Copy

            
The Strandline

 

    New York State Marine Education Newsletter


January 2020

Strandline (n): the high water mark; the area at the top of a beach where debris is deposited.

 
Click Here To Join The NYSMEA Team as a Member ($20)
Click Here To Donate Funds To Support The Mission ($$,$$$ Any Amount)
Click Here to Volunteer Your Time, Passion, and Expertise
NYSMEA Strandline January 2020

Dear NYSMEAns

The next decade is very scary for the health of our oceans. The oceans around our globe are at a point where humans are altering them in a negative way daily. For all this negativity it brings us  a wave of hope, responsibility and new opportunities to improve our oceans health. NYSMEA will provide opportunities to get actively involved in ocean health.


Dr. Bob Brinkman talks about sustainable practices to conserve resources.

Many thanks to Dr. Bob Brinkmann of Hofstra University (center) for his informative presentation at our Holiday party/lecture and to the members who braved both the weather and holiday traffic to attend.


Smiles abound with holiday cheer.

Special thanks to Lane Rosen, Sarah Richards, Lisa Breslof, Leann Winn and the Tackapausha staff for their assistance.


Everyone agrees that Tackapausha is an awesome place to host an event.

Our annual Holiday Party at Tackapausha Museum was full of laughter, great conversation, delicious food and the best of people. Dr Brinkmann’s topic was “Teaching About Sustainability” as he talked about societies using sustainable practices to conserve resources.

 
NYSMEA BOARD MEETING January 25th
 NYSMEA board meeting to take place at the Center for the Urban River in Yonkers (https://www.centerfortheurbanriver.org/about/) on Saturday, Jan. 25 from 10-1, with a tour of the facility afterwards. Please register on our website.
 
Press Release by Thomas Greene
An EcoLab to Promote Resilience: A Budget Saving Solution
         Here is a little known and disturbing fact. Almost all the K-5 public schools in New York City have no science laboratories. While lab science is compulsive in the high schools, it has been historically neglected, both Citywide and nationally, in the elementary schools. This lab deficit problem may help to explain the poor performance of our students in the later grades, and their dismal showing in competitions with students from other nations.
        What can City officials do? The Dept of Education can build a regional lab, one in each of the five Boroughs.  Each science lab would serve hundreds of schools during the academic year. Since the five Boroughs are fringed by more than 500 miles of coastline, the EcoLabs should be placed near the shore to reflect the City’s natural marine environment.
       Students would be bussed from their home school to the EcoLab and back after a two - hour lab session. Each lab activity would consist of a combination of fieldwork on the beach, followed by age appropriate science activities in the EcoLab. Science laboratories are critical facilities where students learn best because they use the hands-on science tools needed to observe and investigate their environment.
        A regional EcoLab would be extremely cost effective when compared with the cost of building a lab in each of the more than 600 elementary schools without labs. Housed in inexpensive sturdy steel shipping containers, and equipped with solar panels and a wind turbine, the EcoLab would show students first - hand how clean energy can replace the polluting fossil fuels in the production of electricity. Operating off the grid would be another budget saving measure.  Each EcoLab, at an estimated cost of $250,000, represents only a tiny fraction of the Dept of Education’s $17 billion Capital Budget.
        More importantly, children who are taught from an early age about the perils of pollution, and the need to learn about alternative energy to counter the looming menace of global warming, will become better-informed citizens needed to foster community resilience.
         Recently a number of high school and middle school students skipped class to protest in the streets about environmental issues. The teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg dramatically proclaimed, “How dare you!” at a UN Summit meeting on climate change.  This rising tide of concern from teens and pre-teens, who rarely protest, should not go unheeded.
         It’s time we listened to the kids. Young people are fearful about the state of the environment they will inherit and are pleading for us to do something about it. They are saying – stop the environmental damage; look for new alternative solutions to pollution.  Be resilient!
          Meaningful environmental science in a regional lab for the K-5 students would serve as the foundation for promoting resilience.

Respectfully submitted,
Thomas Greene
Board Member and Past President
New York State Marine Education Association (NYSMEA)


Long Island Marine Association 54th Annual Trip
Retirees Anne Bicker and Marty Kuticoff again joined Anita and Hugo Freudenthal as they led our associate group, The Marine Science Association, to a Caribbean Island for the 54th annual Fall trip. Was back to a favorite great reef right off-shore Jamaica resort for hours of snorkeling together. Busy planning #55. Send ideas and come along.
 
Great. thanks for adding, and best wishes and love to one and all.  The 4 of us spent hours and hours doing what we love best together.  We miss everyone and do keep track of all that's going on.  So proud that you all are carrying on what we worked so hard to keep going.  And so wonderful to still see faces we remember as we all age a little or more.

Hugo turns 90 in March and me 89 in a few weeks. 

Keep up with everything and OOO's and XXX's to everyone.
Anita
 
 
NYSMEAns
For the latest marine related news,events and updates please check our website, nysmea.org,  like our Facebook page, New York State Marine Education Association, and follow our Twitter feed    @nysmea


Save the Dates
January 25th Board Meeting at Center for the Urban River 10-1
March 27-29th Beneath the Seas
May 17th NYSMEA Conference
May 30th  “It's My Estuary Day”  at Kaiser Park
June    Denyse Wharf clean-up
June    Great Fish Count
July 13-17 NMEA Conference in Hawaii
 
Member Note: Please consider running for a position on the Board of Directors of NYSMEA by contacting our Past-President, Meg Marrero

Sincerely,
Lane Rosen
NYSMEA President
 
 

 
 
  • New Posts on Our Website


     Please check out the various resources NYSMEA offers on the website at www.nysmea.org.

    For example, we posted this to the
    Other Important Events section:

     

Click Here To Join The NYSMEA Team as a Member ($20)
Click Here To Donate Funds To Support The Mission ($$,$$$ Any Amount)
Click Here to Volunteer Your Time, Passion, and Expertise
NYSMEA  Lisa Breslof, Dept. Of Education,
American Museum of Natural History  
Phone:  212.769.5169  
NYSMEA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization 

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

 






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
New York State Marine Education Association · Tom Greene, Physical Science Dept. Kingsborough Community College · 2001 Oriental Blvd. · Brooklyn, NY 11235 · USA

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp