Olympic Natural Resources Center

Upcoming Carbon Friendly Forestry Conference hosted by Washington Conservation Action

Join the Washington Environmental Council (formerly Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters) for the 7th annual carbon friendly forestry conference. This year’s event will held as a series of virtual events in November 2023. This event will bring together practitioners, policymakers, decisions-makers, landowners, community members, researchers, and more. To register for the series, visit their website here

Event details:

November 1st, 8th, and 15th from 1pm to 5pm via zoom

For questions or more information, contact Bryan Pelach at bryan@waconservationaction.org

Dr. Vera Trainer, ONRC’s marine program Director, is awarded the 2023 Seattle Aquarium’s Ocean Conservation Honors Award

Each year, the Seattle Aquarium honors leaders and scientists in marine conservation research working on a range of issues from climate change to sustainable fisheries. This year, Dr. Vera Trainer was the recipient of this prestigious award for her extensive, multi-decade work on harmful algal blooms in the Puget Sound and Olympic regions. Read the full article published by the Seattle Aquarium here

Summer 2023 Internship Announcement

ONRC is hiring University of Washington students for the Summer 2023 internship program! Interns will collect data on several forest ecology and management studies on the Olympic Peninsula and in central Oregon. If you are interested in applying, send a cover letter and resume to Courtney Bobsin at cbobsin@uw.edu. Applications are due February 27, 2023. See the flyer below for more information.

ONRC welcomes Dr. Vera Trainer to the team

The University of Washington’s Olympic Natural Resources Center (ONRC) announces hiring Dr. Vera Trainer as the research lead for the ONRC marine science program and director of the Olympic Region Harmful Algal Bloom (ORHAB) program in Forks, WA. The ORHAB program is a unique partnership of federal, state, tribal and local management and research agencies, marine resource-based businesses, and academic institutions focused on providing advanced warning of harmful algal blooms that threaten coastal fish and shellfish harvest as well as marine animal and human health. Dr. Trainer is an affiliate associate professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington and conducted research for almost 3 decades during her tenure as an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Her current research on harmful algal blooms focuses on the assessment of climatic factors that influence toxic bloom development and intensity.

She has led international comparative approaches to study the intensity, geographical distribution and toxicity of harmful algal blooms that have increased our understanding of environmental stressors that promote these events across the North Pacific. She has led efforts aboard NOAA ships to map toxic blooms and has participated in numerous research cruises as principal investigator. Her research on the impact of harmful algal blooms on the resilience of coastal economies and marine wildlife health has been featured in the Seattle Times, The Guardian, the New York Times, USA Today, Associated Press, National Public Radio, the San Francisco Chronical, Washington Post, and numerous West Coast television news programs.

In 2022, Dr. Trainer was inducted as a member into the Washington State Academy of Sciences. She is a U.S. delegate of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) and is actively involved in research to promote climate solutions during this United Nations Decade for Ocean Sciences (2021-2030). She is a member of the steering committee of the Marine Mammal Commission’s Unusual Marine Mammal Mortality Events that supports research to understand the causes of marine mammal illness and death. She enjoys national and international collaborations, particularly with young scientists and underrepresented people, as a means to enhance our cultural, scientific and personal understanding of one another.

Her work in Forks will be focused initially on enhancing marine science outreach to local students of all ages and to enhance the research capabilities at the ONRC. She will initiate a series of listening sessions to align community needs with local research and outreach expertise.

Please share your ideas with Vera Trainer at verat@uw.edu

Other questions can be directed to: Bernard Bormann, Director ONRC bormann@uw.edu

New Ethnoforestry Publication

A paper was recently published by ONRC researchers and collaborators on the ways ethnoforestry was applied to the Type 3 Watershed Experiment. See the full details, including the abstract and paper under Readings here

Swiss Needle Cast Meeting, June 2-3, 2022

The Olympic Natural Resources Center is pleased to announce dates for the Washington Swiss Needle Cast Working Group’s Aberdeen-area field trip (June 2nd 2022) and in-person meeting (June 3rd 2022). Learn more about the field tour and meeting here.

New Research Scientist position at ONRC

In August 2021, ONRC hired a new research scientist, Courtney Bobsin, with state funding. Courtney has been working with ONRC as a masters and PhD student since 2016 and is excited to join the ONRC staff. Read more in the Forks Forum here