Island Receives Alliance Grant For Northwest Sea Otter Survey

Pacific University Professor of Psychology Heide Island has been awarded a $12,000 grant that will aid efforts to reintroduce sea otters to the Oregon Coast.

Island received the grant from The Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Katherine Bisbee II Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation.

The award funds Island’s research project, “Oregon’s Scientific Readiness for Sea Otter Reintroduction Through The 2026 Washington Sea Otter Census,” a collaborative effort between Pacific University, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Seattle Aquarium, and will include research opportunities for three Pacific undergraduate students.

The study continues a long-standing survey of sea otters along the Washington coast, which was paused in 2025 due to federal budget cuts. The study provides critical data on the populations most likely to support the reintroduction of sea otters on the Oregon Coast. The species was hunted to extinction in the state thanks to the fur trade, with the last known Oregon sea otter shot in 1906.

“This project will help ensure the success of sea otter reintroduction, monitoring, and management, and reinforce the state’s position as a collaborative leader in science-based, community-centered ecological conservation,” Island said.

The project will further train Island and Brittany Blades, curator of marine mammals at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, in field census methods to aid in the development of a standardized monitoring manual for Oregon’s future sea otter reintroduction.

A member of the Pacific faculty since 2005, Island is an otter researcher (both river and sea otters) and an expert in otter behavior. She was named to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Otter Specialist Group in February 2025. She teaches classes in a variety of psychological topics, including introductory psychology, clinical and behavioral neuroscience, and animal behavior.

Island’s research into otters included a five-year study on foraging behavior among North American river otters on Whidbey Island, Washington, which provided research opportunities for Pacific undergraduate students. Her book on what the world can learn through otters, Romp! A Journey Through The Natural History Of Otters And Why They Matter, will be published by Tarcher Publishing in 2026.

Island earned bachelor’s degrees from Washington State University and the University of Alaska Southeast. She also holds a master’s degree in biological psychology and a doctorate in comparative animal behavior and experimental psychology from the University of Montana.