Coast to Classroom: Research Opportunties

The Big Question: How does predation by protists shape the evolution, genotypes, and biogeography of Prochlorococcus, the most abundant photosynthetic cells on the planet?

The Research: This project addresses a major gap in our understanding of how microbial predator-prey interactions influence global biogeochemical cycles and oxygen production. You will use model bacteriovores and picocyanobacteria to answer how selective feeding by predators shapes bacterial community structure.

In the Lab: You will gain experience in classic microbiological and molecular techniques, including cell culturing, making media, microscopy, and flow cytometry.

Classroom Connection: This project aligns with curriculum units on ecology, evolution, and the global carbon cycle.

The Big Question: How are environmental changes and warming temperatures influencing the timing (phenology) and community composition of crab larvae in the Pacific Northwest?

The Research: Leveraging the Dungeness crab larval monitoring network, this project investigates how temperature shifts lead to changes in peak larval abundance and the detection of invasive species, such as the European green crab. This work is crucial for managing culturally and economically significant fisheries.

In the Field & Lab: You will participate in deploying standardized light traps in estuarine habitats, sorting and identifying larvae using dichotomous keys and microscopes, and conducting data analysis in R.

Classroom Connection: This project is ideal for teaching climate change impacts, phenology, and invasive species management.

The Big Question: Which restoration practices best minimize methane emissions while increasing carbon storage in the freshwater wetlands of the Columbia River Estuary?

The Research: The Columbia River Estuary has lost 50% of its historical wetlands. This project monitors greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes—including methane and carbon—at multiple restoration sites to determine how site age and restoration techniques impact climate mitigation potential .

In the Field & Lab: You will visit field sites to collect air, water, and soil samples and use soil chambers to estimate GHG emissions before performing laboratory analysis for carbon content .

Classroom Connection: This research bridges Earth science and chemistry, focusing on the carbon cycle and climate change mitigation.

The Big Question: Can small, often-overlooked predators like sea slugs and chitons provide "biotic resistance" against invasive species that foul boat hulls and marinas?

The Research: You will test the hypothesis that small, bottom-dwelling consumers exert significant predation pressure on introduced sessile invertebrates (the fouling community) and explore how this resistance is affected by larger invasive predators like the green crab.

In the Field & Lab: You will assist in field collection trips to local marinas and conduct controlled laboratory experiments in saltwater tanks, observing consumption rates and animal behavior.

Classroom Connection: This project focuses on interspecific interactions, trophic cascades, and biodiversity within human-modified environments.

The Big Question:  How do viruses in extreme environments survive and evolve.

The Research: This project investigates the links between molecular genetics, structure and function of the unique archaeal virus SSV1. The lab also investigates the evolution of new viruses that infect microbes.   

In the lab: You will gain experience with molecular biology, virology, microbiology, and bioinformatic techniques, including cell culture, media preparation, DNA extraction, DNA sequencing, PCR, and molecular cloning.  There is a possibility for fieldwork.

Classroom Connection: This project aligns with curriculum on evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics and genomics.

The Big Question: How do mussels of the Oregon intertidal zone respond to daily, seasonal and annual changes in their environment? How do mussels from wave-exposed locations differ from more protected locations?

The Research: You will test the hypothesis that mussels from wave-exposed habitats display more robust stress responses than those from protected locations.

In the Field & Lab: You will assist in field collection trips to two sites on the Oregon Coast, where the PI has established several years of observational data. You will also participate in controlled, laboratory-based experiments focuses on measuring physiological metrics of stress in mussels from different locations.

Classroom Connection: This project focuses on organism / environmental interactions, marine biology and ecology and climate change.

The Big Question: How have Indigenous people adapted fishing practices to the changing natural and social landscape of the Willamette Valley over the last 10,000 years, and how will future climate change impact access to traditional fisheries in the future?

The Research: Study historic, ethnographic, and oral history data alongside archaeological data to identify places of past fish harvest and processing.  This project supports Tribal fisheries restoration and climate resilience efforts.

In the Lab & Field: You will join the research team in field work to identify and collect samples from archaeological sites.  In the lab, you will work with archival sources and learn to process archaeological samples.  You will also join research collaboration activities with our Tribal and agency partners, including field trips and working group meetings.

Classroom Connection: This interdisciplinary project connects social science with history, geography, geology, and biology.  It is ideal for teaching social studies and climate resilience.