Newsroom

CORVALLIS - A new database intended to highlight the work of ocean and coastal researchers in Oregon goes on line this month at the Oregon Sea Grant web site.

Called "Making a Difference," the system allows visitors to explore Sea Grant-sponsored research, outreach, and educational projects in words, pictures and multimedia clips. The system can be accessed at http://seagrant.orst.edu/makingadifference.

The new Sea Grant system is similar to "Oregon Invests!," a database developed in the 1990s by the College of Agricultural Sciences to demonstrate the value of Oregon State University's agricultural research and extension efforts.

Like that system, "Making a Difference" captures information about Sea Grant-funded research and outreach projects and makes it accessible via a graphical, web-based interface that allows visitors to search for projects by a variety of keywords and fields. It also gives researchers password-protected access to provide project updates and reports.

The database contains:

• Detailed summaries of Sea Grant-funded research, education and outreach projects, searchable by topic, investigator, institution and keyword. 
• Links to on-line publications, Web resources and other project-related information.
• Photos and multimedia material to help illustrate key stories.

"We view this as an important step toward providing accountability for projects we sponsor," said Jan Auyong, Sea Grant's assistant director for programs, who has been working on "Making a Difference" since 1998. The system includes information about projects funded over the past decade and eventually will include historical details about research results going back to Sea Grant's establishment in 1968.

Oregon Sea Grant disseminates more than $1 million a year in competitive research grants to scientists at OSU and other Oregon institutions of higher education, and sponsors a number of graduate student fellowships and internships. In addition, Sea Grant helps support OSU Extension faculty in marine-related specialties on campus and in each of Oregon's coastal counties, and its communications arm functions as a small press, producing books, brochures, videos and multimedia projects on ocean and coastal topics.