International Programs

Indo-Pacific lionfish, an invasive carnivore equipped with venomous spines, are spreading—and eating their way—through the fishes of the Caribbean Sea. In an effort to stop, or at least slow down, these fearless invaders, the National Science Foundation has awarded a 3-year, $700,000 grant to scientists at Oregon State University.

Randal O’Toole was invited to help organize Earth Day as a high school senior in Portland, Ore. It was a defining moment. Instead of becoming an architect, O’Toole decided that he wanted to be a forester. In forestry school at Oregon State University, O’Toole took an economics class and went on to get his graduate degree in economics.

Dennis Dimick, award-winning executive editor for the environment at National Geographic magazine, will present this year’s Gov. Tom McCall Memorial Lecture, a talk titled “Changing Planet: Where Energy and Climate Collide.”

Scientists say DNA testing of whale meat from a restaurant in Seoul, South Korea, indicates that some of it came from Japan, offering evidence of an illegal trade in whale meat between the two countries. The testing was done by scientists from Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center as part of an ongoing project monitoring sources of whale meat offered for sale. (See also New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Associated Press)