Shoreline Living and Work
To gauge potential carbon sequestration in Northwest estuaries, researchers measure stored carbon in a Stillaguamish River saltmarsh restoration, and how fast it accumulates.
Principal Investigator
John Rybczyk
This project will deploy a new imager network to collect and disseminate continuous, broad-scale data on harmful algal blooms to improve detection, monitoring, and mitigation processes.
Principal Investigator
Daniel Grünbaum
Researchers use several experimental approaches to investigate rock scallop populations’ genetic differentiation, habitat adaptation, and resilience to acidification.
Principal Investigator
Lorenz Hauser
Use of shotgun proteomics to probe the causes of mysterious mass die-offs of oyster seed at hatcheries in Washington and Hawaii and assess implications for culture diet, water chemistry and microbes.
Principal Investigator
Steven Roberts
This research exposes bias in current Pacific sardine assessments and develops a spatially structured model that provides more accuracy and points toward changes in harvest rules.
Principal Investigator
André Punt
Researchers are refining and testing an underwater sound propagation model, which can be used to protect marine mammals from construction noise.
Principal Investigator
Peter Dahl
With funding from a national strategic initiative, researchers are examining local adaptation in native Olympia oysters to help predict the impacts of culturing native shellfish species for restoration and commercial production.
Principal Investigator
Steven Roberts
Researchers will explore the ecosystem-level consequences of the recent geoduck aquaculture expansion with goals to improve the sustainability and successful management of operations in Puget Sound.
Principal Investigator
Glenn VanBlaricom
This research develops a spatially structured method for assessing Bering Sea snow crab population and tests the ability of current methods to assess this spatially dynamic species.
Fellow
Cody Szuwalski
Washington Sea Grant's NOAA Fisheries Fellow studies the use of indices to improve stock assessment methods for hard to study species like rockfish.
Fellow
Jocelyn Lin
Researchers integrate multiple datasets to assess long-term trends in key Puget Sound fish stocks and possible causes of decline, such as fishing, coastal growth, climate change, and proliferating seals and sea lions.
Principal Investigator
Timothy Essington
A low cost curriculum is was developed to improve fishing crew competency in vessel operation, which will reduce the risk of accidents.
Principal Investigator
Jake Beattie
Cross-Pacific regional partners form a collaborative hub integrating research, outreach, and education to advance sustainable Indigenous Aquaculture practices.
Project Lead
Melissa Poe
Researchers examine legal and policy factors affecting a coastal community's ability to move vital infrastructure out of the way of tsunamis and other natural hazards.
Principal Investigator
Clare Ryan
High school students gather water, plankton and hydrographic data in the Columbia River estuary, to learn about and assess relative effects of cumulative watershed drainage and local factors such as sewage outflows.
Principal Investigator
Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens
Tribal and non-tribal students co-create digital stories regarding topics such as tribal sovereignty, fishery treaty rights, and tribally-led environmental restoration.
Principal Investigator
Patrick Christie
Sea Grant National Strategic Investment funds enabled university researchers to use traditional food-habit measuring techniques, chemical analyses, and energetic models to examine the effects of geoduck aquaculture operations on trophic relationships in Puget Sound.
Principal Investigator
Glenn VanBlaricom
Researchers will use genetic approaches to develop broodstocks for the shellfish industry that are better adapted to increasingly corrosive seawater impacting our coasts and estuaries.
Principal Investigator
Jonathan Davis
As part of the Geoduck Aquaculture Research Program, researchers discovered previously unreported geoduck pathogens, seasonal and geographic factors influencing them, and molecular diagnostic tools to screen for disease.
Principal Investigator
Carolyn S. Friedman
This project seeks to determine the population structure and the genetic basis of phenotypic diversity in native eelgrass (Zostera marina) populations in Washington State.
Principal Investigator
Kerry Naish
Researchers are exploring new technologies to improve sablefish commercial fisheries.
Principal Investigator
Graham Young
Researchers will develop an environmental DNA assay tool to identify the invasive European green crab, which will be used by a citizen science program to support monitoring efforts.
Principal Investigator
P. Sean McDonald
Researchers address genetic risks of native shellfish aquaculture by developing genetic risk assessment tools and evaluating risk management strategies.
Project Lead
Lorenz Hauser
Researchers are developing early detection and diagnostic tools for emerging bivalve aquaculture diseases to improve emergency preparedness, rapid response and regulatory decision-making.
Principal Investigator
Carolyn Friedman
In 2013, the Washington State Legislature directed and funded WSG to initiate a shellfish aquaculture research program. The purpose of the program is to assess possible negative and positive effects, including cumulative and economic impacts, of evolving Washington shellfish aquaculture practices.
Principal Investigator
Jonathan Reum
Researchers will analyze the ecosystem impacts of jellyfish in Puget Sound using mesocosm experiments, monitoring, and ecosystem modeling.
Principal Investigator
Julie Keister
Exploring the interaction between harmful PBDEs and helpful omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, researchers assessed the health risks and benefits of eating seafood. Results show that antioxidants in salmon and other foods have beneficial effects in cells and may have protective properties against toxic PDBEs in vivo.
Principal Investigator
Evan Gallagher
Washington Sea Grant research documents the effects on performance of later-life and transgenerational Pacific oysters due to early exposure to acidified waters, and assesses genetic factors for breeding acidification-tolerant lines.
Principal Investigator
Carolyn S. Friedman
Examining five ecologically and economically important bivalves, researchers found these species exhibit different susceptibility to increasing CO2 levels. Under the conditions tested, clams were relative winners and oysters losers.
Principal Investigator
Carolyn S. Friedman
Research tests impacts of high ocean carbon dioxide levels on the sense of smell of coho salmon and sablefish including its effects on feeding and ability to avoid predators.
Principal Investigator
Evan Gallagher
This study clarifies the mechanisms that underlie loss of smell in coho salmon and determines the effects of increased waterborne CO2 on olfactory and navigational functions, both of which are crucial to salmons’ ability to find their way back to their home streams to spawn.
Principal Investigator
Evan Gallagher
Researchers quantified the differential growth and survival rates in acidified waters of zooplankton species that are fundamental to the marine food web. Throughout the project, the team engaged hundreds of citizens, journalists, teachers, legislators, and schoolchildren in the issue of ocean acidification.
Principal Investigator
Julie Keister
Researchers are investigating the relationship between Puget Sound eelgrass and porewater sulfide, aiding in restoration efforts and informing eelgrass restoration strategies in Puget Sound.
Principal Investigator
David Shull
Researchers are designing and constructing an innovative, multifunctional stormwater treatment system that may significantly reduce pollution and serve as a model for Puget Sound communities.
Principal Investigator
Nancy Rottle
Researchers seek an alternative method to produce sterile shellfish by studying Pacific oysters' germ cell line and testing methods to block its development.
Principal Investigator
Steven Roberts
Washington Sea Grant’s NOAA Fisheries Fellow spearheads development of a simulation model and sampling design, using newly developed underwater devices, to measure the abundance and improve the management of Pacific rockfishes.
Fellow
James Thorson
This research will be the first empirical, multi-method comparative study of a marine protected area (MPA) system in the United States; addressing the growing need for including social dimensions in MPA management strategies.
Principal Investigator
Patrick Christie
Researchers employ Atlantis ecosystem modeling to evaluate the ecosystem-level effects of the Southern Resident orca recovery actions and external threats in the marine ecosystem of Puget Sound.
Principal Investigator
Hem Nalini Morzaria-Luna
Modeling somatic growth variation, Washington Sea Grant’s NOAA Fisheries Fellow spearheads development of a novel way to use size-at-age data from fishery or other sources to test hypotheses about growth dynamics variability.
Fellow
Christine Stawitz
Researchers will develop tools and technologies for measuring and monitoring genetic change in fitness traits in Chinook salmon hatchery populations.
Principal Investigator
Kerry Naish
Researchers will develop tools and technologies for measuring and monitoring genetic change in fitness traits in Chinook salmon hatchery populations.
Principal Investigator
Kerry Naish
Seattle Maritime Academy invests in creation of a summer experience that introduces high school students to rewarding ocean-related careers and assists in building Washington's maritime workforce capacity.
Principal Investigator
Sarah Scherer
Washington Sea Grant's NOAA Fisheries Fellow explores the importance of mechanisms underlying mortality, growth, and maturation of Columbia River spring Chinook salmon.
Fellow
Jeffery Rutter
Continuing an ongoing project, researchers are developing a tool for monitoring Puget Sound’s health using benthic foraminifera.
Principal Investigator
Elizabeth Nesbitt
Researchers improved and validated the first successful modeling tool for evaluating net-pen aquaculture siting and environmental effects.
Principal Investigator
Jack Rensel
A Washington Sea Grant-supported fellow is investigating the drivers of outmigration from rural Alaskan communities and the impacts on the sustainability of rural harvesting operations.
Fellow
Jennifer Meredith
This research found significant but transient effects from geoduck aquaculture on mobile marine animals and no significant effects on benthic communities.
Principal Investigator
Glenn VanBlaricom
Research cruises resulted in discovery of glass sponge reefs, methane bubble streams, and dense swarms of krill in Grays Canyon, spurring large-scale geological research investment in the area.
Principal Investigator
Paul Johnson
An exhaustive analysis of newspaper coverage and public comments on salmon-recovery efforts revealed extremely low participation by private interests, a significant gap in collaborative salmon management.
Principal Investigator
Nives Dolšak
Researchers collaborate with shellfish growers as citizen scientists to study the functional role of shellfish aquaculture habitat as compared to natural habitat.
Project Lead
Molly Bogeberg
Using trained birdwatchers, remote sensors, and seine sampling, researchers determine how fish and seabirds use eelgrass meadows from Willapa to Fidalgo Bay.
Principal Investigator
Jennifer Ruesink
Seeking to better understand the ecological consequences of hypoxia, researchers explored Dungeness crab and English sole distribution in Hood Canal during late summer periods of low dissolved oxygen.
Principal Investigator
Tim Essington
Researchers employ catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction to convert wet sugar kelp to hydrocarbons that can be used as drop-in transportation fuels or high-value chemicals, and engage UW students through summer courses on kelp aquaculture and product development.
Principal Investigator
Fernando Resende
This research provided long-needed data and protocols for evaluating beach armoring impacts and shoreline restoration benefits, leveraging state funds to expand this research.
Principal Investigator
Megan Dethier
This project will expand on ocean acidification and temperature research relating to local mussel species to test for causes of seasonal weakening of mussel attachment.
Principal Investigator
Emily Carrington
Washington Sea Grant's NOAA Fisheries Fellow studies the use of indices to improve stock assessment methods for hard to study species like rockfish.
Fellow
Peter Kuriyama
Researchers provide precise data on the benefits of Seattle seawall enhancements, enabling managers to choose the best elements for improving juvenile salmon survival and adult returns.
Principal Investigator
Jeffery Cordell
This study will examine consumer attitudes toward salmon consumption and sustainable fishing in the Pacific Northwest.
Principal Investigator
Stanford Goto
Researchers mapped portions of the Chinook salmon genome, studying survival and adaptation and linking to tools for protection and recovery of this endangered species.
Principal Investigator
Kerry Naish
Researchers will use genetic markers to establish the distribution of genetically distinct Puget Sound herring populations to identify causes for specific population declines, anticipate future threats and adjust management strategies to protect population diversity.
Principal Investigator
Lorenz Hauser
Researchers are identifying genetic markers in Pacific cod associated with adaptation to warming waters, which will inform future conservation of depleted Puget Sound stocks.
Principal Investigator
Lorenz Hauser
This project will use a novel method to study patterns in size-selective mortality of juvenile Chinook salmon in a range of habitats.
Principal Investigator
David Beauchamp
Project supports an initiative of Port Townsend Schools and marine professionals to integrate maritime skills and at-sea experience into local K-12 educational curricula.
Principal Investigator
Sarah Rubenstein
Researchers will develop tools and technologies for measuring and monitoring genetic change in fitness traits in Chinook salmon hatchery populations.
Principal Investigator
Kerry Naish
Investigators aim to advance understanding of how different plankton communities respond to physical and biological factors throughout the Salish Sea by using new, powerful and inexpensive technology from the field of metagenomics
Principal Investigator
Julie Keister
Washington Sea Grant’s NOAA Fisheries Fellow studies how inbreeding in salmon hatcheries may affect the productivity of wild populations.
Fellow
Charles Waters
Washington Sea Grant/NOAA Fisheries Fellow is developing and testing frameworks to evaluate how well groundfish fisheries management strategies perform when using long-term survey data.
Fellow
Kelli Faye Johnson
Using scat-detection dogs and long-term physiological, reproductive, and toxicant monitoring, researchers worked to unravel the mystery of the Salish Sea orcas’ persistent decline.
Principal Investigator
Samuel Wasser
This project takes a closer look at how oil spills affect different species of Pacific Northwest seabirds so that we can predict the taxon-specific vulnerability to oiling.
Principal Investigator
Julia Parrish
Researchers created new imaging technology for monitoring harmful Alexandrium and Heterosigma algae, and developed a new model for predicting when and where Heterosigma will form HABs.
Principal Investigator
Daniel Grünbaum
Washington Sea Grant-supported fellow investigates common fishery stock-assessment methods that may bias managers’ fishery catch decisions.
Fellow
Cole Monnahan
A map-based otter sighting website will help improve data collection, engage the public, and encourage stewardship of a living landscape that meets the needs of people and wildlife.
Principal Investigator
Michelle Wainstein
Researchers partner with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and others to find cost-effective ways to successfully raise sablefish, or "black cod," for commercial-scale production.
Principal Investigator
Graham Young
This project models community recovery trajectories for Pacific County, synthesizing current estimates of prospective loses, community input, and computer simulations in order to understand coastal community resilience
Principal Investigator
Scott Miles
Researchers investigated the physical conditions and coastal-community views that determine ecological and social carrying capacity for shellfish aquaculture.
Principal Investigator
Daniel Cheney
This research combines geospatial data and an examination of the social dimensions of shellfish aquaculture to ensure that it is fully integrated into coastal and marine spatial planning along the U.S. West Coast.
Principal Investigator
Bobbi Hudson
Researchers are surveying intertidal and nearshore areas of the coastline to monitor sea star populations.
Principal Investigator
Benjamin Miner
How Elwha dam removals affect sediment deposition, light obstruction, water conditions, and algae and other marine life at the river's mouth.
Principal Investigator
Andrea Ogston
Researchers developed a new modeling system that forecasts cyclical and climate-driven changes in regional ocean conditions. The system also has many other potential applications.
Principal Investigator
Nicholas Bond
This project uses a new, state-of-the-art technique called compound-specific isotope analysis to examine the ratios of two nitrogen isotopes in archived seal bone collagen. With these data, researchers will be able to address hypotheses about the role of increasing marine predator biomass on coastal ecosystems.
Principal Investigator
Gordon Holtgrieve
Joining a collaborative team of scientists, researchers are investigating a wide range of ecosystems and salmonid populations in the newly reopened Elwha river system, documenting the “before” needed to understand the “after” that will follow two historic dam removals.
Principal Investigator
Thomas Quinn
Researchers will use seawater chemistry to trace larval exchanges between Olympia oyster populations.
Principal Investigator
Bonnie Becker
Researchers will develop tools and technologies for measuring and monitoring genetic change in fitness traits in Chinook salmon hatchery populations.
Principal Investigator
Kerry Naish
This research documented environmental effects of geoduck aquaculture on eelgrass meadows and associated soft-sediment habitat as part of the Geoduck Aquaculture Research Program.
Principal Investigator
Jennifer Ruesink
Researchers are creating a model to determine the best place to install the first present-day clam garden in the U.S.
Principal Investigator
Julie Barber
Engineered log jams are being tested for their ability to promote shallow groundwater upwelling, which can help create cool-water refuges critical for Pacific salmon.
Principal Investigator
James Helfield
Researchers study the link between shoreline type (armored, restored, natural) and fish assemblages by conducting surveys and integrating their new data into an existing database to gain insight into this link at multiple spatial scales.
Principal Investigator
Tessa Francis
Researchers will identify the key elements leading to successful citizen science endeavors using COASST as a model.
Principal Investigator
Julia Parrish
Researchers address the maritime workforce capacity needs by creating Sea School, an initiative that provides vocational training and outreach to inform young people about maritime careers.
Principal Investigator
Brandi Bednarik
Researchers develop trainings and identify research and stakeholder needs to advance the practice of sustainable seaweed farming in the Pacific Northwest.
Project Lead
Meg Chadseyl
Field studies and laboratory experiments probe the mystery of frequent extremely high juvenile mortality in ecologically and economically valuable clam species.
Principal Investigator
Megan Dethier
This project brings together social and natural scientists to provide a synergistic assessment of preindustrial herring diversity and use.
Principal Investigator
Lorenz Hauser
Local officials, state resource managers and conscientious property owners have shown growing enthusiasm for removing bulkheads to restore natural shorelines and shore habitats.
Principal Investigator
Jeffrey Cordell
A group of regional researchers tracked the ecological and economic effects of a new catch–share system for West Coast groundfish fisheries.
Principal Investigator
Trevor Branch (Washington lead); Christopher Costello (regional lead)
SoundCitizen directly engaged more than 2,000 people each year in documenting common yet undetected Puget Sound contaminants and raised the awareness of students from middle school through college about the link between everyday chemicals and human and environmental health.
Principal Investigator
Richard Keil
A larval sampling program enabled shellfish growers in Willapa Bay to examine Manila clam and oyster settlement and the impacts of climate-related warming on local bivalves.
Principal Investigator
Jennifer Ruesink
With funding from West Coast Sea Grant programs, researchers assist leading scientists and West Coast adaptation practitioners in developing guidelines and potential metrics for measuring successful adaptation to climate change in coastal communities.
Principal Investigator
Pamela Matson (regional lead); Amy Snover (Washington lead)
This research addresses solutions to reducing the toxic impact of stormwater, aiming to provide better tools for managing stormwater runoff in Puget Sound.
Principal Investigator
John Stark
Regional researchers are calculating the wide range of economic and environmental impacts associated with moorage marinas in Washington and Southern California. Results will provide more reliable coastal development strategies for moorage marina policies.
Principal Investigator
Christine Bae
Investigators are examining rock scallops to help establish an approved, reliable assay for evaluating biotoxins and to improve growout methods for the purple hinged rock scallop.
Principal Investigator
Bobbi Hudson
Researchers are analyzing geoduck aquaculture policies and the associated stakeholder interests to answer concerns regarding the recent aquaculture expansion.
Principal Investigator
Clare Ryan
Researchers will survey for algal toxins in fish species caught in tribal commercial fisheries, to increase research and monitoring capacity within the Makah Tribe through expanding the Tribe’s capability to perform algal toxin analyses in-house.
Principal Investigator
Adrianne Akmajian
Using a broad, integrated toolbox of techniques, researchers uncovered important information about Heterosigma’s behavior, life-history parameters, and metabolism. These findings can be used to build a testable model for predicting harmful algal blooms.
Principal Investigator
Rose Ann Cattolico
Studies revealed that surface-sediment cyst mapping alone may not reveal the full risk of Alexandrium catenella blooms. Determining the share of cysts capable of germinating helps shellfish growers anticipate toxic blooms.
Principal Investigator
Cheryl Greengrove
This project will create a low-cost model nearshore and a shore-based monitoring network that will engage tribal fishers and youth in gathering coastal water-quality information related to ocean acidification.
Principal Investigator
Ervin Joe Schumacker
Researchers from Washington State University work to document the chronology of change in salmon DNA in relation to human impacts.
Principal Investigator
Brian Kemp
Building off work from the previous project, “Effect of salmon Omega-3 Fatty Acids on PBDE toxicity,” researchers used zebrafish as a low-cost model for studying the environmental and health hazards of toxic PDBEs.
Principal Investigator
Evan Gallagher
In collaboration with the City of Seattle, investigators utilize a habitat-friendly design for documenting activity around the downtown seawall, showing the way to better seawall design around the world.
Principal Investigator
Jeffery Cordell
Scientists examine the effects of changing water temperature on Dungeness crab, Washington's most valuable harvest, and develop bionergetic models to guide management strategies.
Principal Investigator
P. Sean McDonald
By cataloguing declining foraminifera, researchers are developing a tool for monitoring Puget Sound’s health.
Principal Investigator
Elizabeth Nesbitt
Researchers will use molecular scatology and quantitative models to advance understanding of how winter and spring pinniped predation on Chinook salmon in Northwest Washington affects salmon recovery and Southern Resident Killer Whales.
Principal Investigator
Adrianne Akmajian
To gauge potential carbon sequestration in Northwest estuaries, researchers measure stored carbon in a Stillaguamish River saltmarsh restoration, and how fast it accumulates.
Principal Investigator
John Rybczyk
Washington Sea Grant, Oregon Sea Grant, and California Sea Grant form a collaborative hub to promote sustainable aquaculture on the West Coast.
Project Lead
Paul Dye
Supported by the NOAA Sea Grant Aquaculture Research Program, researchers assembled data from coastal communities and provided the most comprehensive economic picture yet of West Coast shellfish aquaculture.
Principal Investigator
Daniel Cheney
Researchers will assess whether native eelgrass and Pacific oysters can synergistically enhance their environments.
Principal Investigator
Carolyn Friedman