Naturalist Marty Giles of Coos Bay, March 8

What could be a more relevant topic for a conference about the shoreline than “Sand”? The tenth annual Sharing the Coast Conference is coming up March 8-10 at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (2030 S.E. Marine Science Dr.) in the South Beach area of Newport.  The event will feature speakers, panels, and field trips, all designed to provide a wealth of knowledge about coastal science and natural history.  The conference is jointly sponsored by the CoastWatch program of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, and the Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators (NAME). Every year the conference kicks off with a “Community Talk” on Friday evening, free and open to the community, not just conference-goers.  (Sharing the Coast takes place in a different city each year; the Community Talk is a way of giving back to the host community.)  The event takes place on Friday, March 8, 7 p.m. in the Hennings Auditorium at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC). This year’s opening night speaker is coastal naturalist extraordinaire Marty Giles, who will focus the audience’s vision on the substance that ties it all together.  Her talk, “All About Sand,” will describe what sand is, where it comes from, what it does on the beach, who lives with it, and where it goes when it’s done.  Once Giles has conducted her virtual tour, her audience members will never look at a beach the same way again. Marty Giles has been interpreting the Oregon coast for residents and visitors for more than four decades.  She has been a naturalist for a variety of agencies, including Oregon State Parks, Oregon State University Extension/Sea Grant, and South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.  She holds a Master’s degree in Recreation Resources Development from Texas A&M University, specializing in Environmental Interpretation. Those years of education and professional experience are now applied to Giles’ interpretive nature guiding service, Wavecrest Discoveries, based in Coos Bay, which specializes in customized, “mind-refreshing” explorations of Oregon’s southern coast that reconnect people with nature. Doors open at 6:30.  There is no charge to community members, although those deciding to attend the remainder of the conference can register that evening. The conference itself begins at 9 a.m. (doors open at 8:30) on Saturday, March 9, also at the HMSC.  Talks on Saturday cover such topics as marine mammals, seabirds, natural materials found on the shoreline while beachcombing, invasive species, and marine debris.  Sunday, March 10, is the day for field trips to various locations. For more information about the conference and the featured speakers, go to https://oregonshores.org/coastwatch.