College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records, 1943-2008

Title: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records, 1943-2008

ID: RG 173

Primary Creator: Oregon State University. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences

Extent: 7.66 cubic feet

Arrangement: Organized into two subgroups: 1. Dean's Office; and 2. Ship Operations.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

In the processed portion of the collection, Subgroup 1 documents the administration of the college and its research vessels in the 1960s and 1970s. Records include program proposals, reports, 5 year plans, correspondence and dedication materials pertaining to the college's research vessels, and materials pertaining to other oceanographic research organizations. Subgroup 2 documents the operations of the research vessels Yaquina and Cayuse. It includes deck log books and cruise reports from 1964-1979, and ship operations grant records from 1960-1967.

An addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (Accession 2000:001) consists of an email from 2000 which was sent to various deans, directors, and department chairs for nominations for the Carl Schumacher Awards in Marine Sciences.

A second addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (Accession 2001:001) consists of an announcement from 2001 which was sent to various deans, directors, and department chairs regarding nomination criteria nominations for the Carl Schumacher Awards in Marine Sciences.

An third addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (Accession 2002:083) consists of records generated by the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences pertaining to the Pattullo Study Exchange Program and the management of the College's records in connection with the University Archives. Consisting primarily of correspondence, memoranda, and mailing lists, the materials relating to the Pattullo Program document the origins of the program as well as the interaction between OSU and other research facilities and universities involved in the exchange program. Originating in 1964 with the decision to collect and publish a volume of reprints from faculty in the School of Oceanography, the program quickly evolved into a service in which the school traded the annually published collections of faculty reprints with research publications from other universities and institutes. Also reflected in these records is the global reach of this program, with requests for publications from countries in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. June Grace Pattullo, for whom the program is named, served as a Professor in the School of Oceanography from 1960 to 1972.

A fourth addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (Accession 2004:097) consists of a packet of photocopied readings and notes for the course Ecology of Marine Zooplankton (Oceanography 442) assembled by COAS Professor Charles B. Miller.

A fifth addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS) Records (Accession 2006:001) consists of two reports generated for COAS. The first is the COAS 2022 annual report and the other is "Mapping a Path to Sustainable Utilization of Bay Clam Resources in Oregon's 21st Century Estuaries" by Gil Sylvia.

A sixth addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (Accession 2008:001) consists of three publications generated by the Oregon Estuarine Research Council that are made up of a newsletter, a list of research equipment and facilities available to the council, and a list of reprints / reference works in the council's library. At the time that these were published, the council's executive office is listed as being in the School of Oceanography.

A seventh addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (Accession 2009:001) consists of a packet containing publications, a map, a schedule of events, and notecards distributed at the 50th anniversary celebration for the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences in July 2009. Among the items included in the packet is a booklet detailing the history of COAS, year by year.

A eigth addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (Accession 2009:040) is made up of copies of the OSU School of Oceanography "Exposure" Newsletter, which highlight developments in ocean technology research.

A ninth addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (Accession 2012:043) consists of deck logs, night orders logs, and cruise reports for research vessels Wecoma, Paiute and Sacajawea. Recorded daily, the log entries document a variety of information, including: weather, distance traveled, crew members on watch, fuel consumed and on hand, location, the researchers aboard, research objectives, tide levels, equipment status, radio calls sent, and accounts charged for the use of the vessel. Also found among these records is a sound recording identified as a presentation by Dennis Nixon on marine liability and research vessel maintenance (this item is on cassette).

A tenth addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science Records (Accession 2012:089) consists of data collected by the University of Washington sent to Oceanography Professor Wayne Burt. Documenting ocean water samples taken from various locations off the Oregon coast, the data are entered on "oceanographic station summary sheets" that record the temperature salinity, density, oxygen level, and phosphate level of the samples at different depths.

A eleventh addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science Records (Accession 2013:006) consists of materials generated and collected by the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences and is made up of an account ledger, brochures, correspondence, handbooks, historical essays, newspaper clippings, reports, statistical data, and studies. Among the subjects covered in these records include: the construction of Burt Hall, the change of the Oceanography program from a department to a school, site development planning for the Hatfield Science Marine Center, long range planning, the "Elakha" Research Vessel, an inspection of COAS by the National Science Foundation, the OSU-IBM high performance computing initiative, and the history of the OSU Oceanography program.

A twelfth addition to the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science Records (Accession 2013:088) is made up of materials generated and collected by the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences that document oceanography at OSU and is made up of a cd, correspondence, event programs, a floppy disk, newsletters, newspaper clippings, publications, reports, and staff lists. The bulk of this transfer is made up of publications with features about oceanographic research and faculty. The cd contains PDF files of the "Highlights" publication and the disk consists of files for notebook compiled on the history of the College of Oceanography. Among the historical events reflected in these records include: the presentation of the paper "Oceanography: The Making of a Science-the Oregon State Story" at the 2000 Office Naval Research colloquium in Seatlle and the 1987 dedication of the Oceanography Building as Burt Hall. The event programs pertain to the OSU Salmon Bowl high school ocean sciences quiz competition.

The publications were issued in 1956-2002 and include reports, collected reprints, general brochures, monographs, the Streamlines newsletter, and a history of the first 20 years (1954-1978) of oceanography at OSU written in 1998.  The reports include progress reports of department research activities for 3- or 6-month periods; a progress report for a 4-year project on ecological studies of radioactivity in the Columbia River estuary and adjacent Pacific Ocean; data reports with surface temperatures and salinity at shore stations for 1960-197 and  hydrographic data for Oregon coastal waters; a compilation of observations from moored current meters and thermographs; and technical reports with preliminary design and construction information for the Acona research vessel and a summary of a cruise by the Yaquina to the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.  The collected reprints consist of annual compilations for 1956-1978 of reprints of journal publications by oceanography faculty.  This component of the publications is in paper and on microfiche; security copies of the microfilm are housed separately.  The publications include brochures describing the College’s academic, research, and extension programs, several histories of oceanography in Oregon and at Oregon State, and a 1987 bibliography of publications and theses.    The publications also include issues of the College’s newsletter, Streamlines, for 1995-2002.

OSU's oceanography program began in 1954 with a small research grant from the Office of Naval Research. It was established as a department in 1959 to fulfill the need for trained oceanographers and basic oceanographic research in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. The department became the School of Oceanography in 1972 and the College of Oceanography in 1983. When the Atmospheric Sciences Department was transferred to the college in 1993, Oceanography was renamed the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences.

The college's first research vessel, the Yaquina, the Wecoma. The college's coastal research facility, the Hatfield Marine Science Center, opened in 1965.

Related Materials: Other oceanography and marine resource records are available in the Sea Grant College Program Records (RG 201) and Hatfield Marine Science Center Records (RG 194). The Department of Atmospheric Sciences Records (RG 167) document that department before its incorporation into the College of Oceanography. Photographs are in the School of Oceanography Photographs (P 203). Publications held by the Special Collections and Archives Research Center include many series published by the College.

Preferred Citation: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (RG 173), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Other URL: A preliminary container list was created for this collection on or before January 12, 2016.

Oregon State University. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences

Cayuse (Ship)
History of Science
Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling
Natural Resources
Oceanographic research ships--Oregon.
Oceanography--Research--Oregon.
Oregon State University. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences
University History
Wecoma (Ship)
Yaquina (Ship)

Born digital.