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Coastal Hazards

About OCOIN

OCOIN LogoThe Oregon Coastal and Ocean Information Network (OCOIN) is a partnership of Portland State University, Oregon State University, Oregon's Coastal and Marine Data Network, and Oregon Coastal Management Program. This policy-science network was established to facilitate long-term collaboration among policy makers, managers, and researchers working on coastal and marine projects to promote the use of scientific data in decision making.

History of OCOIN

This network began with research on the use of evidence-based decision-making in coastal ecosystem services management and policy in Oregon. In 2013, Kaitlin Goldsmith, a former M.S. student in the Granek Lab at Portland State University (PSU), conducted interviews with decision-makers in Oregon (NGOs, state/federal agencies) to identify scientific data gaps, important ecosystem services, and management challenges that these individuals experienced. Based on these interviews, Goldsmith and Granek put together a half-day Synthesis Session in 2014 with 22 researchers and decision makers to open lines of communication and build connections. While the interviews and synthesis session were successful, it was clear that continued engagement would require a sustained long-term collaboration. See Goldsmith’s publications below.

In 2016, the Granek lab continued this work to build a network in Oregon for ongoing collaboration among data generators and data users. Elise Granek and Amy Ehrhart (PhD student) facilitated a one hour breakout session at the 2016 State of the Coast Conference in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. The purpose of this session was to reconnect participants from previous work, engage new individuals and organizations, and discuss the establishment of a self-sustaining network. Based on the feedback during this session, researchers set out to create the Oregon Coastal and Oceans Information Network (OCOIN) intended to include an annual working group meeting and an online presence to streamline data production, availability, and use, and provide a networking interface for scientists and decision makers.

An additional planning meeting was held in April 2017 with representatives from organizations that fund and/or participate in data production and data use (e.g., Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Land Conservation and Development, Ocean Science Trust, Oregon Sea Grant, Institute for Natural Resources, etc.). Through facilitated discussion, specific website and network details were identified, along with a draft agenda for the annual working group meeting.

By June 2017, a partnership between Portland State University, Oregon State University, Oregon Coastal Management Program, Institute for Natural Resources, and OSU Libraries and Press was established as the OCOIN planning team to guide development of the Oregon Explorer Coastal Research site and the Coastal Research Explorer tool. In the summer of 2017, the OCOIN planning team reached out to 250 researchers with an online survey to collect research project information. The initial survey resulted in the identification of nearly 80 coastal and marine research projects. The survey remains open and accessible on the Oregon Explorer website so that new and existing users can continue uploading research projects. 

The OCOIN planning team worked together to gather information from Oregon researchers for the website and the tool, as well as plan and facilitate the first OCOIN working group meeting on October 27, 2017 in Florence, OR where the beta version of the website and tools will be reviewed and discussed. The site and the tool was launched in December 2017.

The OCOIN planning team continues to meet with the Oregon Explorer team to review both the Oregon Explorer coastal research site and Coastal Research Explorer tool to make sure the information is current, relevant, and useful to the OCOIN user community.

2018 OCOIN planning team members

David Brock Smith, State Representative, District 1 - Port Orford

Deanna Caracciolo, Sea Grant Natural Resource Policy Fellow, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development - Oregon Coastal Management Program. 

Amy Ehrhart, PhD Student, Environmental Science and Management, Portland State University.

Elise Granek, Professor, Environmental Science & Management, Portland State University. 

Tanya Haddad, Information Systems Specialist, Oregon Coastal Management Program, Department of Land Conservation and Development.

Melissa Keyser, Coordinator, Haystock Rock Awareness Program, City of Cannon Beach

Andy Lanier, Marine Affairs Coordinator, Oregon Coastal Management Program, Department of Land Conservation and Development. 

Adrian Laufer, Graduate Student, School of Public Policy, Oregon State University

Craig Risien, Researcher, Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), Oregon State University

Steve Rumrill, Shellfish Program Leader, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

James Sumich, Oregon Ocean Science Trust (OOST)

 

2017 OCOIN planning team members (founding team)

Deanna Caracciolo, Sea Grant Natural Resource Policy Fellow, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development - Oregon Coastal Management Program. Deanna is currently working with the DLCD to facilitate the update of the Oregon State Rocky Shores Management Strategy. This strategy is a subsection of the Territorial Sea Plan that is responsible for the management of rocky area resources along the Oregon Coast.

Amy Ehrhart, PhD Student, Environmental Science and Management, Portland State University. Ehrhart’s research focuses on identifying types, concentrations, and effects of emerging contaminants on Pacific oysters through lab and field investigations.

Elise Granek, Professor, Environmental Science & Management, Portland State University. Granek is an applied coastal marine ecologist focused on understanding disturbance and habitat connectivity at the land-sea interface and works to engage decision-makers in her research.

Tanya Haddad, Information Systems Specialist, Oregon Coastal Management Program. Tanya is a GIS Analyst and web developer for the OCMP, and serves as the lead of the Oregon Coastal Marine Data Network and the Coastal Marine Framework Implementation Team.

Andy Lanier, Marine Affairs Coordinator, Oregon Coastal Management Program, Department of Land Conservation and Development.  Andy staffs the Ocean Policy Advisory Council and is a co-chair of the West Coast Ocean Data Portal.

Myrica McCune, Faculty Research Assistant, Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University. McCune is a GIS Analyst and Project Manager with the Oregon Explorer program and coordinates the development of mapping and reporting tools.

Marc Rempel, Oregon Explorer Technical Program Manager, Oregon State University Libraries & Press.  Rempel oversees the development and maintenance of all the Oregon Explorer tools and sites.

Janine Salwasser, Oregon Explorer Program Leader, Institute for Natural Resources. Salwasser coordinates the Oregon Explorer work and leads the outreach activities to facilitate the development and use of natural resource information to support planning and decision making processes in Oregon and the West.

 

Resulting Publications

Goldsmith, K. A., Granek, E. F., & Lubitow, A. (2015). Information Needs Assessment for Coastal and Marine Management and Policy: Ecosystem Services Under Changing Climatic, Land Use, and Demographic Conditions. Environmental Management, 56(6), 1502–1513. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0576-z

Goldsmith, K., Granek, E., Lubitow, A., & Papenfus, M. (2016). Bridge over troubled waters: A synthesis session to connect scientific and decision making sectors. Marine Policy, 70, 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.04.015

Funding

This project was funded in 2017 by NOAA RISA Program grant # NA 14OAR4310268, Information Needs Assessment for Coastal and Marine Management and Policy in the Pacific Northwest: Ecosystem Services Under Changing Climatic Land Use and Demographic Conditions.

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