with age, length, GSI, weight, and histological data are used to create a maturity schedule for black rockfish populations off the Oregon Coast.

More about Brooke

My research interests lie within the fields of landscape ecology and fish physiology and behavior with an emphasis on fish-ecosystem interactions. Currently, I am examining interactions between native and exotic fishes, specifically the native, threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi; LCT) and the introduced, invasive brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis: EBC).  Currently, LCT inhabit less than 98% of their historic range while EBC have established large populations in many streams formerly inhabited by LCT.  Displacement is hypothesized to be one of the links between declines in LCT populations and the increases in EBC populations, however, the mechanisms are largely unknown.  My research focuses primarily on the behavioral interactions between the two species and the potential underlying physiological mechanisms behind the LCT’s decline.

More about Jeremiah

I hope to establish with an experiment this summer if long term marking of sea lions decreases their early life survival following being marked. Also I will continue research I have done as a biologist with NOAA to document the movements, population counts, and survival of Steller sea lions of Northern California/ Southern Oregon's breeding populations. With this data I hope to be able to write out where sea lions go following the breeding season and hopefully I will be able to access data (like oceanographic data, fisheries catch data, food habit data, etc.) to understand why sea lions go to these certain locations.

More about Jonathan

I am part of a large cooperative research group testing the hypothesis that the carrying capacity of stream salmonids can be indexed based on longitudinal stream temperature profiles. As a test case, our group is working on the South Fork John Day River in North Eastern Oregon. My specific interests lie with the thermal tolerance of redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri), a subspecies of rainbow trout (O. mykiss spp.) believed to be more thermally tolerant than other subspecies of rainbow trout. Heat shock proteins have been identified as indicators of long-term temperature stress and as a potential biomarker for environmental stress in fish.

More about Joseph

My field research for my master’s project took me to the Republic of Palau where I am working with a community based conservation project to improve monitoring and management of Green Sea Turtles at Helen Reef and Merir Island. Ultimately, I will help the community establish a long-term monitoring and management plan for the endangered sea turtles. There is very little known about sea turtles in this area; I hope I can help the community to elucidate the turtles’ migration patterns and work towards understanding the size of the population so that they may better conserve the turtles.

More about Julie

My research is on the comparative behavioral ecology of three species of commercially-important North Pacific flatfishes: English sole, Northern rock sole and Pacific halibut. I am examining the relationship between risk exposure and feeding behavior by quantifying behavioral characteristics of the post-predation period for age-0 juveniles. Recent research indicates that these three morphologically similar species exhibit drastically different responses to the threat of predation, and I intend to explore how these risk responses impact latency and recovery periods. I believe that minute behavioral differences between species can have potentially large consequences on long-term growth and energy allocation.

More about Kate

I am currently examining the abundance and distribution of coastal pelagic species off Oregon and Washington, particularly the northern anchovy, Engraulis mordax. I am interested in the population dynamics of the northern anchovy, their spawning behavior and their response to environmental forcings, like El Nino, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and coastal upwelling, and how well they respond to predation as a migratory species in the California Current System.

More about Marisa

As a native Oregonian I have a vested interest in the ecological health of our coastal resources, and believe that the work I am involved in here at OSU will contribute to a better scientific understanding of ecological processes occurring in our nearshore marine environment.

More about Brett

Emily spent two years at OSU investigating maternal effects in Pacific Ocean perch (POP)in Alaska, working on a project funded through the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and the North Pacific Research Board. Contrary to popular belief (and advertisement), Emily did not finish her MSc. She has moved on.

More about Emily

My project’s objectives are to analyze movement patterns of giant otters in the Ecuadorian Amazon and see how tightly they are related to human activities (including fisheries) with different degrees of disturbance. Giant otters and humans use the same types of space, that is, the higher lands that remain dry most of the year and that are close to the river banks. Consequently, as human population grows, fishing and hunting activities intensify, and giant otter populations expand, a problem of interference competition might arise. I also want to relate giant otter movement patterns to the presence or absence and migration of key fish species, which is tightly related to seasonal and diurnal variations in water level.

More about Paola

Since June of 2006, I work for the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida; and I am part of the shark biology program. My current research focuses on behavior, ecology, and fisheries biology of sharks especially in the Gulf of Mexico. However, I am expanding my area of research to other countries like Nicaragua. More specifically I contribute to the center by entering and analyzing data, doing fishery data assessment, writing proposals, conducting field research activities, and tagging and tracking sharks and rays.