Questions the harbor can use
FY2025 research expenditure was $86.4 million across six organized centers. The charter asks that a share of the work answer questions brought by the port, the school districts, or the county health department. That share is reported to the board each June.
Where the work sits
Directors are named in the catalog. Funding figures are direct plus indirect costs on active awards as of June 30, 2025.
Calder Bay Marine Laboratory
Director: Dr. Naomi OkadaKelp recovery, nearshore fish surveys, and seawater chemistry on the south jetty. The laboratory runs the summer field term and keeps the small-boat fleet. Cruise reports are filed in the Seacliff Library within a year.
Institute for Coastal Resilience
Director: Prof. Elena MarchettiFlood mapping for harbor towns, shoreline structures, and the working-waterfront studies used by the Calder Bay Port Authority. The institute’s maps are released to the county planning department, not held as consulting product.
Center for Learning & Teacher Preparation
Director: Prof. Marcus EllisonResearch on teacher retention in coastal and rural schools, run with the six partner districts. Current work follows 140 early-career teachers through their fifth year in the classroom.
Applied Health on the Shore
Director: Dr. Priya RamanOccupational health for fishing crews and shipyard workers, plus primary-care studies with Shoreline Health. Hearing-conservation protocols from the 2025 trawl-crew study are now in use at two processors.
Harbor Data Observatory
Director: Prof. Luis OrtegaOne hundred forty sensors for tide, weather, and water quality, with a public hourly feed. Engineering and data-science courses use the feed as their teaching dataset. The operations desk is in Hester Hall, room 114.
Working Waterfront Policy Lab
Director: Dr. Helen ChoFisheries economics, port governance, and the household studies behind Dr. Cho’s book The Working Waterfront. The lab’s landings series is updated each March from co-op filings.
Selected publications, 2025–2026
A short list from the annual research report. The full bibliography is kept by the library.
Kelp canopy recovery after the 2024 marine heatwave on the southern Oregon shelf
A low-cost tide-gauge mesh for harbors under 500 berths
Hearing loss and shift length among Pacific trawl crews
Harbor school closures and out-migration of families with children under 18
Carbon standing stock in restored bull kelp beds, Calder Bay
Mussel-byssus panels as a drop-in replacement for nylon gillnet sections
How students join a project
Research appointments are posted. A student does not need a personal introduction to a professor to be considered.
Summer research fellowship
Ten weeks, a $5,400 stipend, and a bed in Pilot House. The student works on an existing laboratory project and presents a poster at Kelp Week. Applications for summer 2027 open December 1, 2026.
Senior project
Required in every undergraduate major. A faculty member signs the proposal in the junior spring. The finished project is deposited in the library. Honors designation requires a separate defense.
Academic-year assistantships
Hourly work in a lab or on a survey crew, posted in the Harbor Portal. Pay for 2026–27 starts at $16.40 an hour. International students are appointed within the terms of their visa.
Graduate research assistantships
Tuition, health coverage, and a stipend of $32,400 for funded Ph.D. students and grant-supported M.S. students. The appointment letter states the teaching load. Conference travel is a separate request, up to $1,200 a year.
Design-build crews
Engineering and design students take paid summer crews that build small harbor structures. The 2025 crew finished the Pilot Cove float. Crew leads are licensed faculty, not student supervisors alone.
Data deposits
Students who collect data on an AES project deposit the documented set with the observatory or the library before the grade is posted. The rule is in the research handbook, section 4.
Review and conduct
The Institutional Review Board meets on the first Tuesday of each month. Human-subjects protocols are submitted through the research office at [email protected]. Animal and dive-safety protocols go to the marine laboratory’s safety officer.
Every investigator, including undergraduates on a fellowship, completes the responsible-conduct course before collecting data. The course is four sessions. It is not a click-through module.
Datasets and cruise reports are deposited before a grade posts or a paper is submitted. The library keeps the deposit record.
Small-boat work follows the laboratory’s float plan. A boat does not leave the dock without a filed plan and a second qualified person aboard.
Faculty with a financial interest in a sponsor disclose it to the research office before the award is accepted. The disclosure is reviewed by the provost.