Engineering Projects Will Transform Seattle, All Along the Waterfront – NY Times

This city’s urban shoreline on Puget Sound was never built with photo-snapping tourists in mind, or technology entrepreneurs jogging in the rain. In decades past, stretching back to the big-timber-and-fish era of the 1800s, the waterfront was a place of gaff hooks, warehouses and stink.  But as brawny old Seattle faded, the hard parts of its industrial past — a shadow-casting highway viaduct, a crumbling sea wall — remained behind like bleached fossils even as the modern gloss of restaurants, hotels and apartment towers moved in.  Part of the renovation will include ecological considerations for how the seawall is constructed, which will help juvenile salmon as they transit to and from sea.  Read more about the planned waterfront facelift here.

UW GIS students bring new perspectives to Puget Sound health – Directions Magazine

Human activity in the Puget Sound region of Washington State has caused an uptick in the nitrogen level fueling algae growth. But how can this urgent environmental challenge be communicated to the general public? Students in the University of Washington’s Master’s Program in GIS created a solution. Read more here!

Ginormous octopus, giant sea anemones and more in the Salish Sea

Did you know that the Puget Sound is actually part of the inland marine ecosystem known as the Salish Sea? Harboring hundreds of species, the Salish Sea is unique for its complexity and its members — including the Pacific giant octopus and the white plumose anemone. Learn more about the Salish Sea in this Heraldnet article!

Report: no conclusive blame of humans for low oxygen levels in Canal – Kitsap Sun

A new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington Department of Ecology concludes that existing studies fail to show conclusively that nitrogen from septic systems, fertilizers and other human sources have caused Hood Canal’s oxygen levels to drop by 0.2 milligrams per liter — the threshold for legal enforcement. OCEAN‘s Jan Newton is quoted; read more here.

Citizen science gains momentum in the Northwest and around the globe – NPR

Public participation in scientific research – termed “citizen science” – is growing, in numbers of projects, participants, and data points. Learn more about the exciting opportunities, as well as the challenges, that citizen science provides, and how you can get involved, here! SoundCitizen‘s Amanda Bruner is quoted.

 

Partnership adopts regional priorities and actions to restore the health of Puget Sound – PSP Press Release

Yesterday,  the Puget Sound Partnership’s governing board unanimously adopted the 2012 update of the Action Agenda, the region’s blueprint for restoring the health of Puget Sound by 2020.  Read more about this important milestone here.

‘Citizen Science’ Gains Momentum in Northwest and Nationally – KUOW

Public participation in scientific research is mushrooming in the Northwest and across the country. The trend is called “citizen science” and can include volunteers monitoring and collecting data, or crowd-sourced science, or science education with a research component. SoundCitizen, a UW Tacoma -based project, is featured. Read more here.