Oregon Sea Grant, a marine research program based at Oregon State University, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Oregon Sea Grant is one of 34 federal and state partnerships created by Congress to help maintain healthy and economically vibrant coasts. OSU’s Sea Grant program was among the first in the nation and formally launched on September 17, 1971.
OSU Sea Grant director Shelby Walker says one of the program's objectives is to support the fishing industry, “including diversifying the availability of seafood, increasing awareness of seafood, thinking about solutions to challenging problems that might be facing the fishing industry.”
Education is another Sea Grant priority. The organization runs the popular visitor center at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.
Walker, who's leaving Oregon Sea Grant later this month for a leadership position at the National Science Foundation, said the organization is well poised for the future.
"We can predict, kind of, where things are headed," she said. "But we also want to make sure that we're being responsive to what the communities actually need. So if there are issues or topics--for example, something like offshore wind energy development--we really need to understand what's going on, to be able to be a neutral broker of information for people are interested or impacted by it."
