Bruce Mate didn’t wait long. Within days of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, he was on the phone with officials from the U.S. Minerals Management Service. He and other OSU researchers are analyzing consequences of the largest spill in U.S. waters. Meanwhile, Oregon photographer Justin Bailie was on the scene in Terrebonne Parish.
Competition for space in the ocean — an oxymoron in an environment defined by its seemingly limitless expanse — poses new concerns along the West Coast.
For the past decade, Oregon State University has boasted an oceanography program ranked among the top five in the nation, and its broad spectrum of marine and coastal research has an international reputation that few institutions can match.
Partnering with coastal communities in support of Oregon’s vital seafood industry brings Professor Gil Sylvia in close contact with fishermen and other stakeholders.
In an ideal world, offshore wave energy buoy arrays would be placed where they don’t constrain fishermen and crabbers and or harm fish and marine mammals. We need to do enough research to know that sea life — and the people who depend on it — will not be compromised.
Christmas trees of the future will soon be growing in research greenhouses. (Photo: Lynn Ketchum)