COSEE-NE News
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Telling Your Story at UMaine The Census of Marine Life-Gulf of Maine Area Program at the University of Southern Maine and COSEE-NE invite K-12 teachers, scientists, researchers and graduate students in marine or aquatic sciences to a Telling Your Story workshop, Thursday, May 29, 2008, 10am-3pm, at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, Maine. This is a regional workshop designed to strengthen the ties between science and education in order to promote ocean literacy in the Gulf of Maine. A program developed by COSEE-NE, Telling Your Story workshops have been held throughout New England since 2004. This workshop is free but registration is required as space is limited. To RSVP by Thursday, May 15, or for more details, contact Suzy Ryan. |
Reports, Publications and Announcements
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Closing the Achievement Gap in Math and Science The latest results from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program show not only improved proficiency among all elementary and middle school students, but also a closing of the achievement gaps between both African-American and Hispanic students and white students in elementary school math, and between African-American and white students in elementary and middle-school science. Find out more.
briefCAISE The premier issue of briefCAISE, the newsletter of the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE), offers news, educational links, information about opportunities, and more. CAISE, funded by the National Science Foundation, studies issues and trends in informal science education (ISE) documents the impact and value of ISE, offers professional development opportunities for those working with and seeking NSF support, and provides a collective voice for the field. The newsletter will have profiles of NSF-funded projects, briefs on research relevant to ISE practice, and data, case studies, and anecdotes about the value of ISE.
Stellwagen Draft Management Plan The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released the Draft Management Plan for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. There will be scheduled public meetings for information/oral comments. If you wish to comment on the plan in writing, follow the instructions on the website and submit your comments by August 4, 2008. There is also a Stellwagen poster available from the Teachers Resource Center at New England Aquarium. Contact Jessica Soule.
ISE Featured in NSTA Journal The latest issue of Science Class - an online companion to The Science Teacher, NSTA's journal for high school teachers - offers information on informal science education. Read the issue online.
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News From Washington DC
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House Subcommittee Passes OCEANS-21 On April 23, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans passed the Ocean Conservation, Education, & National Strategy for the 21st Century Act, also known as OCEANS-21, with an 11-3 vote. Introduced by Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) in 2007, OCEANS-21 is the product of a multi-year effort within the House Oceans Caucus to draft bipartisan and comprehensive legislation based on recommendations from the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and Pew Oceans Commission reports.
House Panel Examines Effects of CO2 Emissions on Oceans On April 29, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming met to examine how rising carbon dioxide emissions are changing the world's oceans. Dr. Sylvia Earle, oceanographer and National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence, pushed for a series of marine reserves to help preserve ocean areas that are home to fish, corals, and other marine life. Dr. Jane Lubchenco, a marine ecologist at Oregon State University, reported on an article she and colleagues published in Science, exploring global warming's contribution to low-oxygen dead zones along the western U.S. coast. Additionally, Dr. Joan Kleypas, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, testified on the damage to corals caused by pollution, rising temperatures, and more acidic waters. Also serving as a witness at the hearing was Vikki Spruill, president and CEO of the Ocean Conservancy. For more information visit online. |
Online Ocean Education Resources
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Underwater Tour of Long Island Sound The Long Island Sound Resource Center has launched a website that provides an underwater tour of Long Island Sound. This website uses slide shows, still photos, and videos to show off this area's flora and fauna.
Climate Change Backpack The New England Science Center Collaborative has developed the Climate Change Backpack®, a teaching tool containing graphs, experiments, a climate change play, an imitation ice core, lesson plans, and more. The lessons are designed to expand or contract according to the audience and available teaching time. All of the activities are downloadable. The New England Aquarium Teacher Resource Center provides Climate Change Backpack training; contact Nicole Scola for more information.
Humpback Whale Migration Game Humpback whales are found in the oceans worldwide; they hold the record for the longest migration among mammals, traveling from Alaska to Hawai'i. Play NOAA's interactive Migration Game to find out more about humpback whales and how you can help protect them.
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Grants, Fellowships and Awards
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Live Green Teacher Grants The Live Green Teacher Grant
program from General Motors challenges middle school teachers to
develop innovative ideas for furthering environmental and energy
sustainability. Teachers will identify an issue or problem, create a
plan to address it, and integrate the topic into classroom teaching.
The deadline for application is May 15, 2008.
Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program
The
Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program is designed to
effect long-range improvement in science and engineering education at
predominantly minority institutions and to increase the flow of
underrepresented ethnic minorities, particularly minority women, into
scientific and technological careers. The deadline for application is
May 22, 2008. More details online
ISRS and Ocean Conservancy Graduate Fellowships
The International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS) and Ocean Conservancy (OC) announce the availability of six fellowships up to $15,000 each for Ph.D. students in the general area of coral reef ecosystem research. The goal of the ISRS/OC fellowships is to increase understanding of processes on coral reefs that are relevant to management at local, regional, or global scales. The fellowships are available to students worldwide who are already admitted to a graduate program at an accredited university. The deadline for the fellowships is May 23. Visit online for more information.
Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation Fellowship Program
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation sponsors graduate
fellowships for doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers whose
research supports conservation, management, and restoration of coral
reef ecosystems. Beginning in 2009, an individual will have the
opportunity to participate in a multidisciplinary global coral reef
expedition with research opportunities in French Polynesia, Kiribati,
Palau, Philippines, Maldives, and other locations. The primary
objectives of the cruise are to characterize coral reef ecosystem
health across gradients of human and natural disturbance; determine
global and local processes that control the functioning of these
ecosystems, identify and predict impacts across gradients; and identify
strategies to mitigate impacts. The deadline for application is May 30,
2008. More details online.
Classroom Earth National High School Challenge The National Environmental Education Foundation, in partnership with The Weather Channel, is launching the Classroom Earth National High School Challenge to help provide teachers around the country with support for their innovative work to bring environmental education into the classroom. Grants will be offered for Course Integration and Professional Development. The deadline for proposal submission is June 20, 2008. More details online.
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Seminars, Workshops, Online Courses
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Seacoast Science Center Distance Learning
The Seacoast Science Center in Rye, New Hampshire offers distance
learning opportunities. All of the programs can be adjusted to meet the
learning styles and curriculum needs of each audience. In addition to
the four standard programs (The American Lobster, Coastal Creatures and Animals
Adaptations, Horseshoe Crab Program, and Love and Lifecycles at the Seacoast
Science Center)
science center educators can work with you and their resources to
custom create a program or a series of programs. More details online.
Project Wild Aquatic Workshop The Maine State Aquarium is hosting a Project Wild Aquatic workshop,
May 23, 2008 in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, for teachers and education
students. The workshop will include curriculum materials and the
Project Wild Aquatic activity book and provide hands-on activity
training. Participants will receive a complimentary 2008 Family Pass to
the aquarium, and more. The deadline for registration is May 19, 2008.
Online Courses at AMNH The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) offers several online courses this summer, including the Ocean System, The Diversity of Fishes, and Sharks and Rays.
Designed for K-12 educators, each six-week course is led by an
experienced classroom teacher and a research scientist. In-depth
readings and assignments are paired with web-based discussions.
Graduate credit is available and each participant receives a CD of
course resources suitable for classroom use. Vist the AMNH Seminars on Science website for
the full course listing. Registration is now open; Summer Session One
runs June 9 through July 20. Summer Session Two runs June 30-August 10.
Museum Institute for Teaching Science Summer Institute The Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS) is holding its annual Summer Institute July 7-18. The program offers K-8 teachers professional development opportunities to learn inquiry-based, hands-on methods of teaching science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Institutes will be held in nine regions of Massachusetts, including a two-week Institute in Southeast Massachuseets and a one-week Institute (July 7-11) on Cape Cod. This year's theme is Headline Science: Science, Math, and Literacy Behind the Headlines, and will allow teachers the ability to explore and learn about the science processes that go into developing what the public reads in the news. Space is still available. For more information and registration send an email. Information is also available on the website.
NSTA Web Seminars
NSTA Web Seminars are 90-minute, live professional development
experiences that use online learning technologies to allow participants
to interact with experts, education specialists, and others. Upcoming
seminar topics include polar science on May 22. Past course archives are also available. More information online.
Summer Education in Maine
Maine Audubon offers summer sessions for adults and youth at their camp
on Hog Island, Maine: Educators Workshop Week, July 13-19, 2008;
Climate Change Workshop for teachers, July 23-26, 2008; and the Coastal
Maine Marine Science Session for teens, July 20-26. Financial aid may
be available. More details online.
Field Marine Study of Coastal Ecosystems in Maine Sponsored by Boat Camp, teachers will travel aboard the Erica Lee
to survey the ecosystems of the lower portion of the Merrimack River,
coastal Plum Island and Ipswich Bay, the Isles of Shoals, and Thacher
Island, August 18-21, 2008. As part of their studies, teachers will develop scientific
(biological, physical, and chemical) and social (historic and current)
profiles of these rich ecosystems and develop standards-based
lessons/unit of study that will engage students and connect them to
these maritime resources. For more information contact Kate Yeomans.
Making EE Relevant for Culturally Diverse Audiences The new 10-week online course, Making Environmental Education (EE) Relevant for Culturally Diverse Audiences, running September 2-November 6, 2008, is designed to provide participants with the basic knowledge and skills needed to make environmental education relevant to culturally diverse audiences. The course was developed by the Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP) and the University of Wisconsin. The deadline for registration is August 2, 2008. Details online. |
Conferences
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IMPAC2 and International Marine Conservation Congress Organizers of the Second International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC2) and the International Marine Conservation Congress are accepting proposals for symposia and workshops at the joint event, May 20-24, 2009 in Washington, D.C. This interdisciplinary meeting, Making Marine
Science Matter, will engage natural and social scientists, managers,
policy-makers, and the public, to put conservation science into practice,
developing outreach products (e.g., policy briefs and position papers) to drive
policy change and implementation. The major conference themes are: Global
Climate Change, the Land-Sea Interface, Ecosystem Based Management, and Poverty
and Globalization. Cross-cutting issues encompass topics of global relevance and
importance to marine conservation that relate to the major themes. More information online.
World Congress of Science Centers The fifth World Congress of Science Centers, June 15-20, 2008 in Toronto Canada, will address the role science centers play to inspire and actively engage people in new ways of seeing, understanding, and thinking about themselves in a world increasingly defined by rapid globalization and technological change. The theme is Science Centers as Agents of Change - Locally, Nationally, and Internationally. More information
online. |
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Jobs in New England (and beyond)
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Gulf of Maine Council Contract, Maine The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment is seeking a contractor for core services, which include production of the Gulf of Maine Times, internal coordination and meeting facilitation, fund development, and information technology support. For the full Request for Proposals and application instructions, visit the Council's website.
Teacher Professional Development Coordinator, New York The Museum of the Earth has an opening for a Teacher Professional Development Coordinator in Earth system science. This position is funded over the next five years by a National Science Foundation grant to develop teacher professional development resources to help secondary school science teachers use real-world regional and local Earth system science as the focus of an inquiry-based, systems approach to teaching Earth science. For more details contact Robert M. Ross.
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Student Opportunities
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Summer Ocean Science Academy at Northeastern The Marine Science Center of Northeastern University is offering a Coastal Ocean Science Academy for students entering 9th and 10th grades. The Academy runs from August 11-23, 8am-3pm. Registration is now open. For more information contact Tracy Hajduk.
Research Opportunities for Undergraduates The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by NSF. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program. Students should apply directly to REU Sites. For more information, consult the directory of active REU Sites.
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Requests
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NOAA Climate Change Report Seeks Comments NOAA announces the availability of a draft report for the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment Product 5.2, Best Practice Approaches for Characterizing, Communicating, and Incorporating Scientific Uncertainty in Decisionmaking (73 Fed. Reg. 21,912, April 23). The report is an interagency effort to integrate federal research on climate change and to facilitate a national understanding of the critical elements of climate change. Comments are due June 9, 2008. For more information and to read the report visit here.
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Events
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We are happy to include events from around New England. If you would like your organization's event published here, please send the information to the editor, Catherine Cramer. Thanks!
Health of Coastal Wetlands Lecture Dr. John Teal will deliver a talk, What is the Future of Our Coastal Wetlands?, at the Marion (Massachusetts) Natural History Museum, Friday May 9, at 7pm. For more details contact Vin Malkowski.
Ecosystem Based Management Lecture Heather Tallis, faculty member of the Department of Biology at Stanford, will present a lecture, Ecosystem Based Mangement: A Little Theory Goes a Long Way, Monday May 12, 3:30 pm, at the Elliot Alumni Center of the University of New Hampshire. For more information contact Lynn Rutter or Andy Rosenberg.
WHSTEP Annual Meeting The Woods Hole Science and Technology Education Partnership (WHSTEP) will hold their Annual Meeting at the Falmouth (MA) Public Library on Thursday, May 15 at 4:15 pm. Established in 1989, WHSTEP is a partnership of schools, scientific institutions, businesses, and community resources. Its purpose is to support, promote, and expand science and technology education and science literacy in the participating communities of Falmouth, Mashpee, and Bourne. For more information, contact Kama Thieler.
Maritime Days at Cape Museum The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster, MA, offers a free Maritime Days presentation, May 24, beginning at 10am. Included is Mudflat Mania plus presentations by the Cape Cod Stranding Network and National Marine Life Center.
Seabird and Whale Tale Cruise New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA) and OceanQuest Hands-on Marine Education offer an all-day marine wildlife cruise on Sunday, June 8, departing at 7:30 am from the Plymouth (MA) Town Pier. Wayne Petersen of Massachusetts Audubon Society, David Clapp of Natural History Services and Dr. John C. Jahoda of Bridgewater State College will lead the excursion to view coastal marine wildlife. For more information or to download the registration form, visit OceanQuest or NECWA online. |
NEwswave Schedule
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The next issue of NEwswave will be sent May 22, 2008. Please send announcements and news to the editor, Catherine Cramer.
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Include Your News in NEwswave!
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Send news and announcements of interest to the New England Ocean Science Education community to the editor, Catherine Cramer.
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New Website for New England Aquarium
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New England Aquarium has launched its new website.
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Free Teaching Resources
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Free Science Resources for Teachers
This wiki page from Science Inquirer offers free teaching resources from listservs, podcasts, videos, posters, and more. Visit
online.
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Missing Link Podcasts
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The Missing Link is a monthly podcast
on the strange history of science, medicine, and technology. These podcasts, hosted by Elizabeth Green Musselman, a history professor at Southwestern University, are for people who are afraid of science
but deeply intrigued by it, and for scientists who know there must be a
better back story than what's told in the sidebars of their textbooks. The website includes the archived materials, along with lists of suggested readings for those who are looking for additional information.
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World Ocean Day Website
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World Ocean Day is June 8
The World Ocean Day website
offers inspiration for planning events, along with a global event map. List your event on the website to help get the word out.
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Gulf of Maine Times
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The Spring issue of the Gulf of Maine Times
is available online. New in this issue: voice clips and extra online-only coverage.
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SeaWeb Publications
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SeaWeb's Ocean Update
is published monthly. Subscribe online.
The latest issue of SeaWeb's Marine Photobank Bulletin is also available.
Other recent SeaWeb Marine Science Reviews include information on introduced species;
pathogens, disease and die-offs; human health, habitats and ecosystems; fish and fisheries. Visit online
to register for SeaWeb publications. |
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Massachusetts Marine Educators Newsletter
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The Spring issue of MME's newsletter Flotsam and Jetsam is now available on the MME website.
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Include Your News in NEwswave
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| Send your news and announcements of interest to the New England ocean science education community to the editor, Catherine Cramer. |
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