Author: Puget Sound Institute

A tale of two islands

Adult breeding rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata). Photo: Frostnip (CC BY-NC 2.0)
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By Eric Wagner Science is hard, but coming up with a title for a scientific paper is harder. Exhibit A: the paper some colleagues and I recently published in Marine Ecology Progress Series. Originally I wanted to call it, “A Tale of Two Islands: Disparate Responses to a Marine Heatwave at Two Pacific Seabird Colonies.” I was an English major in college and literary allusions have always appealed to me. (I concede this is obnoxious.) But I felt that title wasn’t too far off the mark. There were indeed two […]

Findings and reports: February 2023

Image of San Juan Islands from the Salish Sea Model
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Salish Sea Model provides insights on circulation and residence times The amount of time water circulates and “resides” in Puget Sound is of intense interest to regulators and emergency response officials who want to understand how quickly wastewater is flushed out of Puget Sound and into the ocean. A paper in the journal Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science reports that contrary to expectation, flushing of deeper waters may take longer in wintertime in large fjord-like basins such as Hood Canal. A new, higher resolution version of the Salish Sea Model […]

Symposium grapples with long-lasting PCBs

An aerial image of the lower Duwamish River as it flows into Puget Sound. The river is heavily contaminated with PCBs and other toxic chemicals. Photo courtesy of NOAA.
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Researchers at the Puget Sound Institute hosted a two-day symposium last month to share information about the science and management of PCBs in the environment. The online workshops, held January 24th and 25th, were organized by PSI researchers Andy James, Joel Baker, and Marielle Larson, in coordination with colleagues Will Hobbs (Washington State Department of Ecology) and Katrina Radach (PSP), along with Greg Allen and Doug Austin (US EPA Chesapeake Bay). Despite their ban in the U.S. in 1979, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) remain one of the most pressing and stubborn […]

The quest continues for a nutrient reduction plan

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The quest continues for a large-scale plan to reduce human sources of nitrogen and improve the health of Puget Sound. This article is part of the Puget Sound Institute’s effort to explore the technical uncertainties related to the science of Puget Sound water quality. The project, jointly funded by King County and PSI, includes online workshops and discussions, along with informational blogs and articles. By Christopher Dunagan Human sources of nitrogen in Puget Sound have been blamed for increasing the intensity of algae blooms, lowering oxygen to critical levels, and […]

Job alert: PSI is hiring two post-doctoral scholars focusing on ecosystem modeling and fisheries science

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From UWHires: https://ap.washington.edu/ahr/position-details/?job_id=104123 Postdoctoral Scholar – Ecosystem Modeling and Fisheries Science: Climate Change, Nutrient, and Contaminant Impacts on the Salish Sea Position Overview Organization: School of Engineering and Technology Title: Postdoctoral Scholar – Ecosystem Modeling and Fisheries Science: Climate Change, Nutrient, and Contaminant Impacts on the Salish Sea Position Details Position Description The University of Washington Tacoma’s Puget Sound Institute, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Services, Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle WA seeks 2 (two) Postdoctoral Scholars to conduct ecosystem modeling research in […]

Workshop series continues with a look at nutrient pollution in the Baltics

Satellite image of an algae bloom in the Baltic Sea. This image contains data from a satellite in the Copernicus Programme, such as Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 or Sentinel-3.
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Find out how researchers in the Baltic Sea are tackling some of the same issues facing Puget Sound. Jacob Carstensen of the Baltic Nest Institute will be speaking at our next online workshop. He’ll talk about his region’s responses to nutrient pollution. The image shown above, although pretty, is an example of how excess nutrients (nitrogen and other sources) can lead to harmful blooms of phytoplankton that sometimes cause low oxygen levels and other conditions harmful to sea life. After Carstensen’s talk, Tim Essington of the University of Washington will […]

PSI monthly roundup: September 2022

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PSI monthly roundup: September 2022 View the fully formatted newsletter Six things that people should know about ecosystem modeling and virtual experiments Mathematical models running on high-speed computers are being used successfully to describe and predict all sorts of environmental changes, from annual salmon runs to sea-level rise to warming waters in streams, bays and oceans. We talked with six experts involved in a variety of ecosystem models. Here’s what they said you should know about how models work and why computer simulations are becoming increasingly important to our understanding of the […]

Six things that people should know about ecosystem modeling and virtual experiments

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The Puget Sound Institute is facilitating a series of online workshops and discussions to explore the technical uncertainties related to the science of Puget Sound water quality. As part of the project, we are publishing informational blogs and articles, including this look at how computer models are becoming increasingly important to our understanding of the natural world. The project is jointly sponsored by King County and the Puget Sound Institute. By Christopher Dunagan If you are planning a hike, picnic or other outdoor activity, it might be wise to take a look at the local […]

Upcoming workshops on tools to evaluate water quality and biological integrity 

An image of brackish water mixing in the Salish Sea as shown by the Salish Sea Model. Image courtesy of the Salish Sea Modeling Center.
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New event: More than 130 researchers, scientists, modelers, and other experts attended our first workshop in July on The Science of Puget Sound Water Quality. The discussion continues with two interrelated workshops focusing on scientific tools for evaluating marine conditions and species health. Join us:  September 29th from 8 – 10 AM PT for Tools to Evaluate Water Quality. Learn about tools and new analyses from monitoring and modeling that help us better understand water quality and potential eutrophication impacts. We will look in particular at increased access to spatial and temporal […]

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approves the 2022-2026 Action Agenda

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Press release reprinted from The Puget Sound Partnership U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approves the 2022-2026 Action Agenda FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAugust 24, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Hyde, 360.819.3045, kevin.hyde@psp.wa.gov OLYMPIA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the 2022-2026 Action Agenda as the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for the Puget Sound National Estuary Program (NEP). Each NEP develops a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan that establishes priorities for activities, research, and funding for the estuary. These plans serve as a blueprint to guide decisions about a wide range of environmental protection issues. […]

PSI monthly roundup: July 2022

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VIEW THE FULLY FORMATTED NEWSLETTER in your browser Low-oxygen problems to be scrutinized in talks about research, modeling efforts   For decades, researchers have been advancing their understanding of what causes the harmful and sometimes deadly low-oxygen problems afflicting some areas of Puget Sound. A series of 10 workshops on the subject will begin Tuesday, July 26th, and continue into next year. The workshops, coordinated by the Puget Sound Institute, will build on previous discussions, such as the Washington Department of Ecology’s Nutrient Forum and a forthcoming Marine Water Quality Implementation Strategy that […]

Low-oxygen problems to be scrutinized in talks about research, modeling efforts

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By Christopher Dunagan For decades, researchers have been advancing their understanding of what causes the harmful and sometimes deadly low-oxygen problems afflicting some areas of Puget Sound. Computer models have been developed to replicate conditions and point the way to possible solutions. Experts generally agree that excess nitrogen flowing into Puget Sound contributes to the low-oxygen conditions. What is needed now, some argue, is a stronger regionwide consensus around solutions to the problem. That could mean coming to terms with research findings, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the models, […]