The Oregon Ocean Science Trust has announced an end-of-year giving campaign to raise funds to support science and monitoring of Oregon’s ocean and coastal resources.
“It’s more important than ever to make strategic investments in Oregon’s ocean and coastal resources,” Trust Chair Laura Anderson said. “We need scientific research and monitoring to understand the pace, scale, and scope of the changes happening in our ocean and its effects on the goods and services the ocean provides. The trust has a solid track record and is well positioned to receive and disburse those investments.”
To date, the trust has disbursed almost $2 million in funding to conduct scientific research and monitoring on nearshore keystone species, such as sea otters, kelp, and eelgrass habitat. as well as research that helps understand the effects of a warming, more acidic ocean that holds less oxygen.
“For example, Dungeness crab, the most valuable fishery on the West Coast, is threatened by high carbon dioxide conditions,” Anderson noted.