Coastal & Marine Conservation

Today, four Massachusetts-based community organizations submitted a letter to John Bryson, Secretary of Commerce, requesting that NOAA (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) expedite important measures designed to further science-based management of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and fisheries in New England. "Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary, an 842-square mile area spanning the approach to Massachusetts Bay, is home to over five hundred species of fish, sea birds, whales and diverse marine life," said Rob Moir, PhD, of the Ocean River Institute.

The plastics on Mahahual's picturesque beaches are more than an eyesore. They may threaten the fragile coral reef and mangrove ecosystems of the Yucatan Peninsula, said H. Bruce Rinker, an ecologist at the Maine-based Biodiversity Research Institute and science advisor to Sustenta.com. "If we turn our backs, we risk harming the integrity of those systems," Rinker said. Read full story

“Ocean conservation seems like a daunting problem,” says Johnson. “But the solutions can be simple.” Johnson received about a dozen emails from colleagues encouraging her to apply to Solution Search – an online platform designed to find successful innovation in conservation. “Everyone thought it was a good fit,” says Johnson. “Apparently, they were right.” Read the article

Nearly two decades after coming to the Hopkins Marine Station as an undergraduate in earth systems, Raphael D. Sagarin was again hunched over a tide pool identifying its briny inhabitants. His mentor, emeritus lecturer Chuck Baxter, stood on a nearby outcropping and called out helpful advice. It was a drippy coastal morning, with fog heavy enough to dampen paper and a raucous crowd of gulls hooting from the roof of the nearby lab. The shallow pools initially appeared abandoned at low tide, but a closer look revealed dozens of tiny creatures going about their underwater business.

Taking a keen interest in the data is Chris Wilcox, a senior scientist with the CSIRO's marine and atmospheric division. "My role is really to do the analysis of the data that's coming in," he said. "So both trying to analyse the beach survey data to understand things like what's the effect of having a recycling bin on a beach in terms of how much rubbish is on the beach. "And then I'm also doing the oceanographic modelling... to understand how ocean currents then transport rubbish that's out in the ocean to the beach.

What’s it really like to be an engineer or a scientist? What do they really do all day? You’re about to find out! Meet the next generation of engineers and scientists in these profiles of young professionals, who may just inspire you to join them. Ayana Johnson fell in love with the ocean the moment she laid eyes on a coral reef at age five. Find out what it’s like to be a marine biologist. Watch the video