President's Address
Dear NYSMEANS,
I hope that you will consider joining us at our national conference, of the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA), which will take place from June 29 - July 3, 2011 in Boston, MA. The NMEA conference is always a great event. Many of you attended the 2006 conference, which we hosted here in New York!
 | Join fellow NYSMEA members at the NMEA conference in Boston, MA,
June 29 - July 3, 2011 |
This year, there will be field trips, including whale watching on Stellwagen Bank, lectures from prominent scientists and authors, and workshops from fellow marine educators from across the country. The NMEA conference is a great opportunity for networking. You will meet wonderful people and get powerful ideas. Since the conference is in Boston, it is a great opportunity to go for a relatively reasonable price- I guarantee you won't regret it!
Whether you can attend NMEA or not, we hope to see you at our Annual Conference on June 4th at Kingsborough Community College. We have an action packed and fun filled day planned, so mark your calendars and keep your eye out for registration information!
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Wet study in trash: Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup
By Jennifer Wettlaufer
For a few hours on a designated Saturday each September, volunteers in wet sneakers, scuba gear, or little boats scour coasts around the planet, scooping up food containers, chunks of toys, and medical supplies. Excited kids on the beach hop up and down as they offer pieces of rope or sand-filled straws to their grownups. Volunteers, in groups or solo, stash ugly treasures in plastic bags, recording their finds on damp tally sheets. Everything from helium balloons to cigar tips earn marks in categories. The data gets gathered and floats along the information stream, via Ocean Conservancy, to environmental policymakers, citizens, and even packaging designers, all wanting to do something about the debris that finds its way into waterways and oceans.  | | Volunteers scour rocks at Erie Basin Marina, Buffalo, NY |
The International Coastal Cleanup has grown to include 152 countries, from Barbados to Bulgaria and Brazil, and nine million volunteers. Besides people on ocean coasts, local populations near streams, rivers, and lakes have contributed their own cleanup efforts to the international day of reading the waves. The web site http://www.oceanconservancy.org offers a wealth of stories, from policy changes to factoids and weird finds. The site shares ways to participate, and connects the dreams of people from all over the world who step up to take care of the oceans, especially on a Saturday in September. Jennifer Wettlaufer is a science and nature writer, and volunteer eco-tour guide with Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper.
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Ritter Wins SCONYC Award
By Lou Siegel
Gene Ritter received the Science Council of New York (SCONYC) Presidental Award from NYSMEA at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan on April 2nd for his contributions to educating teachers and students alike about the local marine environment.  | | Gene Ritter receives the SCONYC Presidential Award from SCONYC President Ellen Mandel |
Gene is a professional diver, founder of the Cultural Research Divers and a developer of the Classroom on the Pier Program which takes classes down for a live look at the organisms below the Steeplechase pier in Coney Island. NYSMEA members ,might remember the several presentations and demonstrations which Gene's group has given at our conferences and at the NMEA conference in 2006. Several NYSMEA members attended the SCONYC Conference including board member Lou Siegel who was Gene's Marine Biology teacher in the 1970's.
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NSF Noyce-NYSMEA Science Symposium was a Big Success
By Lou Siegel
About 270 students participated in the Annual NSF Noyce - NYSMEA Science Symposium at Dowling
college. In addition to the students presenting their projects to be judged by over 65 volunteer judges all of the students attended from one to four workshops from a selection of 18. Many of the presenters were NYSMEA members.
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Lenny Speregen, a workshop presenter,
with a student trying on a diving helmet
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 | | Students present their projects to volunteer judges at the Symposium |
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Strandline (n): the high water mark; the area at the top of a beach where debris is deposited. | |
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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NEW POSTS ON OUR WEB SITE! | |
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DID YOU KNOW? NYSMEA Updates its website every month, so be sure to visit the links below for new Web postings! | |
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Join NYSMEA!
NYSMEA holds an annual conference, periodic meetings, lectures, workshops, field trips, and boat trips. Learn a lot, have a great time and meet some talented, energized educators with a passion for water, just like yours! Not a member?
Click here and join only $20 a year.
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Follow-Up Links | |
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