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An innovative interdisciplinary project at California State University, Long Beach, was designed to increase the attractiveness of the geosciences (physical geography, geology, and archaeology) to underrepresented groups. The goal was to raise awareness of the geosciences by providing summer research opportunities for underrepresented high school and community college students and their faculty. A survey of a larger sample provided insight into strategies for enhancing geoscience awareness. A qualitative evaluation pointed to its success in meeting project goals. This unprecedented level of collaboration had set the groundwork for an institutional shift for inclusion of minorities in the geosciences and warrants replication.

In a search for ocean conditions potentially affecting the extent of Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) feeding migrations, we analyzed data collected in 1995 and 1998 by the National Marine Fisheries Service on abundance and distribution of hake (by echo integration), intensity and distribution of alongshore flow (from acoustic Doppler current profiler), and temperature (conductivity–temperature–depth profiles). Our results show that Pacific hake are associated with subsurface poleward flow and not a specific temperature range. Temporal and spatial patterns characterize both hake distribution and undercurrent characteristics during the two years of this study. We suggest that poleward flow in this area defines adult hake habitat, with flow properties aiding or impeding the poleward migration of the population. We conclude that although physical processes may not directly affect fish production, they may be the link between large-scale ocean–atmosphere variability and pelagic fish distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recognizing that all management decisions have impacts on the ecosystem being exploited, an ecosystem-based approach to management seeks to better inform these decisions with knowledge of ecosystem structure, processes and functions. For marine fisheries in the California Current, along the West Coast of North America, such an approach must take into greater consideration the constantly changing climate-driven physical and biological interactions in the ecosystem, the trophic relationships between fished and unfished elements of the food web, the adaptation potential of life history diversity, and the role of humans as both predators and competitors. This paper reviews fisheries-based ecosystem tools, insights, and management concepts, and presents a transitional means of implementing an ecosystem-based approach to managing US fisheries in the California Current based on current scientific knowledge and interpretation of existing law. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Focuses on a research involving students in a marine seismic-reflection program at Palos Verdes fault, located in California Continental Borderland, offshore Los Angeles. Details on the marine seismic-reflection program; Adaptation of marine seismic techniques for student participation; Products of student participation; Result of the research.