Overview

Established at Oregon State University in 1971, Oregon Sea Grant is one of 33 state programs within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's  Sea Grant College Program, authorized by Congress in 1968. We receive funding from federal and state appropriations, as well as contributions from local governments and industry.

Through an integrated program of research, public engagement and education, we address several interdependent key issue areas:

• Community resilience to coastal hazards and climate change
• Coastal learning and decision making
• Fisheries and seafood
• Multiple uses and marine spatial planning
• Oceans and human health
• Watersheds and water resources

Adaptation Work:

Preparing for the effects of a changing coastal climate 

Providing "relevant and timely information on climate change adaptation" for coastal areas is a National Sea Grant goal. At Oregon Sea Grant, we apply our unique combination of research, education, public engagement and communication toward reaching that goal.

Our guiding principle is to engage and collaborate with people who can use research-based information to make decisions about climate-related issues and conditions where they live and work. That includes projects and products that

• Help communities and businesses plan for adapting to rising sea levels, increased storm and wave activity, ocean acidification and challenges to their infrastructure linked to climate change.
• Help scientists, community leaders and policy makers understand how to communicate with people who may differ in what they know, think and believe about climate change - but who still need to be prepared for the risks.
• Support sound science that helps us understand more about how climate change may directly affect coastal people, communities, economies and ecosystems.

Our current and recent work includes:

Coastal communities confront climate change

Working under NOAA funding with partners in Oregon and seven other states, (Washington, Minnesota, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida) Oregon Sea Grant Communications developed and tested tools for understanding local views, concerns and decision-making needs related to climate change. That data has been used to design several risk communication strategies and tools, from public meetings to publications and videos, to help coastal communities work past differing opinions and toward actions that will render them more resilient.

Changing climate, changing ocean

Oregon Sea Grant has focused its climate-related research funding on understanding how atmospheric climate shifts are changing ocean chemistry, and what that may mean for marine life that has evolved and adapted to the seas as they have been, not as they may be in the future. Sea Grant-funded researchers are examining how ocean acidification and other changing ocean conditions are affecting growth and survival of shellfish, a matter of particular concern to commercial oyster growers, a high-value industry in the Pacific Northwest. Others are looking at how rising sea levels and increased storm activity affect the productivity of coastal estuaries, biologically important to many species, including endangered salmon. 

Research:

Resistance of Pacific Oyster Larvae and Juveniles to the Effects of Ocean Acidification

Sea Grass as Possible Ocean Acidification Refugia for Shellfish in a High CO2 World

Preparing for Climate Change in Oregon Estuaries: Flooding, Ecological Impacts, and an Integrated Approach toward Adaptive Management

Understanding Oceanic and Terrestrial Controls on Dissolved Oxygen Variability in the Coos Bay Estuary