LA's AltaSea and Oregon State University Launch West Coast Ocean Innovation Partnership

AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles announced today a first-of-its-kind partnership with Oregon State University that will feature interactive virtual ocean education content with world-renowned professors and other joint efforts, such as a summer internship program. The partnership effectively creates a West Coast network for ocean innovation.

This is a unique collaboration between AltaSea and a major university, highlighting the value of AltaSea's reputation, community, and location as a center for the blue economy and Oregon State's internationally respected oceanography and marine science programs. Dr. Roberta Marinelli, Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences will be hosting a live chat on July 31.

This new partnership will kick off with live chats hosted by AltaSea that feature Oregon State professors offering their perspective on key topics within their expertise, followed by questions from the audience in a Zoom chat. These video chats are part of AltaSea's Project Blue@Summer, a digital port for content and education resources for the emerging blue economy. The first live chat, featuring Oregon State professor Burke Hales on ocean carbon cycles, will take place at 12:00 noon PST on June 19.

The partnership also includes the participation of graduate students from Oregon State's Pacific Marine Energy Center in AltaSea's high school volunteer program, giving science-inspired students access to high-achieving marine energy mentors further down a professional path they may be considering. In future phases of the collaboration, AltaSea will provide Oregon State graduate students the opportunity to use AltaSea's waterfront facilities at the Port of Los Angeles for research, and to connect with some of the exciting blue economy startups working or testing their products at AltaSea.

AltaSea, which is creating a world-class campus for the blue economy and a new hub for ocean education and business from historic warehouses at the Port of Los Angeles, launched its virtual education program at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This program was designed to help students and families learn more about topics like the ocean economy, aquaculture, ocean renewable energy, and conservation through a series of easy-to-understand, visually appealing learning activities, such as live video chats, video question-and-answer sessions and pre-packaged lessons.

Joining forces with Oregon State adds world-class ocean educators and intellectual heft to Project Blue, helping students expand their science and engineering knowledge while they remain outside of the classroom.

"Our vision for AltaSea has always been to create a first-class campus for ocean education at the Port of Los Angeles," said Tim McOsker, CEO of AltaSea. "This partnership with Oregon State is an exciting step on that path."

"We are thrilled to partner with Oregon State to help deliver truly first-class educational content to our supporters, and anyone who is interested in a free learning experience," said Jenny Krusoe, Founding Executive Director of AltaSea. "AltaSea is creating an ocean community in the real and virtual worlds, and we are proud to bring Oregon State into our family."

"Oregon State University is pleased to partner with AltaSea in its global effort to educate the public on ocean science and the blue economy," said Roberta Marinelli, dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State. "Our faculty contribute to the success of the global science enterprise by serving as intellectual leaders, innovators, and stewards of critical research infrastructure for Oregon and the nation."

Providing high-quality, free ocean educational programming like these chats can also help inspire students to pursue jobs in the blue economy, where they can excel professionally and do good for the environment. In February, AltaSea and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation released a report that included the ocean economy as the first new category of jobs in the region in more than a decade. According to the report, the ocean economy will produce more than 126,000 jobs paying a combined $37.7 billion in wages by 2023.

The full list of Project Blue live chats featuring Oregon State professors is below. All chats are held via Zoom at 12:00 noon PDT, unless noted. Anyone can register at https://altasea-project-blue.org/live-chats/:

• June 19

Burke Hales, Professor, Ocean Ecology and Biogeochemistry

"Ocean Carbon Cycles"

• July 3

Andrew Thurber, Assistant Professor, Microbiology

"Antarctica's Methane Seep Habitats"

• July 10

Jonathan Fram, Associate Professor, Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres

"Processes Affecting Nutrient Dynamics in Kelp Beds, Coral Reefs, and Arctic Lakes"

• July 31

Roberta Marinelli, Dean, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

"Seafloor Ecology and BioGeoChemistry"

About AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles

AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles is creating a world-class ocean-based campus where science, business and education come together to generate innovative solutions to the most critical global sustainability issues today: food, energy, and climate security. AltaSea accelerates scientific collaboration, facilitates job creation, and inspires the next generation for a more sustainable ocean. Built on a historic pier with access to the deep ocean, AltaSea's campus brings people together to expand science-based understanding of the ocean; incubate and sustain ocean-related business; and pioneer new ocean-related education programs. For more information on AltaSea, please see our website: https://altasea.org.

About Oregon State University

As one of only two universities in the nation designated as a land, sea, space and sun grant, Oregon State serves Oregon and the world by working on today's most pressing issues. Our more than 32,000 students come from across the globe, and our programs operate in every Oregon county. Oregon State receives more research funding than all of the state's comprehensive public universities combined. At our campuses in Corvallis and Bend, marine research center in Newport and award-winning Ecampus, we excel at shaping today's students into tomorrow's leaders.