Jennifer Jacquet
I am an American post-doc based at the University of British Columbia, where I also completed my Ph.D.
jjacquet
Posts by this author
February 20, 2008
Ocean dead zones are "the new normal," according to Jane Lubchenco, marine biologist at Oregon State University in this article in the L.A. Times. The low oxygen zones off the west coast appear to be spreading--exacerbated by global warming and overfishing. Grrlscientist has a good review of the…
February 19, 2008
If you've ever seen this TED talk with "jaw-dropping footage" of a cuttlefish, octopus, and other sea creatures, then you should definitely check out fellow ScienceBlogger Carl Zimmer's article on cuttlefish camouflage in today's New York Times. Zimmer visits scientists at Woods Hole, MA and…
February 18, 2008
This week at triple-A S, there was a triplet of fish discussed: cod, tuna, and sharks. The news is bleak.
Today at AAAS, a panel of scientists compares the fate of tuna to that of cod, which helped shape the economies of whole nations in the early 20th century. Leading the discussion were UBC's…
February 15, 2008
According to Science Daily, the small-island state of Kiribati just established the world's largest marine protected area (MPA). The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is the size of California, though the article does not provide a map nor does it mention what portion of the MPA will actually…
February 14, 2008
Thanks Kate Wing and Suzie G. for pointing Shifting Baselines toward these science Valentines:
February 13, 2008
A plastic garbage patch two times the size of Texas is floating in our oceans and that's just the beginning. This article Plastic Oceans in Best Life magazine is really horrifying. Plastics cover our beaches and make their way up the food chain. One animal dissected by Dutch researchers…
February 13, 2008
I was interviewed at Bora's Blog around the Clock today as part of a series on science bloggers...
February 13, 2008
My sister sent me a blogpost from Details asking Are You Raising a Douchebag? about parents "who think hink it's cute when 4-year-olds opine about Damien Hirst and demand heirloom tomatoes." The post comes comes complete with a photo of an "entitled hipster brat" giving the finger (twice).
My…
February 12, 2008
Posted by David Wilmot, dave@oceanchampions.org
2008 is not shaping up to be a good year for conventional wisdom. The New York football Giants beat the record-perfect New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in an upset that can best be measured by the surreal fact that Las Vegas Casinos lost money…
February 11, 2008
In honor of Darwin Day, I'd like to give a little shout out to some of Charles Darwin's contributions to marine science.
Theory of Coral Reef Formation: Onboard the Beagle, Darwin composed the theory of coral reef formation. He described three types of reefs: fringe, barrier, and atoll. His…
February 11, 2008
This is the cake I baked last year for Darwin Day (February 12th):
February 11, 2008
Vice-President Dick Cheney in 1994 on why we shouldn't invade Baghdad:
February 11, 2008
It's official. Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Barack Obama have been invited to ScienceDebate2008.
The location? Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, named after one of our nation's greatest scientists (and greatest patriots). The date? April 18, just before the Pennsylvania Primary…
February 10, 2008
Check out these photos of Dubai; the first is from 1990 and the second photo is the same street in 2003.
February 7, 2008
American asses widen and interest in conservation wanes as real life turns virtual.
We've already discussed how the average American is gaining weight almost by the day and yet Americans see fat as normal as weight rises. But a new study by The Nature Conservancy shows, perhaps unsurprsingly, that…
February 7, 2008
The whale hunt is proceeding as planned and there is now photographic evidence to prove it. The BBC published some gruesome photos today. I'm not going to post any here because I don't want to get depressed every time I open my computer...
February 7, 2008
I was staying away from politics on the blog but this one I can't resist. That's right. After making the fun and unique (and, apparently, narcissistic) YouTube video about her crush on Obama, (nearly 6 million views) Obama Girl then went and did something very unoriginal. She stayed at home for…
February 6, 2008
In 1998, Pauly et al. published their seminal paper in Science on Fishing Down Marine Food Webs (FDFW). The paper has been cited nearly 1000 times and today it turns 10 years old. The paper has been influential, namely in establishing the mean trophic level of fisheries as a tool for measuring…
February 5, 2008
Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
The last month has seen enormous turnout in primaries and caucuses around the country, and today's Super Tuesday vote promises to be no different. Here's a prediction of a 40% turnout in one Missouri district. This is phenomenal for a primary…
February 4, 2008
Check out this wonderful article on shifting baselines by Colin Woodard in The Christian Science Monitor. Woodard describes UNH researcher Bill Leavenworth's hunt for cod fishing logs between 1852 and 1866. Back then, fishermen had no incentive to over or underreport their catch so what…
February 3, 2008
Lent is the biggest time of year for seafood sales (more on that soon) but, according to the industry supported news source IntraFish, the Superbowl unofficially launches the seafood selling season. Supermarket retailers everywhere offered plenty of seafood platters and party specials for…
February 1, 2008
Bryant Gumbel, in last week's edition of his HBO show Real Sports, ended with a great shifting baselines editorial which would probably irk a lot of people who hate American pop culture. After talking about all the silly trivia that will fill the airwaves over the next two weeks addressing non-…
February 1, 2008
Molded surimi lobsters from Surimi & Surimi Seafood by J.W. Park (2005).
We've talked about surimi before, but it's worth a reminder on the official definition: "Surimi is stabilized myofibrillar proteins obtained from mechanically deboned fish flesh that is washed with water and blendedwith…
January 31, 2008
Fifty-three sea lions were slaughtered in the Galapagos Islands. Thirteen pups, 25 youngsters, nine males and six females were all found with their skulls bashed in on Pinta Island. The New York Times questioned this week whether tourism is compatible with conservation. Are humans?
January 30, 2008
Stop the presses. This sushi debate is getting out of control. I have had to revisit the YouTube of sea otters holding hands to remind myself that almost 10 million humans still have a soul--that it's not all about us and our mercury levels.
You probably know what happened. Marian Burros wrote an…
January 29, 2008
Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
So my question to those of you out there in science blog land is this: does politics matter to you?
One of the best fish advocates in Congress could go down (If you don't believe me see today's Washington Post).
Gilchrest could be replaced by an anti-…
January 27, 2008
Can you stay awake for a book? Or are books going extinct along with the American attention span?
According to Ursula Le Guin (notable sci-fi and fantasy author now age 78) in February's issue of Harper's, the Associated Press ran a poll and announced last August that 27% of respondents had spent…
January 25, 2008
Good news! Gasoline is back below $3 a gallon. What a bargain. Everyone can stop worrying about the rising price of gasoline.
Okay, let me date myself in a big way. The summer of my senior year of high school I worked at a gas station where the price was $0.19 a gallon. That's nineteen cents. And…
January 25, 2008
Bugmeal to replace fishmeal?
We know it's wasteful to grind up one-third of our wild caught fish into fishmeal to feed it to pigs, chickens, and fish. But hope for our tiny fish might lie in an unlikely source: bugs.
Apparently, a group of scientists and at least one entrepreneur is taking the need…