Jessica Clemens As a Hershman Fellow at Puget Sound Institute, Jessica Clemens is researching how metabolomics can be used to better understand the impacts of anthropogenic contaminants on aquatic organisms. Her project focuses on data from long-term studies on shellfish in Puget Sound. Areas of interest include how reproduction is altered by the presence of contaminants, […]
December 16, 2024
"> Grant will support training in collaborative leadership
The Collaborative Leadership Program at the Puget Sound Institute (PSI) will receive almost $500,000 to train the next generation of collaborative policy makers. The new project will build on lessons from Puget Sound’s groundbreaking history of salmon co-management and other natural resource policies. The support comes from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Puget Sound […]
December 16, 2024
"> Ask a scientist: What is a distributary channel?
In a natural state, a river passing through a floodplain will have many side channels and tendrils that distribute the water, fanning it out across the delta. However, these channels are often lost when rivers are diverted to make room for farmland or other human development. In many cases, even after the dikes and levees […]
December 16, 2024
"> Protecting the health of people who eat fish: The long battle over water quality standards
Culminating more than a decade of fierce debate, Washington state officials formally adopted new water-quality standards for toxic chemicals to protect the health of people who eat fish from our local waterways. On its face, this action appears inconsequential, considering that these numerical criteria were already in place, having been imposed two years ago by […]
December 12, 2024
"> Annual report documents Puget Sound’s marine conditions
The Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP) has released its 13th annual overview of Puget Sound’s marine water conditions. The report is funded in part by the Puget Sound Institute and is produced by 67 contributors from federal, tribal, state, and local agencies, academia, nonprofits, and private and volunteer groups. The compilation looks back on the […]
December 11, 2024
"> $1 million awarded for new approach to removing PBDEs from municipal wastewater
The University of Washington has been awarded a $1 million grant by the Stormwater Strategic Initiative Lead for Piloting Solutions for Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Wastewater. The project will be led by Heidi Gough, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and Andy James, University of Washington Tacoma, Center for Urban Waters and the Puget […]
December 11, 2024
"> January 7 roundtable will share insights from ‘End-to-End’ ecosystem modeling of the Strait of Georgia
Co-hosted with the Fisheries & Oceans Canada from 12:30 – 1:30 pm PT The Salish Sea Science Roundtable online speaker series continues on Tuesday, January 7 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. How have ocean conditions, lower trophic level dynamics, and species interactions shaped the Strait of Georgia’s marine ecosystem over the past 40 years? What long-term […]
November 18, 2024
"> Mysterious sharks gain recognition as scientists explore their contributions to Puget Sound
This past summer, two science papers documented, for the first time, the presence of two species of sharks not known to exist in Puget Sound. These species are commonly called sevengill and soupfin sharks. I am sorry to say that I did not know much about sharks in Puget Sound, and I had never written […]
November 12, 2024
"> December 3 roundtable will share emerging results from the Whidbey Basin Cumulative Effects Evaluation
Co-hosted with the Puget Sound Partnership from 12:30 – 1:30 pm PT The Salish Sea Science Roundtable online speaker series continues on Tuesday, December 3 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. The roundtable will describe ongoing work to address the cumulative effects of restoration in the Whidbey Basin using synthesis methodology rooted in causal analysis. We will describe the […]
November 7, 2024
"> Some orcas extend their stay in Puget Sound; others visit capture site for first time in years
Southern Resident killer whales have been hanging out in Puget Sound much longer than normal this fall, probably because of an unusually large run of chum salmon coming into Central and South Puget Sound, experts say. As of today, J pod has remained in Puget Sound for 19 straight days with the exception of a […]