May 18, 2015

Washington Sea Grant’s Ed Melvin wins presidential award for seabird-saving streamer lines

A Washington Sea Grant staff scientist is sharing top honors for developing gear that nearly eliminates seabird bycatch in long-line fisheries from the West Coast to South Africa. Twenty years of work on sea and land to save threatened seabirds from becoming fishing bycatch have won national recognition for senior fisheries scientist, Ed Melvin, also an affiliate associate professor in the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.

Chemical tags in ear bones track Alaska's Bristol Bay salmon

Scientists from Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and other institutions are learning a lot about where Chinook salmon swim in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region through chemical signatures recorded in their ear bones. Similar to a tree’s growth rings, this bone—called an otolith—accumulates layers as the fish grows. Acting as a little recorder, each layer of the otolith corresponds to the unique chemical signatures of the waters in which they swam.

UW ecologist and citizen scientists lead the charge against invasive crayfish

There’s no time like the present for Pine Lake residents—an invasive species of crayfish has taken hold in their backyard and community members are mobilizing to give them the boot. Even though it means setting aside several hours a week during western Washington’s best weather months, these citizen scientists swap their fishing poles for cage traps, hiking boots for clipboards, and swimsuits for scientific instruments to restore the lake’s ecosystem.

Common birds bring economic vitality to cities, new study finds

A new study published in the journal Urban Ecosystems and co-authored by Environmental and Forest Sciences‘ John Marzluff and Sergey Rabotyagov tries to determine the economic value urbanites place on having birds in their parks, backyards, and green spaces. After conducting and analyzing nearly 700 surveys taken by residents in Seattle, Washington and Berlin, Germany, Marzluff and his team found that people in both cities place a sizable value on the enjoyment they derive from birds.

Volunteer scientists contribute up to $2.5 billion in yearly efforts for biodiversity research

COASST volunteers counting marine debris

Have you ever wanted to don your sleuthing cap and help scientists gather clues about how our world works? A recent study indicates that now, more than ever, citizens are doing just that: collecting data for all types of projects in their spare time, all in the name of science. From counting birds and identifying galaxies to measuring different bacteria in our hot water heaters, citizen scientists are providing a critical service that has a huge economic value…$2.5 billion, to be exact.