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Jan Newton

Senior Principal Oceanographer

Affiliate Professor, Oceanography

Email

janewton@uw.edu

Phone

206-543-9152

Biosketch

Dr. Jan Newton is a Senior Principal Oceanographer with the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington and an affiliate professor with the UW School of Oceanography and the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, both in the UW College of the Environment. She is the Executive Director of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), the US IOOS Regional Association for the Pacific Northwest. She is a Co-director of the Washington Ocean Acidification Center and the Co-chair of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network.

Jan is a biological oceanographer who has studied the physical, chemical, and biological dynamics of Puget Sound and coastal Washington, including understanding effects from climate and humans on water properties. Currently she has been working with colleagues at UW and NOAA to assess the status of ocean acidification in our local waters.

Department Affiliation

Ocean Physics

Education

B.S. Biology, Western Washington University, 1981

M.S. Oceanography, University of Washington - Seattle, 1984

Ph.D. Oceanography, University of Washington - Seattle, 1989

Projects

Washington Real-time Coastal Moorings (NEMO)

The Northwest Enhanced Moored Observatory (NEMO), which consists of a heavily-instrumented real-time surface mooring (Cha Ba), a real-time subsurface profiling mooring (NEMO-Subsurface) and a Seaglider to collect spatial information, aims to improve our understanding of complex physical, chemical and biological processes on the largely unsampled Washington shelf.

27 Sep 2011

NVS: NANOOS Visualization System

The NANOOS Visualization System (NVS) is your tool for easy access to data. NVS gathers data across a wide range of assets such as buoys, shore stations, and coastal land-based stations. Never before available downloads and visualizations are provided in a consistent format. You can access plots and data for almost all in-situ assets for the previous 30-day period.

2 Nov 2009

NANOOS: Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems

This Pacific Northwest regional association is a partnership of information producers and users allied to manage coastal ocean observing systems for the benefit of stakeholders and the public. NANOOS is creating customized information and tools for Washington, Oregon, and Northern California.

1 Jan 2004

More Projects

Videos

VOICES of NANOOS Celebrating 20 Years of Collaboration & Innovation

NANOOS has served the citizenry of the Pacific Northwest by integrating ocean observing assets, data management systems, and models to yield information products that diverse coastal communities use to ensure safety, to build economic resilience, and to increase understanding of the coastal ocean.

Reflecting on the history of NANOOS, we wanted to tell the story through all the people who make up NANOOS — partners and folks who use our products. Listen to their voices.

17 Aug 2023

Ocean Acidification: Co-designing data connections to underserved communities for equitable outcomes

A global collaborative team advances momentum around science-based innovative solutions related to global ocean action within the United Nation's sustainable development goals.

More Info

27 Jul 2022

The Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) program for Ocean Acidification Research and Sustainability (OARS) raises local voices, especially those of indigenous, small island, and developing states that depend on ocean-based economies for survival. Now over 900 scientists from 100 nations are co-designing activities for adaptation and response strategies on local scales to advance United Nations sustainability goals.
More: www.goa-on.org/oars/overview.php

Backyard Buoys: Equipping Underserved Communities with Ocean Intelligence Platforms

Backyard Buoys is a new community-led project funded by the National Science Foundation's Convergence Accelerator program. This critical initiative empowers Indigenous coastal communities to collect and use ocean data to bolster maritime activities, food security, and coastal hazard protection. Oceanographic buoys deployed in Alaska, the Pacific Islands, and along the Washington coast, will provide accessible and actionable ocean data that bridges to Indigenous knowledge via a web-based application. Post-deployment, a sustainable and Indigenous community-led stewardship program will oversee management of the buoys.

15 Jun 2022

More Videos

Publications

2000-present and while at APL-UW

Bathymetric profile and sediment composition of a dynamic subtidal bedform habitat for Pacific sand lance

Baker, M.R., and 7 others including J.A. Newton, "Bathymetric profile and sediment composition of a dynamic subtidal bedform habitat for Pacific sand lance," J. Mar. Sci. Eng., 13, doi:10.3390/jmse13081469, 2025.

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31 Jul 2025

The eastern North Pacific Ocean coastline (from the Salish Sea to the western Aleutian Islands) is highly glaciated with relic sediment deposits scattered throughout a highly contoured and variable bathymetry. Oceanographic conditions feature strong currents and tidal exchange. Sand wave fields are prominent features within these glaciated shorelines and provide critical habitat to sand lance (Ammodytes spp.). Despite an awareness of the importance of these benthic habitats, attributes related to their structure and characteristics remain undocumented. We explored the micro-bathymetric morphology of a subtidal sand wave field known to be a consistent habitat for sand lance. We calculated geomorphic attributes of the bedform habitat, analyzed sediment composition, and measured oceanographic properties of the associated water column. This feature has a streamlined teardrop form, tapered in the direction of the predominant tidal current. Consistent flow paths along the long axis contribute to well-defined and maintained bedform morphology and margin. Distinct patterns in amplitude and period of sand waves were documented. Strong tidal exchange has resulted in well-sorted medium-to-coarse-grained sediments with coarser sediments, including gravel and cobble, within wave troughs. Extensive mixing related to tidal currents results in a highly oxygenated water column, even to depths of 80 m. Our analysis provides unique insights into the physical characteristics that define high-quality habitat for these fish. Further work is needed to identify, enumerate, and map the presence and relative quality of these benthic habitats and to characterize the oceanographic properties that maintain these benthic habitats over time.

Building ocean acidification research and policy capacity in the wider Caribbean region: A case study for advancing regional resilience

Grabb, K.C., and 16 others including J. Newton, "Building ocean acidification research and policy capacity in the wider Caribbean region: A case study for advancing regional resilience," Front. Mar. Sci., 12, doi:10.3389/fmars.2025.1595911, 2025.

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8 Jun 2025

To meet scientific, policy, and community goals, there is a critical need to strengthen research capacity, increase monitoring, and inform adaptation and mitigation policies to enhance resilience against ocean acidification (OA) and associated multi-stressors in the Caribbean. In 2023, an OA Needs Based Assessment survey of ocean professionals was conducted, engaging 59 participants from across the wider Caribbean to evaluate regional challenges and opportunities in OA research and monitoring. To understand differences in OA research capacity related to training and funding, we divide the respondents into four groups: those that have received 1) training and funding, 2) training only, 3) funding only, and 4) neither training nor funding. Results indicate regional strengths include awareness of local oceanic conditions, access to nearshore sites, and strong social support networks in ocean research. Regional barriers include limited technical capacity and funding to conduct oceanographic research and monitoring, and in particular, carbonate measurements. The four training and funding groups vary significantly, suggesting that access to training and funding are important factors to increasing the amount of access that respondents have to different types of equipment, the number of different types of measurements they conduct, the number of different habitats they research, and the amount of experience they have conducting OA research. This study also demonstrates the community-led efforts to address local OA challenges by presenting a case study on the formation of the Global Ocean Acidification Network (GOA-ON) OA Caribbean Hub that was founded by local leaders (co-authors of this study) who were inspired through the survey process and engagement that was conducted by co-authors. This study provides examples of avenues and challenges to build OA capacity for research and monitoring from the ground up within the wider Caribbean to advance towards global sustainability goals.

Sensitivity of pteropod calcification to multi stressor variability in coastal habitats

Bednarsek, N., G. Pelletier, K. Kimoto, P. MacCready, T. Klinger, and J. Newton, "Sensitivity of pteropod calcification to multi stressor variability in coastal habitats," Mar. Environ. Res., 204, doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106868, 2025.

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1 Feb 2025

Comprehensive understanding of environmental multiple stressors on calcification in marine calcifiers remains an important topic of study, especially under ocean global change associated with multiple stressors. We explore the impact of multiple stressor on pteropod calcification in the southern Salish Sea (Washington, U.S.), a coastal estuarine system that exhibits a high degree of spatial and temporal variability in multiple environmental parameters across sampling locations. We hypothesized that such variability is associated with differences in pteropod calcification. Shell thickness and shell density across pteropod life history stages was compared with high-resolution outputs from a realistic model of regional circulation and biogeochemistry to explore how the mean and variability of multiple stressors (aragonite saturation state, temperature, food availability) influence calcification. We found that both the mean and variability in multiple stressors play a major role in calcification in pteropods, with a generalized linear model explaining more than 60% of the variance. We suggest two different modes of shell building: stable conditions of lower mean aragonite saturation state trigger the loss of shell thickness and density. In the more variable habitats, i.e., where the variability occurs over diel and seasonal scales, shell thickness increases at higher aragonite saturation state variability and greater food availability, which might partially compensate for the loss of shell density. This plastic response appears to be consistent across life stages and could represent a response mechanism that allows some compensatory calcification under less favourable conditions. However, compensation is very limited, as evident by lower shell growth resulting in shell sizes comparable to early life stages. These results substantially improve the understanding of the variability in multiple stressors on the calcification process under multiple stressors and provide a foundation for the development of two new proxies for calcification monitoring, and with implications for marine carbon dioxide removal strategies.

More Publications

In The News

Find info, tools and maps for outdoor rec and fishing in the PNW on the NANOOS website

Fox News 12 (KPTV Oregon)

In the wake of the massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake that set off tsunami warnings across the Pacific, Troy Tanner and Jan Newton joined Fox 12's Greg Nibler to share information about the NVS Tsunami Evacuation app.

31 Jul 2025

Increasingly acidic seas threaten oyster farming

The New York Times, Jim Robbins

Researchers and hatcheries are exploring new ways to protect shellfish in the Pacific Northwest, although Trump budget cuts may thwart their efforts. [photo: Ruth Fremson]

7 Jul 2025

UW Experts Offer Hot Takes on El Niño, Weather and Ocean Temperatures

UW News

FIve UW researchers comment on the current El Niño, its effect on weather in the Pacific Northwest, as well as on regional and global ocean temperature trends.

25 Oct 2023

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Acoustics Air-Sea Interaction & Remote Sensing Center for Environmental & Information Systems Center for Industrial & Medical Ultrasound Electronic & Photonic Systems Ocean Engineering Ocean Physics Polar Science Center
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