Announcement
Lavern Weber Visiting Scientist Program

The Hatfield Marine Science Center is pleased to announce availability of funding for the Lavern Weber Visiting Scientist opportunity. This program is funded by donations to a named endowment and matching funding from the OSU Research Office. Named in honor of Lavern Weber, who directed the HMSC between 1977 and 2002, the program supports a distinguished scientist for visits of up to several months duration.

The Weber visiting scientist program fosters examination of new specialties and expertise at the HMSC, while stimulating cooperative research with different institutions and providing new opportunities for OSU students. A key objective of the program is for the visiting scientist participate in HMSC programs, including teaching and research, during their stay.

Lavern Weber
   
Awards of up to $8,000 are available to fund a visiting scientist, with the goal of hosting at least one visitor per academic year. These funds may be used for salary, travel, research expenses, or a combination of these costs.

HMSC faculty (including courtesy faculty) are encouraged to seek distinguished colleagues interested in a visit to the HMSC and submit recommendations to the HMSC Director's Office. Applications will consist of a resume on the scientist (5 page maximum), and a narrative describing the activities that will be performed at HMSC and how the visit will integrate into research, education, and outreach programs of the HMSC. A recommendation from an OSU or HMSC scientist is suggested, but not required. It should specifically note whether some level of matching funding will be available, either from an internal HMSC program or from other sources. As an example, this is an ideal means of helping support a sabbatical leave for a colleague from another institution.

Recommendations and applications will be accepted in the HMSC Director’s office throughout the year (or until a decision is reached) and evaluated by a committee of HMSC faculty and graduate students. Evaluation criteria will include the degree to which the scientist will:

  1. utilize specialized facilities and environments at the HMSC,
  2. interact with the many groups at the HMSC as well as students,
  3. and bring new approaches, technologies, and ideas to the research and education goals of the HMSC. 
Information on HMSC and its staff and research groups is available on the homepage and in the most recent annual report.. 

2007 Lavern Weber Visiting Scientist Program Summary

In July 2007, the HMSC welcomed Dr. Gordon H. Kruse, Professor of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, as the first visiting scientist under the recently endowed program.  Professor Kruse investigated the relationship between English sole larval abundance and availability of prey, and how this dynamic affects recruitment success for this important North Pacific fish species.  He engaged in collaborative research with OSU, ODFW, and NOAA Fisheries researchers at HMSC and completed several manuscripts during his 6-month stay. 

As a Weber Visiting Scientist, Professor Kruse also contributed to the educational enterprise at HMSC, sharing his extensive knowledge of fisheries biology and resource management with students in two OSU Fisheries and Wildlife courses during the fall term.  He presented three guest lectures and lead a computer lab in which the students conducted their very first stock assessment using the "catch-survey analysis" procedure currently used to manage some crab fisheries in Alaska.   In addition to presenting scientific seminars at HMSC and in Corvallis, Professor Kruse delivered a presentation in the HMSC Visitor Center on November 11 geared toward the general public, addressing the question of how climate change impacts fisheries of the North Pacific.

In December 2007, the HMSC bid goodbye to Professor Kruse and his wife Mickey as they departed for Hamburg, Germany, where Gordon conducted research on North Sea herring during the second half of his sabbatical year. Professor Kruse is now back at his home university in Juneau, Alaska.

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