Co-director of the Washington Ocean Acidification Center and professor of Marine and Environmental Affairs Terrie Klinger sits down with Columns Magazine to talk about the ocean and how it’s changing. Klinger is a marine ecologists who has long studied the nearshore and intertidal ecosystems of the US west coast, and is now shepherding research that looks at how ocean acidification may affect the way those systems work.
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Comb jellies – and not sponges – may lay claim as the earliest ancestors of animals, according to Billie Swalla, University of Washington professor of biology an interim director of Friday Harbor Laboratories. Her contributions helped decode the genomic blueprints for 10 ctenophore – or comb jelly – species, an analysis that suggests these beautiful sea creatures form the first branch on the animal kingdom’s tree of life.
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Managing marine fisheries from an ecosystem perspective is a unique challenge, one that is bringing together numerous scientists on a new task force to move the science on this issue forward. Dubbed the Fishery Ecosystem Task Force, the group—funded by the Lenfest Ocean Program—will conduct their work under the leadership of Tim Essington from the College of the Environment’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
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New ocean acidification research published in late April shows a strong correlation between current ocean conditions and the dissolution of sea butterfly shells. Sea butterflies–or pteropods–play an important role in the marine food web, providing a food source for higher-level predators like salmon. The study focuses on the California Current, which stretches along the entire west coast of the United States and is a key driver of how our nearby marine ecosystems take shape and function.
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The Magnuson-Stevens Act governing fisheries conservation and management is currently up for re-authorization in Congress, and was the topic of discussion at the UW on April 24 and 25. The Act has changed over the years since its inception, and multiple industry representatives, policy-makers, scientists, and others convened to share their perspectives on what are some key issues surrounding fisheries management.
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