King Tide Preview Presentations

Newport's Nye Beach during a king tide.\Photo courtesy of ORKingTide.

Mark your calendar for the kick-off to this year’s King Tide Project, through which volunteer photographers document the reach of the highest tides of the year as a preview of sea level rise with climate change.  The project focuses on three high tide sequences, the first of which will arise Dec. 21-23 (see separate listing).  But first, join us for a King Tide Preview at the Rogue Brewer’s on the Bay (2320 OSU Dr.), beginning at 5:30 p.m. (doors open at 5) on Friday, Dec. 14.  We’ll provide the appetizers; other food and drink available from the Rogue.

We’ll provide a bit of background on the King Tide Project and explain its importance as citizen science producing valuable information, and show some examples of the best King Tide photos from last year.  Then we’ll turn the floor over to two intriguing speakers. 

First up will be Sally Hacker, a professor in Oregon State University’s Department of Integrative Biology.  Dr. Hacker will discuss the interaction of dunes and the ocean, how the sea fertilizes dunes through the deposition of wrack, and how this relationship may be affected by the sea level rise, more intense storms and increased erosion anticipated with global warming.

The second speaker will be Steve Dundas, an economist also based at Oregon State University, who is studying the economic implications of shoreline management and shoreline protection.

We’ll wind things up at about 7:30 with some final words on how to get involved with the project and a raffle.