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As the Capacity Building and Stakeholder Engagement Fellow in the NOAA Ocean Acidification Office, the overarching goal of my position is to help the program support our community members to effectively reach their goals. Part of my portfolio this year is capacity-building for ocean acidification research and monitoring in the Caribbean region.
During National Seafood Month, Sea Grant highlights a few of the many ways it works to support sustainable seafood and aquaculture.Â
Mussels dominate rocky coastlines and support aquaculture worldwide. Now Washington Sea Grant-supported researchers at the University of Washington are investigating climate-related threats to the amazingly tough mussel threads that anchor them to wave-pounded rocks and docks.
Washington Sea Grant is synthesizing information on the resilience and vulnerability of communities to coastal hazards such as ocean acidification and leading the design of a participatory, community-based rapid appraisal in several Washington and Oregon communities facing such hazards. This appraisal will assess culturally significant ecosystem variables, such as important food species and communities’ sense of place, and identify anticipated and cumulative threats posed to them.
Washington Sea Grant, in partnership with state, federal (NOAA) and international scientists and communication experts have released two ocean acidification fact sheets as aids for scientists, science communicators and science policy advisors asked to comment on acidification: “20 Facts About Ocean Acidification” (Nov 2013. revised Feb 2014) and “Ocean Acidification in the Pacific Northwest” (May 2014). They have also been instrumental in the development of NOAA's Sharing Ocean Acidification Resources for Communicators and Educators (SOARCE) webinar series (8 presentations in 2014).
Washington Sea Grant, in partnership with the Suquamish Tribe, and with assistance from teachers, and state and academic education specialists, is developing a curated online collection of Ocean Acidification curricula, teaching tools, and informational resources for high school, middle school and elementary classrooms. The online collection, which will launched in Oct 2014, can be searched using a variety of filters, such as grade band, subject, type of material (i.e. lab activity, presentation, reading and analysis, etc.), and length of activity. This effort supports coastal resilience by building ocean acidification literacy.
Average world ocean pH has dropped from 8.2 to 8.1 over recent decades and is expected to drop to 7.8 by the end of the century. Dr. Meredith White, with funding in part, from Woods Hole Sea Grant, examines how this shift may effect the commercially valuable bay scallop, Argopecten irradians