Policy

A major goal of PISCO is to provide accurate scientific information about coastal ecosystems to policy makers, resource managers, the media, undergraduate and graduate students, and the public. Joe Tyburczy, PISCO-OSU Policy and Outreach Coordinator, facilitates the links among science, ocean policy, management, and conservation and works with PISCO scientists to help communicate their scientific findings in a meaningful and informative way.

To this end, PISCO scientists meet with policy makers, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations to discuss and provide scientific guidance regarding ocean policy, management, and conservation issues. Many PISCO-OSU scientists are actively involved in the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council’s (OPAC) deliberations on evaluating the role of fully protected marine reserves to meet resource and biodiversity conservation goals in state waters.

PISCO scientists and outreach personnel provide information about coastal ecosystems to reporters for newspapers, magazines, and television. During summer 2002, a group of PISCO scientists (Chan, Grantham, Nielsen, Menge and Lubchenco) and their colleagues in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science (COAS) discovered an anomalous shallow-water zone of low-oxygen water along the Oregon coast. This event attracted much public attention including interviewes by a number of news outlets and a feature in a segment of Oregon Public Broadcasting's "Oregon Field Guide."

PISCO plans special forums and classes to identify emerging scientific issues, share new findings with diverse audiences, and provide a focal point for marine conservation science along the U.S. West Coast. In December 2002, PISCO-OSU organized the Science of Marine Reserves Meeting for Oregon Scientists. This workshop offered scientists an opportunity to 1) discuss the latest scientific findings from marine reserves, 2) share Oregon research findings that are relevant to public processes about marine protected areas (MPAs) and marine reserves, and 3) explore research needs and opportunities for collaborative research across disciplines.

Updated 10/2009. Contact: Webmaster |Zoology Home Page| OSU Home Page