OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

06/15/2019

Congrats to all our 2019 grads!

06/08/2019

Oregon State University Ecampus

Andrea Fuchs dreamed of becoming a scientist, but something stood in her way: self-doubt.

To earn her Oregon State degree in fisheries and wildlife sciences online, she needed to pass a series of chemistry classes and labs. The thought “intimidated and scared” her so much that she pictured herself needing to drop out of the program. But this story has a different ending.

“Going into Chemistry 121, Dr. Marita Barth made sure that we knew science was for everyone. Her classes were not easy by any means – I worked so hard to succeed.”

The results back it up: “I received all A’s in each chemistry class. My younger self would be absolutely shocked.”

In 10 days, she’ll walk in the commencement ceremony and receive her Oregon State diploma.

Take that, self-doubt.

#BeaverGrad

06/07/2019

Barring wildlife helps get your space back and keeps your garden growing

Is wildlife killing your garden?

Dana Sanchez shares some tips and tricks on how to live harmoniously with the nature in your neighborhood. One tip is getting to know your animal neighbors and what it is they're looking for in that perfectly curated backyard of yours.

When it comes to sharing space, humans and wildlife don’t see eye to eye. Increasingly, deer and other animals pose a problem for homeowners.

06/05/2019

The College of Agricultural Sciences - Oregon State University recently hosted the Celebrating Excellence award ceremony and reception in Oregon State University's Memorial Union. Chris Cousins received the Burlingham Undergraduate Student of Excellence Award, Evan Bredeweg received the Savery Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, and Scarlett Arbuckle received the Distingushed Advisor Award!

The celebration also recognized our promoted faculty.

Luke Painter – Senior Instructor
Daniel Palacios – Associate Professor, Sr. Research
Dana Warren - Associate Professor with indefinite tenure
Taal Levi – Associate Professor with indefinite tenure
Bruce Dugger – Full Professor
Hillary Egna – Full Professor
Jessica Miller – Full Professor

Congratulations to all!

06/01/2019

The Fisheries and Wildlife Club

🏆🏆We need to take a moment to share exciting news and dedicate this as an appreciation post to our club advisor, @ Scarlett Arbuckle, who was name Advisor of the Year in the College of Agricultural Sciences last week! Below is a snip bit of her award nomination:
🏆🏆Professor Arbuckle is truly a remarkable leader who has directly shaped the professional development of student leaders and members of the FW Club. Leading by example, Professor Arbuckle has demonstrated how to professionally and positively resolve conflicts, ask for assistance, and be an advocate for the professional development of dozens OSU students. 🏆🏆Throughout her time as the FW Club’s advisor, our club has increased in the breadth and depth of our community impact. Over the course of the 2018-2019 academic year alone, Professor Arbuckle has supported our club and helped us directly impact more than 1,900 people in Corvallis and surrounding communities. Scarlett Arbuckle is extremely deserving of recognition of Advisor of the Year. 🏆🏆
#fwclub #osufwclub #clubadvisor #advisoroftheyear #award #specialaward @osufw

05/30/2019

Scott did not make it out of the event unscathed

For the 2019 FW Club BBQ the students had a Pie Your Prof fundraiser. Brian Sidlauskas won the honor of first pie to the face, while Scott Heppell came in second! 🥧🥧

05/30/2019

With an overwhelming number of votes, Dr Sid is the first pie victim!

For the 2019 FW Club BBQ the students had a Pie Your Prof fundraiser. Brian Sidlauskas won the honor of first pie to the face, while Scott Heppell came in second! 🥧🥧

05/30/2019

Colton is grilling it up at the The Fisheries and Wildlife Club bbq! We're in the courtyard behind Nash Hall if you find yourself in the neighborhood!

05/30/2019

The votes are pouring in! Who will get the pie to the face? Biedenweg vs Sidlauskas vs Heppell vs Heppell. Four are entered, one will lose. 🥧 🥊

There is plenty of food and fun at the The Fisheries and Wildlife Club BBQ!

05/24/2019

Pacific Seabird Group

Thanks, Adrian Gall, Pacific Seabird Group Past Chair for letting us know that in 2019, the PSG Student Research Grant will fund 4 grants worth $1,000 each, to:

Undergraduate - Ray Martin (OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife) "Reproductive success and nest attendance comparison between urban and colonial breeding Western Gulls"

Masters - Jacqui Glencross (University of Tasmania) "Breeding success of Little Penguins and Short-tailed Shearwaters on Huon Island, Tasmania" and Jill Tengeres (OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife) "The foraging niche of Aleutian Terns foraging in the Kodiak Archipelago"

PhD - Jaime Ojeda (University of Victoria) "Triangular biocultural interactions among Austral hake, seabirds, and fishers: looking for reciprocal contributions in the sub-Antarctic Channels"

Many thanks to the students who applied for the awards and to their mentors for encouraging innovative proposals. We look forward to presentations from these awardees at #PSG2020 in Portland or #PSG2021 in San Diego!

05/23/2019

Matthew Ramirez: Unlocking the Mysteries of Sea Turtles Using Their Bones

Did you know that it's possible to understand the life history of sea turtles by looking at their bones?

May 23 is World Turtle Day and Matt Ramirez is looking into the past to help inform our future. You can read more about his research in the Student Stories section of our website. 🐢🐢🐢

05/23/2019

Hillary Thallman, grad student, and professors Scott and Selina Heppell show off their life raft and fashionable survival suits at the Newport Rec Center during their Sea Safety Training in April #TBT

Do you still need Sea Safety training? There will be another training on June 27 sponsored by OSU Ship Operations.

05/17/2019

Where on Earth is the Salish Sea?

Friday quiz! Do you know how the Salish Sea got its name?

Learn about the sea and the importance of geographic literacy in this article featuring FW Postdoc David Trimbach.

Less than half of the people in Washington and British Columbia have heard of the Salish Sea, even though they live alongside it.

05/13/2019

Live and study at the Oregon coast! Get hands-on, in-the-field experience as you complete your degree. In-state tuition for everyone. Check out @osumarinestudies posts this week to get in-depth information about each class, and check out the link in their bio for even more information!

05/11/2019

The 1st Annual FW Grad Student vs Faculty kickball game was a great success.

The grads won, but the faculty battled hard and put four on the board. Already looking forward to next year!

05/02/2019

Are juvenile frogs impacted by water levels and soil moisture?

Members of the Garcia Lab recently published in Frontiers, sharing a story about how water levels experienced by tadpoles and soil moisture experienced by terrestrial juveniles impact movement behavior.

Alan Dennis from Oregon State University Extension Service created a supplemental animation that illustrates the methods used in this study, and the visual storytelling is amazing!

04/30/2019

Want to contribute to the Fisheries and Wildlife department directly on Dam Proud Day? We have a number of scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate students.

You can read about each of them on our website, and even view past recipients.

https://fw.oregonstate.edu/fisheries-and-wildlife/make-gift-department-fisheries-and-wildlife

04/30/2019

Today is Oregon State's 2019 Dam Proud Day, which is a 24 hour fundraising event focused on raising money for student success and support.

College of Agricultural Sciences - Oregon State University is matching donations made the Global Experience Fund, which provides resources for students and faculty engaged in global experiences related to the work and research at the College.

We have had students travel to Cape Town and Brazil for individual studies, and we've also taught courses in Hawaii and Palau, and those are just some of the adventures that this fund supports.

You can learn more about the fund and donate at the link below!

https://damproudday.com/?cfpage=project&project_id=25910

04/13/2019

Pacific Seabird Group

Today’s #30EarthMonthHeroes is Kim Nelson, for her enduring support of the Pacific Seabird Group - both its #conservation work and its #scientists, especially #ECS, #ECR & #WomenInScience. PSG Marbled Murrelet Technical Committee co-founder and current coordinator, 1996 PSG Chair, Kittlitz's Murrelet Technical Committee Member, NE Asia Seabird Conservation Committee Member... the list goes on! OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, College of Forestry at Oregon State University.

04/12/2019

We're excited about #RAFWE

04/12/2019

If you're looking for something to do on a Friday night we recommend the RAFWE student poster session and our live and silent auctions!

04/12/2019

Sam Wasser is our plenary speaker for RAFWE and it's a packed house

04/12/2019

It's trivia time at RAFWE!

04/12/2019

Starting on the Right Foot: Carryover Effects of Larval Hydroperiod and Terrain Moisture on Post-metamorphic Frog Movement Behavior

The environment we experience is important in shaping our behavior. This is even more true when you are a recently metamorphosed juvenile amphibian. Research done here at Oregon State University examined how water levels experience by tadpoles and soil moisture experienced by terrestrial juveniles impact movement behavior.

Changing patterns of precipitation and drought will dramatically influence the distribution and persistence of lentic habitats. Pond-breeding amphibians can often respond to changes in habitat by plastically shifting behavioral and developmental trait response. However, fitness tradeoffs inherent in...

04/05/2019

Climate change is hurting migrating waterbirds across the West. It could get worse

Climate change is hurting migrating waterbirds across the West. It could get worse

Migrating waterbirds, which travel along the Pacific Flyway through Idaho and California, are finding altered habitat in the Great Basin. Climate change has warmed weather, causing snow to melt earlier.

03/22/2019

The OSU Herpetology Club won the student contest for the 2019 Society for Northwest Vertebrate Biology conference, beating out a small army of undergraduate and graduate students in the process! The poster was done on a joint project with Dr. Deanna Olson and the USFS. Christopher Cousins, Mark Leppin, Anna Welsh Neill, and Matt Radin worked on the poster, with Anna and Matt presenting it. We looked at impacts of fire across the Deschutes National Forest, and the potential for wetland meadow habitats to act as refugia during fire events, with the herpetofauna within accelerating post-fire recovery.

The Herp Club was fortunate enough to be involved with this project from its beginnings as we attended and contributed to planning meetings at the Deschutes NF Station, set coverboards across sites, checked coverboards for reptiles, and conducted amphibian surveys. Over the spring and summer of 2018, we surveyed independently as a club, in addition to doing surveys with USFS employees. We learned a lot about how to set up a research project and what issues come up in the field. We're excited to get back out there this spring, and hopefully start some other projects as well!

03/21/2019

Oregon Chapter of The Wildlife Society

Congratulations to Gabriel Sandoval who was chosen to receive the 2019 ORTWS Outstanding Undergraduate Student Scholarship!

03/19/2019

Study finds reduction in seabird bycatch since 2002, but researchers urge vigilance as rates rising

Study finds reduction in seabird bycatch since 2002, but researchers urge vigilance as rates rising

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A collaborative effort among the fishing industry, scientists and resource managers has led to a significant reduction in seabird bycatch in Alaskan longline fisheries since 2002, a

03/19/2019

OSU's College of Ichthyology - The Corvallis Advocate

OSU's College of Ichthyology - The Corvallis Advocate

The word ichthyology comes from the Greek work ikhthús, meaning fish, and you guessed it, ichthyology is the study of fish. Oregon State University happens to be home to one of the most impressive collections of fish out there which resides in the basement of Nash Hall. Originally established in 19...

03/08/2019

Be like Ann and take a break to go catch a giant snowflake or two ❄️

03/07/2019

Our FW Club members are getting #outthere! Great posters everyone!

The 55th Annual Meeting of the Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society is in full swing! This evening current club members @dearannna, @brooke.schlipf, and Eric Swanson presented research posters and @rachel.the.foureyedtraveler presented a poster on the FW Club's AFS student subunit. In the last year, the FW Club has impacted 1,300 people in our community through organizing/participating in 13 community outreach events, 10 bimonthly meetings, 5 workshops, and a week-long professional tour. If you want to get more involved with the club, spring term is a great time do so. Join in on some of the many great events we have planned!
#americanfisheriessociety #orafs OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife College of Agricultural Sciences - Oregon State University #annualmeeting #osufwclub #fwclub @ The Riverhouse Convention Center

03/06/2019

Grouper Spawning | Reef Environmental Education Foundation

Want to learn more about REEF’s Grouper Moon Project? Tune in tonight as Dr. Lynn Waterhouse discusses her research on Nassau Grouper in Little Cayman. You won’t want to miss this free, fun, and interactive fishinar. You don’t need webcam or microphone; all you need is you! You won’t want to miss it.

Tune in tonight at 8 PM EST to learn all about our ongoing project to save this critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List.

Register for free at the link below and join the fun!

Join Dr. Lynn Waterhouse for an informative talk about the Nassau Grouper spawning aggregation which takes place in the Cayman Islands, and the work that is being done to protect the keystone species.

03/01/2019

College of Agricultural Sciences - Oregon State University

College of Agricultural Sciences - Oregon State University

AgSci fisheries ecologist Will White in the OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife quoted in this timely article from National Geographic.

"'I'm not sure there's a way to manage our way out of that,' White says of acute ocean warming, but on a less dramatic, global scale, he says..."

Read More:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/nature/climate-change-is-depleting-our-essential-fisheries.aspx

03/01/2019

Migrating blue whales rely on memory more than environmental cues to find prey

"We think that blue whales have evolved to use historical migration routes and timing that put them in proximity to the most predictably high production feeding areas and then make minor adjustments based on local conditions," said Daniel Palacios, a principal investigator with Oregon State's Marine Mammal Institute and a co-author on the study.

Blue whales reach their massive size by relying on their exceptional memories to find historically productive feeding sites rather than responding in real time to emerging prey patches, a new study concludes.

03/01/2019

Loved every second of Matt Ramirez's GRADx talk! It's incredible that we can make new discoveries using old bones. Turtle skeletons tell stories!

02/28/2019

In the egg, American bullfrogs learn how to avoid becoming lunch

From a 2017 study: Tiffany Garcia says that bullfrog embryos can learn about new predators while they are still in the egg, and that they behave and develop differently after they hatch based on that learning. 😯 #TBT

When exposed to potential predators as an embryo, the invasive American bullfrog becomes harder to kill when it becomes a tadpole, according to a new study.

02/28/2019

Open Explorer | Grouper Moon Project

Yesterday we posted about some of the amazing technology that the Grouper Moon project scientists, which includes FW faculty Scott Heppell, are using in the Cayman Islands.

You can read more about the project in this National Geographic blog, which really digs into the project, complete with photos and video!

As part of each of REEF’s projects we include an education component in order to connect the general public to our conservation efforts. In 2012, the Grouper Moon Project partnered with Disney Worldwide Conservation Program in order to develop an education component to the research occuring in the...

02/27/2019

Lasers and facial recognition technology employed for Grouper Moon research

Nassau Groupers are spawning in the Cayman Islands and scientists with the Grouper Moon project are using lasers for facial recognition and size measurements!

Scientists from the Department of Environment and Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) are continuing to collect data in all three islands as the Nassau Grouper’s annual reproductive ritu…