Oregon Sea Grant’s Renewable Ocean Energy Webinar Series highlights research exploring the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of wave energy and offshore wind energy on the West Coast. The series is designed to share science-based information, respond to community questions and interests, and support a broader public understanding of the potential effects and considerations associated with renewable ocean energy development.
Oregon Sea Grant is a non-advocacy organization that provides neutral, science-based information about issues that are relevant to the Oregon coast. Content shared during webinars is intended for informational and educational purposes only.
"Identifying where species occur along the coast is essential for understanding potential interactions with future offshore wind development. Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute is undertaking a large and collaborative project to collect baseline data on the distribution and density of cetaceans and seabirds in Northern California and Oregon waters to inform the development of offshore wind energy. The Marine Offshore Species Assessment to Inform Clean Energy (MOSAIC), is a four-year project (2022-2026) including visual surveys and passive acoustic monitoring from Cape Mendocino to the mouth of the Columbia River and seaward to the continental slope. The resulting data on species occurrence, distribution, and abundance will be integrated to develop predictive density maps by species and season throughout the region. Identification photographs of individual baleen whales, data from satellite-tagged whales, and DNA profiles from whale biopsy samples will provide further detailed insight into whale behavior and population identity, further enhancing and contextualizing the distribution information. The results of this project will establish crucial baseline information on where marine mammals and seabirds are distributed, which can be used to guide future management decisions. This presentation will provide an overview of the MOSAIC project, highlighting the variety of data collection methods used and sharing preliminary findings from data analyses and the development of Species Distribution Models."
Speakers: Dawn Barlow and Leigh Torres, Oregon State University
Dr. Dawn Barlow is a marine ecologist and postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University (OSU). Her work is focused on the ecology and conservation of marine mammals, with a particular interest in where marine mammals are found, what drives their distribution, and how their distribution overlaps with human activities. She has been with OSU's Marine Mammal Institute since 2016, where she earned both her master’s and PhD under the mentorship of Dr. Leigh Torres. She uses tools such as distribution modeling, spatial statistics, bioacoustics, and oceanography to support her research.
Dr. Leigh Torres is a marine ecologist interested in understanding how marine animals, including marine mammals and seabirds, use their environment in the context of behavior, space and time. Leigh leads the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab (GEMM Lab) within OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute and holds a joint position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and Oregon Sea Grant Extension. Leigh’s research explores where marine predators go, how these patterns vary relative to ocean conditions, what behaviors are used and prey targeted, and how these patterns influence animal health and population dynamics. Much of this work is directed toward improving conservation management of protected or threatened species by working with communities to identify and fill critical knowledge gaps.
Register Here:
https://oregonstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/9ScIMSFiRkmz9NLtugofyw#/registration
Learn More:
https://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/renewable-ocean-energy/webinars
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