- Success Stories, Uncategorized
- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Celebrating 40 Years of Monitoring Coastal Health
Since 1986, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Mussel Watch Program has been monitoring and documenting chemical contaminants in coastal waters using bivalves. Used for their ability to filter water and retain contaminants within their tissues, bivalves help quantify the presence of chemical contaminants within the waters in which they reside. The Mussel Watch Program has used this information to establish long-term baseline contaminant levels and track trends over the past 40 years.
Upon its inception, the program started with monitoring approximately 145 sites. Within these 40 years, the Mussel Watch Program built a network of regional and local partners, which has enabled the program to grow, expanding to additional collection sites to 425 in the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of America, and the Great Lakes. The program originally focused on legacy contaminants like DDT and PCBs and has increased the screening list to over 600 contaminants, including PFAS – forever chemicals found in items such as fire retardants, food wrappers, nonstick cookware, and other everyday items.
Through our contract with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, CSS has supported this effort for many years, providing administrative, logistical, on-the-ground collection support, and writing technical reports summarizing their findings following the completion of the contaminant analysis for each region.
CSS employee owners are responsible for devising the yearly collection schedule, organizing missions, establishing local partnerships, shipping materials to each site, and writing reports to summarize the regional findings. This is a massive undertaking that requires strategic planning and organization – one that has ensured the Mussel Watch Program continued to operate efficiently and effectively.
Learn more about NOAA’s National Mussel Watch Program and the contributions of CSS employee owners.
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Developing a Stream Assessment Protocol
CSS has been a significant contributor to the development and implementation of the Oregon Stream Function Assessment Method (SFAM) for more than 10 years. SFAM is a key component of the Oregon Stream Mitigation Program administered by the Oregon Department of State Lands. The mitigation program is designed to address damage to aquatic resources caused…
Studying Mesophotic Coral Health
Mesophotic coral can live at depths of 500 feet below the ocean surface. Even at this depth, some of the mesophotic corals in the Gulf of Mexico were affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Our coral scientists supporting NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science are studying the extent of this impact.…
Fueling NOAA’s Scientific Partnerships
Maintaining NOAA’s active global climate tracking requires seamless collaboration with top-tier universities, research labs, and private contractors. In support of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, CSS program manager for Climate Data Records (CDR) has managed complex budget plans and contract modifications, securing crucial funding for essential climate variables. This effort directly preserved funding for CRDs including the Total Solar Irradiance CDR (which measures the Sun’s energy…