Human-marine interactions

COS and Woods hosted two workshops on human-marine interactions, featuring a “dream team” of interdisciplinary speakers discussing how the environment affects human wellbeing as well as what drives people toward environmentally and socially sustainable behavior. Read more and watch video.

Environmental DNA

The Center for Ocean Solutions’ Environmental DNA (eDNA) project was awarded $830,000 out of a larger $7 million federal grant to develop and test innovative genetic sampling techniques that could revolutionize marine wildlife monitoring. The process allows scientists to collect small water samples filled with bits of DNA, and identify which organisms are present in that environment based on each species’ unique genetic fingerprint—without ever having to see or capture the organisms themselves. Read more.

Coastal hypoxia research

A COS working group focused on ocean hypoxia published a 2014 article that helped the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Commission identify and develop a pathway to solutions for addressing declining oxygen content along the California coast. Read more (pdf).

Natural capital and climate adaptation

Building on successful engagements with coastal planners from Sonoma, Marin, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, the center's collaborative coastal adaptation efforts with the Natural Capital Project expanded to integrate regional lessons into statewide efforts in partnership with the California Coastal Commission and State Coastal Conservancy. Read more.

Small scale fisheries

COS's small-scale fisheries team published two peer-reviewed papers describing a number of strategies for developing more sustainable fisheries communities using adaptive, flexible management and social-ecological systems thinking. Read more.

Ocean acidification and science policy

COS published a white paper summarizing the legal and policy levers for addressing ocean acidification in California's Marine Protected Areas for the Resources Legacy Fund, a major funder of natural resources conservation. The charity will use this white paper to inform its funding priorities over the next five to ten years. Read more (pdf).

Leadership development

In 2014, the Monterey Area Institutions' Network for Education (a collaboration between COS and seven Monterey Bay area academic campuses focused on training future ocean leaders) saw an increase in the number of leadership development activities offered to our graduate audience, including four seminars, five workshops and two all-campus networking events involving over 250 participants and 20 guest speakers. The collaboration was also awarded its first-ever grant in 2014: A $25,000 WhaleTail grant to support the 2015 Summer Ocean Policy Course from the California Coastal Commission. Read more.

Ocean Tipping Points

The center’s interdisciplinary, cross-institutional Ocean Tipping Points project team published five peer-reviewed articles, gave 38 presentations and extensively engaged managers, researchers and community groups in its two case study regions of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia and Hawai'i, U.S. Read more.