Explore the range of publications by and about COASST, from peer-reviewed papers that rely on COASST data, to regional field guides for identification of beached birds, to articles and books about citizen science.

COASST Authored Scientific Publications

The COASST team, working with many collaborators, translates data and our experiences into stories for our science, resource management and citizen science peers via peer-reviewed literature. If you don’t have access to the journals or would prefer a more ‘reader friendly’ format (ie. less jargon, more story) visit the Science Updates section on our Cool COASSTal Stories page to read another version of our latest publications.

Boundary spanners: a critical role for enduring collaborations

between Indigenous communities and mainstream scientists

Marco B. A. Hatch, Julia K. Parrish, Selina S. Heppell, Skye Augustine, Larry Campbell, Lauren M. Divine, Jamie Donatuto, Amy S. Groesbeck, Nicole F. Smith. March 2023. Ecology and Society. doi.org/10.5751/ES-13887-280141

Using long-term citizen science data to distinguish zones of debris accumulation

Kathryn A. Willis, Timothy Jones, Rachel Cohen, Hillary Burgess, Jackie Lindsey, Julia Parrish. September 2022. Marine Pollution Bulletin. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114028

Using beached bird data to assess seabird oiling susceptibility

Jazzmine K. Waugh, Timothy Jones, Julia K. Parrish. March 2022. Marine Pollution Bulletin. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113437

Long-term patterns of mass stranding of the colonial cnidarian Velella velella

influence of environmental forcing

Timothy T. Jones, Julia K. Parrish, Hillary K. Burgess. March 2021. Marine Ecology Progress Series. doi.org/10.3354/meps13644

Archived Publications

Shapeshifting attachment

Exploring multi‐dimensional people–place bonds in place‐based citizen science

Benjamin K. Haywood, Julia K. Parrish, Yurong He. 2021. People and Nature. doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10174

Examining influences on observed counts from shoreline surveys of marine debris

A report for the NOAA Marine Debris Program

Hillary K. Burgess, Timothy T. Jones, Jacqueline K. Lindsey, and Julia K. Parrish. June 2020. Report.

Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres

resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016

John F. Piatt, Julia K. Parrish, Heather M. Renner, Sarah K. Schoen, Timothy T. Jones, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Kathy J. Kuletz, Barbara Bodenstein, Marisol García-Reyes, Rebecca S. Duerr, Robin M. Corcoran, Robb S. A. Kaler, Gerard J. McChesney, Richard T. Golightly, Heather A. Coletti, Robert M. Suryan, Hillary K. Burgess, Jackie Lindsey, Kirsten Lindquist, Peter M. Warzybok, Jaime Jahncke, Jan Roletto, William J. Sydeman. 2020. PLoS One. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226087

Hoping for optimality or designing for inclusion:

Persistence, learning, and the social network of citizen science.

Julia Parrish, Timothy Jones, Hillary Burgess, Yurong He, Lucy Fortson, Darlene Cavalier. 2019. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1807186115

Unusual Mortality of Tufted puffins

(Fratercula cirrhata) in the eastern Bering Sea.

Timothy Jones, Lauren Divine, Heather Renner, Susan Knowles, Kathi Lefebvre, Hillary Burgess, Charlie Wright, Julia Parrish. 2019. PloS ONE. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216532

Exposing the Science in Citizen Science:

Fitness to Purpose and Intentional Design

Julia Parrish, Hillary Burgess, Jake Weltzin, Lucy Fortson, Andrea Wiggins, Brooke Simmons. 2018. Integrative and Comparative Biology. doi.org/10.1093/icb/icy032

Massive mortality of a planktivorous seabird

in response to a marine heatwave

Timothy Jones, Julia Parrish, William Peterson, Eric Bjorkstedt, Nicholas Bond, Lisa Ballance, Victoria Bowes, Mark Hipfner, Hillary Burgess, Jane Dolliver, Kirsten Lindquist, Jacqueline Lindsey, Hannahrose Nevins, Roxanne Robertson, Jan Roletto, Laurie Wilson, Trevor Joyce, James Harvey. 2018. Geophysical Research Letters. doi/abs/10.1002/2017GL076164

Mass mortality of marine birds in the Northeast Pacific

caused by Akashiwo sanguinea

Timothy Jones, Julia Parrish, Andre Punt, Vera Trainer, Raphael Kudela, Jennifer Lang, Mary Sue Brancato, Anthony Odell, Barbara Hickey. 2017. Marine Ecology Progress Series. doi.org/10.3354/meps12253

The science of citizen science:

Exploring barriers to use as a primary research tool

Hillary Burgess, Lauren DeBey, Halley Froehlich, Natalie Schmidt, Elinore Theobald, Ailene Ettinger, Janneke HilleRisLambers, Joshua Tewksbury, Julia Parrish. 2017. Biological Conservation. doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.014

Defining the baseline and tracking change in seabird populations:

The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team

Julia Parrish, Kate Litle, Jane Dolliver, Todd Hass, Hillary Burgess, Erika Frost, Charlie Wright, Timothy Jones. 2017. In: Citizen Science for Coastal and Marine Conservation. Edited by John Cigliano and Heidi Ballard. Routledge Press.

Distinguishing offshore bird hunting from beach scavenging in archaeological contexts:

The value of modern beach surveys.

Kristine Bovy, Jessica Watson, Jane Dolliver, Julia Parrish. 2016. Journal of Archaeological Science. doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.04.006

Place-based and data-rich citizen science as a precurser for conservation action.

Benjamin Haywood, Julia Parrish, Jane Dolliver. 2016. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12702

Investing in citizen science

can improve natural resource management and environmental protection

Duncan McKinley, Abe Miller-Rushing, Heidi Ballard, Rick Bonney, Hutch Brown, Daniel Evans, Rebecca French, Julia Parrish, Tina Phillips, Sean Ryan, Lea Shanley, Jennifer Shirk, Kristine Stepenuck, Jake Weltzin, Andrea Wiggins, Owen Boyle, Russell Briggs, Stuart Chapin III, David Hewitt, Peter Preuss, Michael Soukup. 2015. Issues in Ecology.

Global change and local solutions:

Tapping the unrealized potential of citizen science for biodiversity research. Biological Conservation

Elinore Theobald, Ailene Ettinger, Hillary Burgess, Lauren DeBey, Natalie Schmidt, Halley Froehlich, Cherie Wagner, Janneke HilleRisLambers, Joshua Tewksbury, Melanie Harsch. 2015. Biological Conservation. doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.10.021

Next steps for citizen science

Rick Bonney, Jennifer Shirk, Tina Phillips, Andrea Wiggins, Heidi Ballard, Abraham Miller-Rushing, Julia Parrish. 2014. Science. doi.org/10.1126/science.1251554

Bycatch and Beached Birds:

Assessing mortality impacts in coastal net fisheries using marine bird strandings

Nathalie Hamel, Alan Burger, Kristin Charleton, Peter Davidson, Sandi Lee, Douglas Bertram, Julia Parrish. 2009. Marine Ornithology.

Entanglements of marine mammals and seabirds

in central California and the north-west coast of the United States

Emma Moore, Shannon Lyday, Jan Roletto, Kate Litle, Julia Parrish, Hannah Nevins, Jim Harvey, Joe Mortenson, Denise Greig, Melanie Piazza, Alison Hermance, Derek Lee, Dawn Adams, Sarah Allen, Shelagh Kell. 2009. Marine Pollution Bulletin. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.02.006

The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team

citizens monitoring coastal environmental health in Alaska

Kate Litle, Julia Parrish, Jane Dolliver. 2007. In: Community-Based Coastal Observing in Alaska: Aleutian Life Forum 2006. Edited by Reid Brewer. Alaska Sea Grant College Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Beached birds and physical forcing in the California Current System

Julia Parrish, Nicholas Bond, Hanna Nevins, Nathan Mantua, Robert Loeffel, William Pterson, James Harvey. 2007. Marine Ecology Progress Series. doi.org/10.3354/meps07077


Beached Bird Guides

COASST designed and published a field guide for identification of beached birds. Copies of these guides can be purchased directly from COASST. Contact us for more information.


Contact Us

Publications Featuring COASST

COASST data has been used in reports and publications by resource management agencies and other researchers. Additionally, the COASST program has been a subject of study on personal aspects of citizen science such as learning and sense of place.

  • Hiding in Plain Sight: Secondary Analysis of Data Records as a Method for Learning about Citizen Science Projects and Volunteers’ Skills. Peterman et al 2022. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice.7(1), p.35. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.476
  • Alaska Marine Ecosystem Status Reports: Eastern Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands
  • Keeping Pace with Marine Heatwaves. Holbrook, N. 2020. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 1: 482–493. doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0068-4
  • Ecosystem Status Report of the California Current for 2019–20: A Summary of Ecosystem Indicators Compiled by the California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment Team (CCIEA). 2020. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NWFSC-160.
  • Status review of the marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in Oregon and evaluation of criteria to reclassify the species from threatened to endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act. 2017. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Salem, Oregon.
  • Periodic status reviews for the Green and Loggerhead Sea Turtles in Washington. Chris Sato. 2017. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington.
  • Beyond Data Points and Research Contributions: The Personal Meaning and Value Associated with Public Participation in Scientific Research. Benjamin Haywood. 2016. International Journal of Science Education.
  • Common Murre Update: Growing Awareness of Sea Bird Die-off Thanks to Citizen Reporting. Alaska Fish & Wildlife News. April 2016.
  • Community-Based Monitoring and Indigenous Knowledge in a Changing Arctic: A Review for the Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks. Noor Johnson, Carolina Behe, Finn Danielsen, Eva-Maria Krummel, Scot Nickels, Peter Pulsifer. Final report to Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks. Inuit Circumpolar Council. 2016.
  • Washington state status report for the Tufted Puffin. Thor Hanson and Gary Wiles. 2015. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington.
  • A COASSTal Sense of Place: Birds, Beaches, and Relationships between People and Place in the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team. Benjamin Haywood. 2014.
  • State of the California Current Report. Years 2015 – present. NOAA.
  • Global human impacts or climate change? Explaining the Sooty Shearwater decline at the Minard site, Washington State, USA. Kristine Bovy. 2007. Journal of Archaeological Science.

Books Featuring COASST

Strand: An Odyssey of Pacific Ocean Debris

Bonnie Hendersen, Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press, 2008.

The Wild Edge: Freedom to Roam the Pacific Coast

Florian Schulz, Seattle, WA: Mountaineer Books, 2015