Concurrent Sessions |
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Urban Waters Conference July 19-22, 2009 Educators from British Columbia, Oregon, Washington and Alaska coming together to share ideas, network, and learn the latest in conservation and research. |
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Monday 10:15 AM Back to Top
Title: Giving Voice to the World of Water PART 1
Name: Mariee Devereux
Organization: Stanley Park Ecology Society
Description: Want to help people young and old to feel connected to and inspired by the natural world? Join Mariee Devereux of Stanley Park Ecology Society, where she'll help you fuse your knowledge and experience of aquatic environments with interpretive theatre techniques.
As the former artistic director of Evergreen Theatre, a children's science-based theatre company in Calgary, Mariee will guide you through a series of activities that are sure to make you look at the natural world in a different way. Using well known stories, songs and pop culture references, you will learn to bridge the world of imagination with the real world of natural wonders. These are tried and tested techniques that Mariee has taught to hundreds of teachers and students to help them build original, curriculum-based science theatre shows. This workshop is open to everyone who has a passion for teaching and no former theatre experience is required!
Title: Enhance Learning in a Public Aquarium Setting
Name: Bill Hanshumaker
Organization: Public Marine Education Specialist; Hatfield Marine Science Center
Description: Enhance Learning in a Public Aquarium Setting Live animal exhibits in free-choice venues are very popular, but their educational content is generally limited to identification and other aspects of their natural history. Educational delivery venues are usually limited to static graphic and text panels. This presentation will highlight aquarium design research conducted at the Visitor Center of the Hatfield Marine Science Center (Newport, Oregon). Three aquarium design environments (static graphics, video loop, and interactive PIT tag scanner) were subjected to formative evaluation, measuring cognitive, affective and psychomotor participant outcomes. Summative evaluation was conducted for a measure of longer-term cognitive and affective outcomes.
Title: Marine Education Resources from NOAA Fisheries in the Northwest
Name: Deborah McArthur and Casey Ralston
Organization: NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Description: The America COMPETES Act of 2007 mandates NOAA to educate the public about ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and atmospheric science and stewardship. The Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers conduct the scientific research that helps manage and conserve marine resources. The Regional Office implements the policy and management. Together we are creating products to share our science and help educators understand the management of our marine resources. Our collaborative NOAA Fisheries Workshop will demonstrate the role of our Science Centers and Regional Office, and describe how we are developing curricula to help promote Ocean Literacy. We have also been working with Washington Sea Grant on the development of an online marine education website that we will highlight in the session. Each participant will receive a DVD with curricula, presentations and videos. Finally, we look forward to learning from the participants what their needs are and how we can best provide useful resources.
Title: Black Box No More: Using the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) Project to Track Marine Animals from Central California to Southcentral Alaska
Name: Jonathan Thar
Organization: POST
Description: From day-to-day, across our entire coastal population, humans generally have infrequent, acute encounters with ocean inhabitants, typically only from land or boat. Few have experienced the otherwise opaque environment that lies beneath the surface, and very few have been able to physically follow marine creatures as they cruise through the depths. The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) Project is "turning the lights on" through the broad-scale application of a technology called acoustic telemetry. Data gathered by POST's listening lines, stretched across a good chunk of North America's west coast, allow scientists to track marine animals making immense journeys, bettering our understanding of and ability to manage commercially and biologically important marine species.
Monday 11:15 AM Back to Top
Title: Giving Voice to the World of Water PART 2
Name: Mariee Devereux
Organization: Stanley Park Ecology Society
Description: Want to help people young and old to feel connected to and inspired by the natural world? Join Mariee Devereux of Stanley Park Ecology Society, where she'll help you fuse your knowledge and experience of aquatic environments with interpretive theatre techniques.
As the former artistic director of Evergreen Theatre, a children's science-based theatre company in Calgary, Mariee will guide you through a series of activities that are sure to make you look at the natural world in a different way. Using well known stories, songs and pop culture references, you will learn to bridge the world of imagination with the real world of natural wonders. These are tried and tested techniques that Mariee has taught to hundreds of teachers and students to help them build original, curriculum-based science theatre shows. This workshop is open to everyone who has a passion for teaching and no former theatre experience is required!
Title: Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest -- A Special Reference and More
Name: Andy Lamb
Organization: Cedar Beach Ocean Lodge
Description: The spectacular marine fauna of the Pacific Northwest contains a richness and diversity found nowhere else on the planet. As such, it offers important opportunities for education within the region. A vital first step is the identification of the organisms that will provide focus for study. Assigning a name to a creature is essential.
Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest by Andy Lamb and Bernard P. Hanby, Harbour Publishing, 2005, was created to enable people interested in this fauna to make an initial, definitive connection to over 1,400 species. This book covers virtually all the seaweeds, marine invertebrates and most saltwater fishes that NAME members would encounter and utilize in their programs. In addition to the vital species identification focus, the publication provides basic biological and ecological information for each organism.
Utilizing a DVD and a slide presentation, the authors will introduce themselves and provide background on the book's creation. Thirteen years in production, this full colour publication benefited from the assistance of and the critiquing from many well respected experts.
Like all 'hard copy' publications, Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest is a snap shot in time and subject to the vagaries of change. Re-prints and future editions can only address this issue periodically.
The authors (and publisher) believe technology can overcome this limitation via an electronic, online product -- essentially rendering the book itself, a 'living' entity. This presentation ultimately seeks input from participants concerning how best an online version can service NAME and its members.
Title: What Can We Learn From Buoys, Boats, Gliders and Satellites
Name: Amy Sprenger
Organization: Applied Physics Lab: University of Washington
Description: Learn how NANOOS (Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems) is working to provide regional coastal ocean and estuarine observing data for formal and informal education. Curricula, web tools and an interactive data exhibit using ocean observing data to increase understanding of PNW ocean will be demonstrated.
Title: Seaquaria in Schools-Remarkable Effects of Bringing the Ocean into Schools
Name: Joachim Carolsfeld and Cathy Carolsfeld
Organization: World Fisheries Trust
Description: "Seaquaria in Schools" is based on chilled, saltwater aquaria with local marine organisms, installed permanently in schools and cared for by students. For over ten years, the program has evolved slowly and now includes 25 participating schools in the Capital Regional District, White Rock, Nanaimo and Bowen Island. Programs using the aquaria, developed with and by teachers, are integrated into the curricula of a variety of subjects in elementary, middle and high schools. Aquaria in community centres, a nature house, a mobile aquarium unit and field activities with other NGO's complement the Seaquaria, helping to bridge the in-school and out-of-school environments. Observed impacts include improved overall learning and social environments in schools of all levels, direct improved delivery of up to 80% of prescribed learning outcomes at elementary and middle school levels, remarkable improved learning and social integration of students with learning disabilities (including autism), demonstrated impacts on career development and improved, informed respect for the environment and its responsible stewardship at both student and adult levels. Participating schools are also primed for improved effectiveness of other extra-curricular educational initiatives.
Tuesday 10:15 AM Back to Top
Title: Don't Be Afraid to Get your Students Muddy!
Name: Joy Tally
Organization: South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Description: Getting students out of the classroom can sometimes be full of risks, but a little mud and water never hurt anyone. South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve's education programs are focused on using the outdoors as a classroom and for experienced outdoors educators this is fabulous, but other educators are hesitant to venture beyond the walls of the classroom. This presentation will identify some of the barriers to getting students out in the field, address ways to overcome those barriers and provide resources and ideas for getting students outside. Recently research has been flooding books, magazines, websites, television, and parent groups about the importance of children spending time in nature and the many benefits students derive from exploring the natural world. This presentation will touch on the research and benefits of the naturalist intelligence and identify steps teachers can take to promote this important skill in students. The presentation will also talk about best practices while studying in the field. While there are many reasons not to take students out of the classroom, there are far more benefits to getting students out of the classroom.
Title: BC Cetacean Sightings Network: Outreach and Citizen Science Working Together to Foster Stewardship of Marine Mammals
Name: Caitlin Birdsall
Organization: Vancouver Aquarium, Cetacean Research Lab
Description: Citizen Science projects have a great ability to involve, excite, and empower coastal citizens in marine stewardship and conservation. By providing targeted outreach to mariners, coastal communities, and marine researchers, an immense amount of information can be gathered and a large audience reached for conservation messages. For the past ten years the BC Cetacean Sightings Network has enlisted volunteer observers from a variety of marine user groups to gather data on whale, dolphin, porpoise and sea turtle sightings. To date over 42,000 sightings have been collected that provide data for recovery planning, scientific research and habitat analysis. Over 1800 observers have reported to the Sightings Network, many consistently over the years. Furthermore, the Sightings Network provides outreach on these at-risk species, their threats and conservation actions that reduce human impact to further effect conservation of the marine environment and excite potential participants. In 2008 the Sightings Network reached nearly 24,000 people through its outreach efforts. This session will focus on the wealth of information that can be gathered from ‘citizen scientists’, the lessons learned over the past ten years on how to effectively gather data from citizen sources, and the importance of unified, educational outreach to citizen science and conservation projects.
Title: COSEE-Alaska: People, Oceans, and Climate Change
Name: Marilyn Sigman
Organization: COSEE-Alaska and Alaska Sea Grant/MAp, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Description: The theme of the newest Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) in Alaska is “people, oceans, and climate change.” Climate change is occurring in polar regions at an accelerated rate and immediate impacts are becoming evident from melting sea ice, melting glaciers, and coastal erosion. The project will link ocean climate scientists with K-12 teachers and students, non-formal educators, and the general public to communicate and increase understanding about the impacts of ocean climate change on ecosystems and people. Specific target audiences include community educators, educators at science centers and aquaria, and the thousands of cruise ship passengers who often visit a number of aquaria and science centers along their route. The project will also focus on impacts of ocean climate change on Alaska’s Native peoples and cultures and the traditional knowledge they can contribute to understanding and response. COSEE activities planned or underway include rural ocean science fairs, virtual field trips, a portal website, teacher workshops on the new online Alaska Seas and Rivers curriculum, and increased participation in regional and statewide marine science symposia. The presentation will highlight resources on ocean climate change available to marine and aquatic educators. Session participants will have the opportunity to join a regional SEANET network and talent bank hosted by COSEE Alaska. Climate change is global and what is happening in the ocean surrounding Alaska has global implications. COSEE Alaska will seek to catalyze communication among scientists, educators, and communities to address these implications..
Title: A Salmon’s Sky View
Name: Carol McDougall
Organization: Arbutus Global Middle School
Description: Participants will explore learning through the arts using the non-fiction, picture book, “A Salmon’s Sky View”. Using permanent ink and watercolours, students working with author/illustrator Carol McDougall have responded artistically to the life cycle of the salmon from the salmon’s perspective. The learning has been further extended through writing. Find out why teachers have viewed their learners as more engaged in their understanding of salmon and their habitats. Discover how to use this resource to compliment salmon incubation and other aquatic education programs.
Tuesday 11:15 AM Back to Top
Title: Will You Know It When You See It? What Makes Environmental Education Materials Good? (0.5MB PPT)
Name: Bora Simmons
Organization: National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education
Description: Looking for a resource that can help you develop quality environmental education materials? Well, look no further. The National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education (NPEEE), an initiative of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), has recently revised and reprinted Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence. The Materials Guidelines provide a set of recommendations to help developers of activity guides, lesson plans, and other instructional materials produce high quality products and to help educators evaluate the wide array of available environmental education materials.
The Materials Guidelines describe six, easy to use key characteristics of quality environmental education materials and offer a way of judging the relative merit of different materials, a standard to aim for in developing new materials, and a set of ideas about what a well-rounded environmental education curriculum might be like.
This presentation will introduce the Materials Guidelines and other publications in the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education series. Participants will receive a copy of the Materials Guidelines and learn how they can become involved in the development of a new set of guidelines focusing on early childhood environmental education.
Title: Changing Cultures, Recovering Sensitive Intertidal Areas
Name: Adam Lorio (Adam.Lorio@PARKS.WA.GOV)
Organization: Washington State Parks, Deception Pass
Description: Rosario Beach at Deception Pass State Park in Washington is a regionally famous area for visiting Rocky Tide Pools. Less than 2 hours from Seattle, it is essentially an urban park. The Park’s visitation is over 2 million people a year. Our Volunteer Naturalists talk with thousands of these visitors annually at Rosario. In May of 1995, over 1,200 students visited this 3 acre site on one low tide day, their impacts stripped the area to near bare rock.
Since then, we have been working to recover this sensitive ecosystem, while still maintaining public access. Today with a new intertidal trail system, and other educational tools, Rosario Beach is recovering and providing a model that we hope we can be used elswhere. Our goal is to inspire current and future stewardship and conservation of Pacific Northwest shores.
Using Rosario as a case study, my presentation will focus on a discussion of restoring sensitive marine environments using education as the primary tool. I will demonstrate the diversity of tools we use, from native stories to citizen science projects.
Through sharing our challenges and sucesses at Rosario Beach, I hope to help other marine educators take ideas home with them to conserve and restore their local special places.
Title: Salmon in the Northwest Hood– What are they and can they survive in our increasingly urbanized world and how do we explain all this to the public and our students?
Name: Orlay Johnson & Casey Ralston
Organization: Research Fisheries Biologist – Geneticist, NOAA, Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Description: The world of salmon is definitely not what most think it is! Many of us are familiar with the “Famous Five” species of savory, sea-going Pacific species: Chinook (king), coho (silver), chum (dog), pink (Humpy) and sockeye (red). However, not only has the genus been infiltrated by two blasphemous "trout" species (steelhead and cutthroat trout) but there are actually many other species and genera of salmonids all over the place. For example right here in the lower mainland and in Puget Sound we have char, including Dolly Vardon (named either after a character in a Charles Dickens’s novel and/or a prostitute), bull trout, and brook trout. There are even "true" salmon invading from the east coast (brown trout and Atlantic salmon), plus a bunch of grayling, not to mention whitefish, lenok, tamien (grow over 6 feet long), hucho, and sheefish. Wow…. and just wait till global warming allows ice free migrations along northern Canada.
So to keep you on top of things, here is a short primer on some of the common salmonids we might encounter in the North Pacific and a look at what kinds of niches these fish are adapted to, followed by a discussion on what can/should be done to sustain healthy salmonid populations in the increasing urbanized NW. We'll finish by demonstrating several teaching tools you can use to help your students understand these concepts, including a great map simulation and a perverted use of the commercially available EvnviroScape that can work for all ages, if you have the courage to use it with high school seniors.
Title: Caring, Conserving and Educating with Live Animals
Name: Jennie Kennedy, Scott Finestone and Wade Janzen
Organization: Vancouver Aquarium
Description: Demonstration of how we care for and use live animals both in the Vancouver Aquarium's Wet-Lab and out of the Vancouver Aquarium's AquaVan to educate students about these animals and deliver conservation messages. Attendees will have the opportunity to touch animals, help feed them, and learn about the programs the Wet-Lab and the AquaVan deliver to students. This presentation will focus on how educating with live animals offers a unique opportunity to encourage conservation of aquatic environments by students and other observers.
Wednesday 10:15 AM Back to Top
Title: Explore the Shore at Stanley Park - The Good, Bad, and the Ugly
Name: Sheila Byers
Organization: Nature Vancouver, Marine Biology Section
Description: Nature Vancouver is a non-profit society and registered charity that promotes the enjoyment, appreciation, conservation and study of nature through education. Nature Vancouver was founded in 1918 by Professor John Davidson with the following objectives: 1/ to promote the enjoyment of nature; 2/ to foster public interest and education in the appreciation and study of nature; 3/ to encourage the wise use and conservation of natural resources; 4/ to work for the complete protection of endangered species and ecosystems; 5/ to promote access to, and maintenance of, natural areas in the vicinity of Vancouver. As part of the 90th Anniversary celebrations of Nature Vancouver, the Marine Biology Section developed an educational pamphlet to illustrate intertidal marine life at a convenient and popular urban location in Stanley Park. The pamphlet is a colourful, introductory guide to 40 species of prominent invertebrates, seaweeds, fish and birds. Highlights of key-characteristics facilitate species identification and the pamphlet introduces the concepts of intertidal zonation, preferred habitats and predator/prey relationships. A section on 'Beach Manners, Please!' encourages and promotes public awareness for the protection, wise use and conservation of urban intertidal marine life and their habitat. The pamphlet is printed on durable, waterproof synthetic paper. The presentation focuses on the good, bad and the ugly aspects of intertidal exploration and pamphlets as an educational tool.
Title: Building Ocean Learning Communities In-Person and Online
Name: Susan Bullerdick, Tansy Clay, Amy Sprenger, Janice Mathisen
Organization: COSEE-Ocean Learning Communities
Description: Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence-Ocean Learning Communities (COSEE-OLC) cultivates and studies Ocean Learning Communities, interdisciplinary collaborations through which current ocean research is used to increase ocean literacy and help citizens to become better stewards of their marine environment. To make this happen, COSEE-OLC expands social networks (in-person and online) around ocean science by linking ocean scientists, formal and informal educators, learning scientists, interested citizens, organizations, and marine volunteers. Through these processes: marine educators and citizens learn about current ocean research; ocean scientists improve communication of their research; and learning scientists investigate how people learn and teach marine science.
The session will focus on the process of developing an “ocean learning community” within and beyond the Puget Sound region. And will include information on the partnerships involved; the methods used to connect marine educators, educators, scientists and citizens; and the lessons learned from evaluating the program's work. Examples of events and workshops will be provided to highlight the learning community process.
Title: Green Boating, Clean Marinas and Healthy Waters (46MB PPT) (1.5MB PDF)
Name: Mike Richards
Organization: Georgia Strait Alliance
Description: With almost half a million boats plying the Strait of Georgia and its adjoining waters, recreational boating is a major pathway for urban dwellers to connect with our precious waterways. Boating as an activity in itself can have significant impacts on marine and aquatic ecosystems, and educating boaters and marine businesses about their connections to these systems can help them become better environmental stewards and better boaters.
This presentation will focus on the successes and challenges of Georgia Strait Alliance's national award-winning Green Boating and Clean Marine BC Programs. It will highlight the changes that are occuring in BC's boating world as a direct result of these practical and pro-active programs conducted by a not-for-profit marine conservation organization whose staff, board and members include many boaters who are passionate about our precious marine ecosystem.
This session will facilitate the sharing of information and education materials focused on boating and marina issues in marine and aquatic environments.
Title: Salmon Education - Classroom and Field Experiences (1.3MB PDF)
Name: Ron Goertz
Organization: Alaska SeaLife Center
Description: Under an Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund grant, the Alaska SeaLife Center has developed several classroom programs and a field-based summer camp focused on the life and habitats of a fish so important to Alaska’s culture and economy: salmon. Classroom programs concerning stream health, hatchery vs wild-fish issues, and smoltification, all based on the portion of their lives that salmon spend in urban waters, will be introduced, and a field-based in-the-city summer day camp focused on stream health and salmon habitat will be reviewed. Programs similar to these can be used in different locations and be focused on endemic species.
Wednesday 11:15 AM Back to Top
Title: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wisdom: Implication for the Classroom
Name: Gloria Snively
Organization: University of Victoria
Description: Indigenous science relates to both the science knowledge of long-resident, usually oral culture peoples, as well as the science knowledge of all peoples who as participants in culture are affected by the worldview and practical interests of their home communities. This presentation explores aspects of cross-cultural science and pedagogy and describes a rich and well-documented branch of indigenous science known to biologists and ecologists as traditional ecological knowledge (TEK).
Disputes regarding the validity of TEK as science are of critical importance for science educators because the definition of science can be a defacto "gatekeeping" device for determining what can be included in a school science curriculum and what cannot. Thus, in most science classrooms around the globe, Western modern science has been taught at the expense of indigenous knowledge.
However, because WMS has been implicated in many of the world's ecological disasters, and because the traditional wisdom component of TEK is particularly rich in time-tested approaches that foster sustainability and environmental integrity, it is possible that the "gatekeeper" can be seen as increasingly problematic and even counter productive. This paper describes many examples from Canada and around the world of indigenous people's contributions to science, environmental understanding, and sustainability. Special attention will be given to BC examples of marine related traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom. The author argues the view that Western or modern science is just one of many sciences that need to be addressed in the science classroom.
Title: WOW - Washington on Water, NOAA Science Camp, Orca Bowl and more from Washington Sea Grant!
Name: Julie Hahn
Organization: Education Coordinator, Wasington Sea Grant, University of Washington
Description: Washington Sea Grant is a catalyst for marine research and innovative outreach and education. The program is based at the University of Washington and is part of a national network of 30 Sea Grant colleges administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Encouraging new generations of marine scientists, policymakers, and educators is a core endeavor.
WSG Edcuation provides college fellowships and internships and supports initiatives for K-12 programs, including Orca Bowl, NOAA Science Camp and the establishment of a regional marine education resoures database on the WSG website.
The presentation will feature opportunity for participants to try out "WOW" - our new - "Washington on Water" website and possibly try their hand answering marine science questions in a mock Ocean Science Bowl competition!
Title: A Fish by Any Other Name: Case Study of a Community-Driven Education Program
Name: Don Lowen, Bev Bowler, Neil Brookes
Organization: Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Description: The Pacific Region of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has supported the Stream to Sea environmental education program for the past 30 years, Under the umbrella of the Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP),– the program’s mission is to “help create aquatic stewards.
Stream to Sea taks a holistic, multi-faceted approach to understanding the west coast ecosystem.
DFO’s Stream to Sea offers educators a suite of knowledge-based and stewardship activities, in and out of the classroom, with a focus on the Pacific Salmon, and with the intent of creating aquatic stewards.
In this workshop presenters will demonstrate:
How a “hands on” classroom project fuels interest in other stewardship activities, if the project is fun, effective and garners community support.
How coordination strategies differ according to a community’s population and resources.
How the client-driven approach serves the development of an aquatic stewardship ethic among young citizens of BC and the Yukon.
Environmental educators along the western shores of North America operate in a variety of geographical, logistical and jurisdictional settings. This workshop is an opportunity for participants to discuss ways of achieving our collective goals by working with the setting, not in spite of it. Presenters believe that every community has the resources to develop aquatic stewards, and that a flexible, client-driven approach to Program support provides the “buy-in” to ensure the potential of this collective effort.
Title: Waste Watchers
Name: Megan McEwan & Gord Green
Organization: Vancouver Aquarium and Royal BC Museum
Description: Waste Watchers is a new school program being offered at the Vancouver Aquarium for grades 4-7. The program focuses on water pollution, both visible and invisible as well as pollution sources, environmental impacts and conservation efforts.
During the program, participants will view a PowerPoint presentation on marine debris, discuss the dangers of single-use plastics, view movie clips and take part in a food chain activity. A portion of our time will also be devoted to a discussion of current issues related to the topic and feedback on the program itself.
The goal of the program is to provide accurate information on the state of our oceans and waterways as well as to create awareness within the general public of how we are contributing to this growing problem and how we can reduce our impact.
A recent study done by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation states that plankton, tiny plants and animals that form the basis of the food chain, are being outnumbered by plastics 6:1 in the Central North Pacific. The consequences of this human impact are proving devastating to all types of marine inhabitants. Every year, 100,000 marine mammal deaths occur due to contact with discarded plastics.
Providing program participants with these facts is essential in order for them to understand the lasting effects are actions have on the environment.