MBARI Names Kaya Johnson Director of Marine Operations
MBARI recently welcomed Kaya Johnson as its new director of marine operations, tasked with overseeing the institute’s seagoing assets, including three research vessels, a deep-sea cabled observatory and fleet of advanced underwater robots.Johnson comes to MBARI from Oregon State University (OSU), where he worked for the past six years. Johnson was port captain at OSU, then served as marine superintendent of ship operations. He managed operations for OSU’s fleet of three research vessels—Elakha, Oceanus (retired in November 2021) and Pacific Storm.Prior to his tenure at OSU, Johnson
US Awards $6.7 Million for Sea Level Rise and Coastal Resilience Research
eight new projects are funded under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which will allow NOAA to help communities prepare for, adapt to and build resilience to changing climate conditions.New ESLR projects selected for funding include:Oregon State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory received $500,000 to evaluate tradeoffs between gray and green infrastructure approaches for flood risk reduction for two estuaries in the Pacific Northwest.(IRA-funded) Oregon State University received $500,000 to assess the environmental and economic
Bollinger Launches OSU's New Oceanographic Research Vessel
The first of three new oceanographic research vessels dedicated to advancing marine science along U.S. coasts was successfully launched Thursday.The ship, R/V Taani, is being constructed as part of a project, led by Oregon State University (OSU) and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), to provide scientists with valuable new tools to study critical issues such as rapidly changing ocean conditions and human impacts on the marine environment.The Regional Class Research Vessel project, supported by more than $390 million in grants, is charged with delivering three nearly identical ships
Nexans' Cables for US' First Grid-connected Wave Energy Test Facility
Nexans, a company specializing in making and installing power cables, has secured a contract for PacWave South, the United States' first grid-connected wave energy test facility.PacWave is a joint venture between the US Department of Energy, the State of Oregon, and Oregon State University and will facilitate the research of innovative renewable technologies.PacWave South consists of four berths that capture the energy generated by the movement of waves, and each berth will produce up to 5 MW of electricity.RT Casey LLC has selected Nexansto to provide the four medium voltage AC (MVAC) cables
Making Waves @ OSU: Energy Secretary, Senators, Governor tour Oregon State Wave Lab
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Oregon U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown visited the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University on Tuesday afternoon, with Granholm touting wave energy as “the elixir that we need” to address climate change by ending the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels.The visit was organized by OSU and the Pacific Marine Energy Center, a consortium of universities including Oregon State that is focused on advancing marine renewable energy.“We’ve all been in the ocean
DOE Announces $25 Million for Wave Energy Research
usher in a new era of energy independence that makes the grid more resilient, curbs the climate crisis, and saves Americans money on their energy bills.”Obstacles to testing in the open ocean include permitting challenges and a scarcity of available test sites. In 2016, DOE partnered with Oregon State University to build the PacWave South test facility, which will be the nation’s first accredited, grid-connected, pre-permitted, open-water wave energy test facility. The selected projects are part of DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) “Advancing Wave Energy Technologies
'Doomsday’ Glacier Could Trigger Global Floods and Swallow Islands
, which restrains the glacier and makes it flow less quickly. But scientists have just confirmed that this ice shelf is becoming rapidly destabilised. The eastern ice shelf now has cracks criss-crossing its surface, and could collapse within ten years, according to Erin Pettit, a glaciologist at Oregon State University.This work supports research published in 2020 which also noted the development of cracks and crevasses on the Thwaites ice shelf. These indicate that it is being structurally weakened. This damage can have a reinforcing feedback effect because cracking and fracturing can promote further
UAF’s GINA Provides a Guiding Hand in Arctic Ocean Research
can be viewed via an overhead monitor above the main console. This helps deck officers navigate in the ice pack by matching features visible in ice radar with the same features seen in the satellite imagery. Crew member Johna Winters, a master’s student in marine resource management at Oregon State University, surveys the ice. Photo by Steve RobertsSteve Roberts, the Sikuliaq’s science systems engineer, got the idea for the map server while working aboard the USCGC Healy, the Coast Guard’s icebreaker, and has refined his system over the years.“I remember every day scientists
Richard W. Spinrad Confirmed to Lead NOAA
professorships in academia and industry executive positions focusing on the ocean and environment.Spinrad, 67, a native of New York City, earned a bachelor’s degree in earth and planetary sciences from the Johns Hopkins University, and earned a masters and a doctorate in oceanography from Oregon State University
February 2024
