QRC members lead and participate in a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects from the study of past earth climates and glaciations to shifts in the geographic distributions and evolution of vegetation and faunal communities, to the evolution and dispersals of the genus Homo and the increasing scales of human modification of earth environments through the Holocene. QRC provides a venue for meeting and collaborating with scholars across Quaternary disciplines. We are also fortunate to be able to provide seed funding and small grants for member research projects. We are especially happy to support grad student and junior scholar research activities, much of which leads to larger, external funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation.
1 project in Conservation PaleobiologyAll Projects
Application of the emerging field of Conservation Paleobiology to uncover baselines for Olympia oyster restoration
Abstract: Successful restoration and management of valuable resources like the native Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) depend on our understanding of their past. Historical baselines are fundamental to inform and monitor restoration efforts, and to interpret long-term changes in marine ecosystems. The validity and reliability of historical baselines can be compromised, however, if the ecosystem has already been degraded and/or modified by anthropogenic activities. In Washington state, restoration of native Olympia oysters is limited by shifting baselines and the lack of information of Olympia oyster populations before they collapsed in the late 1800s due to over-exploitation and pollution. While we can never return to the environmental setting in which this species once thrived, understanding the past habitat can guide current restoration efforts and help predict responses to future environmental change.
Conservation Paleobiology is an emerging multidisciplinary field that aims to use recent fossil and archeological records to develop historical baselines and support conservation and restoration strategies. For this project, I will compile information from historical assemblages (Holocene fossils and shells from archeological middens) to increase our understanding on what healthy oyster beds looked like in the past. Preserved oyster beds can help us learn about species diversity in a community, biotic interactions, and habitat provision to other organisms. Furthermore, important metrics for oyster restoration such as reef height, oyster density per m2 and size frequency distributions can also be quantified from preserved oyster beds. At the individual level, oyster shells function as archives of proxies such as water temperature and salinity at the time organisms were alive and depositing their shells. These proxies can be quantified through d18O, Ba-Ca isotope ratios and radiocarbon dating. Better integration of historical baselines and ecological studies, together with increased collaboration between paleobiologists, archeologists, geochemists, ecologists and restoration managers and practitioners will help improve the planning, design and implementation of conservation and restoration efforts for Olympia oysters in Washington and the US west coast.
Abstract: Successful restoration and management of valuable resources like the native Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) depend on our understanding of their past. Historical baselines are fundamental to inform and monitor restoration efforts, and to interpret long-term changes in marine ecosystems. The validity and reliability of historical baselines can be compromised, however, if the ecosystem has already been degraded and/or modified by anthropogenic activities. In Washington state, restoration of native Olympia oysters is limited by shifting baselines and the lack of information of Olympia oyster populations before they collapsed in the late 1800s due to over-exploitation and pollution. While we can never return to the environmental setting in which this species once thrived, understanding the past habitat can guide current restoration efforts and help predict responses to future environmental change. 
Conservation Paleobiology is an emerging multidisciplinary field that aims to use recent fossil and archeological records to develop historical baselines and support conservation and restoration strategies. For this project, I will compile information from historical assemblages (Holocene fossils and shells from archeological middens) to increase our understanding on what healthy oyster beds looked like in the past. Preserved oyster beds can help us learn about species diversity in a community, biotic interactions, and habitat provision to other organisms. Furthermore, important metrics for oyster restoration such as reef height, oyster density per m2 and size frequency distributions can also be quantified from preserved oyster beds. At the individual level, oyster shells function as archives of proxies such as water temperature and salinity at the time organisms were alive and depositing their shells. These proxies can be quantified through d18O, Ba-Ca isotope ratios and radiocarbon dating. Better integration of historical baselines and ecological studies, together with increased collaboration between paleobiologists, archeologists, geochemists, ecologists and restoration managers and practitioners will help improve the planning, design and implementation of conservation and restoration efforts for Olympia oysters in Washington and the US west coast.