36 June 2010 and grow as well as fish from the same cohorts reared on formulated diets on our Tank Farm (Figure 8). The heart of the OHRC is the 1672 m2 building (Figure 9), with wet and dry labs, meeting rooms, research offices, water treatment facilities, and dormitory space. We can accommodate up to 24 visiting scientists living on site and working on a wide range of research projects. We have wireless connections outside the main building, and high speed Ethernet within the building. All water and electrical systems have alarms in the main building. Our resident staff of three professional ODFW personnel monitors and maintains the OHRC. We typically have resident volunteer hosts, student interns and temporary research assistants working at the OHRC, in addition to the visiting researchers and OSU faculty and students. Some Ongoing Research, Education and Outreach, and Operations Three ODFW staff members operate and manage the facility; Ryan Couture, Facility Manager, Joseph O’Neil, Assistant Manager and Joyce Mahr, Technician (Figure 10). There is an Advisory Committee of 15 members from watershed councils, federal, state and Tribal governments, scientists, representatives of commercial and recreational fishers, landowners, farming and logging interests and representatives from educational organizations who advise and assist the Senior Scientist. Regular meetings of the Committee are held quarterly and the agendas and minutes of our meetings are posted on the ODFW website.3 During our first year of operation, 2005 – 2006, we had to test all systems and operations at the OHRC. We had to test and verify all systems, including water supplies and drains, flows and water chemistry, electronics systems and ensure that we had uniform characteristics among tanks and replicate stream channels. We had to verify fish performance in tanks and replicate stream channels. We carried out all our testing and verification with wild and hatchery fish, from spawning behavior of adults to development, growth and survival of young fish. During our first year the OHRC received both state and national engineering awards for planning and construction, namely the ACEC Oregon Engineering Excellence 2006 Grand Award, and the Carl V. Andersen Conservation Project Award 2006 from the Association of Conservation Engineers. Education and Outreach The OHRC has education and outreach as an important part of our mandate. We assist undergraduate students with requirements for internships. We provide a facility and opportunity for graduate research at the M.S. and Ph.D. level. We provide a venue for professional development programs for staff from Oregon as well as nationally and internationally. We have an extensive education program with the Lincoln County School Board (Figure 11). The OHRC is also a focal point for the community (Figure 12). We host meetings of local service groups, the Alsea Watershed Council, ODFW and OSU workshops, and other local groups. In November 2007, we celebrated our first Fall Festival, and welcomed more Fig. 8. Juvenile steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss, reared on natural prey in stream channels. Fig. 9. OHRC main building, with tank farm in the foreground. Fig. 10. Assistant Manager Joseph O’Neil (left), Facility Manager Ryan Couture (center) and Technician Joyce Mahr (right) at the Oregon Hatchery Research Center.
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