NMEA NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2019

Message from the President

Dear NMEA members,

We are a little over a month away from #NMEA19— have you registered? For me, the NMEA conference is always a time to get a taste of a different part of our country (lobster, anyone?), gain some new ideas, network and meet new people in our field, and reconnect for laughs with old friends. This year’s event in beautiful New England will not disappoint, and holding the conference on a college campus will make it a very affordable week. l hope to see lots of you there!

In the meantime, NMEA has done a lot so far this spring. We have unveiled our new, beautiful website, and expect to release our new Current platform in less than a week! Have you enjoyed seeing some of your friends and colleagues on our social media platforms in the #WeAreNMEA campaign? This campaign is highlighting some of the diverse careers and experiences of our members, and we’d love to feature YOU! If you’d like to nominate yourself or a colleague to be featured, please drop me a line!

NMEA has also hosted the Whale of A Share-A-Thon at NSTA, two webinars, an osprey banding event, and a #WorldOceansDay collaboration. I attended Capitol Hill Ocean Week on our behalf, and we will be represented this year at the NSTA Science Education Congress, Asia Marine Educators Association (AMEA) Conference, and European Marine Science Education Association (EMSEA) Conference. Watch your inbox and social media for more to come, and see you in New Hampshire!

Best,

Current: The Journal of Marine Education is seeking a new Editor!

Do you want to be involved in selecting articles and essays that provide new, original, and important contributions to marine science education knowledge? Do you have excellent editorial and written communication skills with a sharp eye for detail? What about the ability to organize and prioritize numerous tasks and be able to work on your own initiative? If so, you should apply NOW to be the new editor of our Current journal!

Applications are due by June 25. See our website for more information.

Current: The Journal of Marine Education is the peer-reviewed journal of the National Marine Educators Association, which seeks to “Make known the world of water.” The journal features lively, in-depth articles and activities relating to all aspects of educating a variety of audiences about the world of water. It is the only professional, peer-reviewed journal for marine educators.

Current, published up to four times a year, explores the latest in marine and aquatic education research, ocean literacy, STEM classroom and free-choice learning activities, marine science, art, maritime history, and literature. Current aligns with the National Marine Educators Association’s core values of excellence, camaraderie, action, inclusiveness, and leadership in marine and aquatic education.

NMEA Regional Event – Osprey Banding in Maryland

To provide member engagement and to recruit new members to the organization, NMEA is supporting regional events throughout the nation. The first event was held on Saturday, June 15th in the Mid-Atlantic region. Participants were able to participate in hands-on research of osprey populations in the Patuxent River through banding osprey chicks.  Participants from Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC, and as far away as New Jersey joined naturalist and wildlife conservationist Greg Kearns of Patuxent River Park to add to his more than 35 years of osprey research on the river. Osprey chicks that were large enough to band were collected from their nest, fitted with a metal bird band around their ankle, weighed, and returned to their nest. This information is recorded and reported to the National Bird Banding Lab in Laurel, MD for future reference to determine the life expectancy and movements of the osprey. This hands-on opportunity is just the first of many upcoming NMEA regional events. Look for other NMEA regional events throughout the nation.

Kathy Fuller, MAMEA Chapter Representative to NMEA

Florida Marine Science Educators Association

FMSEA celebrated 51 years and hosted their annual conference recently at Nature Coast region of Florida, in Crystal River. Friday was full of engaging and adventurous field trips from diving in crystal clear springs and snorkeling the Gulf of Mexico to touring local marine labs and state parks! On Friday night, there was the FMSEA19 SciCafe, an evening of informative, yet informal, talks with Dr. Bob Bonde and Dr. Roger Reep, world renowned manatee scientists! Saturday was spent discussing the interconnections between watersheds, springs systems, coastal rivers, estuaries, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Ocean beyond with the talented individuals of our Opening Plenary panel. There was a full day of concurrent sessions, research track sessions, an exhibit hall, lunch, coffee, tasty treats, and more! A huge thank you to Crystal River High School for hosting us. Saturday night there was a ton of fun celebrating FMSEA at the Plantation on Crystal River. This beautiful venue hosted us for our silent auction, cocktail hour, banquet, our keynote speaker and Florida springs advocate John Moran, and of course all the best FMSEA socializing and dancing! Thank you to everyone's hard work who put together such an amazing conference and to everyone who participated. FMSEA continues to grow together as successful group of formal and informal marine educators because of your involvement! We look forward to "seaing" you around throughout the summer at our regional events, networking events, aquatic species collection workshops, and more!

Have you explored our new website?

We are excited about the launch of our brand-new website! With easy access to Ocean Literacy resources, information about our initiatives and hard-working committees, new and improved scholarship applications, and an updated blog format, there's a lot to celebrate!

Check out these fabulous features:

• Updated news & events section — always know what's happening in the world of marine education, and meet some new friends along the way
• Extensive Ocean Literacy resources — all you need to know about the Ocean Literacy principles, including how to offer a workshop in your region
• Information on our initiatives — explore all the ways that NMEA is "making known the world of water, both salt and fresh"
• Marine Ed Jobs board — find current openings in the field of marine education, or submit your own posting
• Current: the Journal of Marine Education — coming soon, you'll be able to find our open-access journal right on our website
• Responsive design — browse our site from your computer or device

NMEA Merchandise

Did you know that NMEA merch is available on Zazzle? For each product sold, NMEA gets a percentage of the purchase price so now you can wear your support for marine and aquatic education on your sleeve! These styles and more are available in our shop: zazzle.com/store/nmeashop

NMEA in the Classroom

Once is Not Enough: A Quest to reduce "single use" plastics in the high school community with Valerie Cournoyer

How can you convince a high school community to skip the straw and give up vending machine water bottles? Combine art and science to bring awareness to the issue of plastics in the ocean! Marine biology students built a turtle sculpture and created educational materials to use at schoolwide awareness events. An artwork contest was held to create logos for reusable shopping bags. Funded by the Jamie A. Hulley Foundation. Come hear more at the NMEA 2019 Annual Conference!

We would like to welcome all of the new members who have joined since April! We look forward to meeting you at one of our upcoming events.

Individual Members:

Andie Anderson, The Florida Aquarium, Tampa, FL
Jessica Antonez, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Portland, ME
Andrea Aubert, Brevard Zoo, Melbourne, FL
Andrew Aufdemberge, Millsboro, DE
Danielle Bailey, The University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, MS
Sandra Baldwin, PGCPS, Adelphi, MD
Piper Bartlett-Browne, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Dover, NH
Danielle Bastian, Seacoast Science Center, Rye, NH
Paul Billeter, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata, MD
Christine Bird, Oceanic Research Group, North Reading, MA
Aimee Bonanno, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA
Lee Campbell, Falmouth, MA
Sara Cathey, ORCSD, Durham, NH
Neil Chen, New Taipei Municipal Hsin Tien Senior High School, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Michael Coad, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Kaneohe, HI
Daria Collins, Park City Magnet School, Bridgeport, CT
Mary Colvard, HHMI, Nottingham, NH
Jean Compton, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Kailua, HI
Megan Cook, Ocean Exploration Trust, Old Lyme, CT
Corynn Cooper, Becker College, Worcester, MA
Kristen Crawford, School District of the Chathams, Roselle Park, NJ
Rachel Cuizon, Our Savior Lutheran School, Livermore, CA
Kathryn Davis, San Jose State University, Newark, CA
Bailey Dawson
Kayla do Couto, NOAA Education, Silver Spring, MD
Mike Doherty, UNH/GOMMEA - Seacoast Science Center, Rye, NH
Nolan Downs, 2002, Dixfield, ME
Ashley Eaton, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, Burlington, VT
Steven Engstrom, Lawrence Academy, Groton, MA
Chris Flight, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, AL
Demi Fox, NOAA Marine Debris Prog./Freestone Environmental Services, Gloucester, MA
Brayden Fracassa, Dover High School, Dover, NH
Abigail Fusaro, Natick, MA
Gretchyn Gallagher, Oceanic Research Group, North Reading, MA
Willow Gertz, Woburn Public Schools-Woburn Memorial High School, Woburn, MA
Lila Harris, PADI, Orange Beach, AL
Jenny Heckathorn, Valdez City Schools, Valdez, AK
Jenna Horne, Blythewood High School, Blythewood, SC
Symone Johnson, National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD
Shaelyn Kelliher, Seacoast Science Center, Rye, NH
Kyla Kelly, University of Southern California's Young Scientist Program, Los Angeles, CA
Cynthia Kicklighter, Goucher College, Baltimore, MD
Zack Klyver, Blue Planet Strategies, Bar Harbor, ME
Patricia Kretzer, Timber Creek High School, Orlando, FL
Mark Krzyzanowski, Equipment Damage Consultants, Lincroft, NJ
Rebecca Kusa, Wildlife Conservation Society-New York Aquarium, Bellport, NY
Anna Lindgren, Cody Outdoor Education, Freedom, NH
Pamela Lynch, SCCC, Smithtown, NY
Karlee Markovich, SeaScapes, Southwest Harbor, ME
Karen McAlpine, Mount Prospect Academy, Plymouth, NH
Cheryl Milliken, Falmouth High School, Falmouth, MA
Anderson Moore, Cody Outdoor Education, Dover, NH
Kelly Moran, Ocean Exploration Trust, Old Lyme, CT
Coral Moreno, CCOM, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Joan Muller, Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Waquoit, MA
Shen-Yang Ni, National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, Keelung, Taiwan
Hannah Nolan, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Kristen Ono, McKinley High School, Honolulu, HI
Jennifer Page, Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, Rockland, ME
Jessica Parfait, United Houma Nation, Houma, LA
Celeste Parry, National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, CA
Joshua Penman, SmartStart Evaluation & Research, Irvine, CA
Amy Petelo, Sanford School, Sanford, ME
Lisa Piastuch, NAMEPA & Univ. of Bridgeport, Weston, CT
Sara Ramotnik, University of Maryland, Upper Marlboro, MD
Andrew Ramotnik, University of Maryland, Upper Marlboro, MD
Mindy Richlen, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
Jeffrey Robinson, Bethesda, MD
Jennifer Roveto, St. Anthony's High School, S. Huntington, NY
Yolanda Sánchez, Oceana Chile, Santiago, Chile
Dodie Sanders, UGA Marin, Savannah, GA
Deb Sandler, Mr. and Mrs. Fish Marine Education Program, South Portland, ME
Hayley Shannon, Audubon Nature Institute, New Orleans, LA
Helen Sher, Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School, Brookville, NY
Emily Sherman, Population Education, Washington, DC
Sarah Souliere, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, Northwood, NH
Barbara Spiecker, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Larry Stamey Can.Sc, NSTA/SCST/NMEA/SCMEA/HIMB, Kailua, HI
Dawn Staples-Knox, Searsport District Middle / High School, Searsport, ME
Andrew Thaler, Blackbeard Biologic, Saint Michaels, MD
John Trowbridge, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA
Liza Walsh, Milford High School, Milford, OH
Elizabeth Weiss, Deerfield, NH
Suzanne Welsh, Laguna Ocean Foundation, Newport Beach, CA
Samantha Whitcraft, Oceans for Youth Foundation, Augusta, GA
Jackie Wong, SC Aquarium, Charleston, SC

Non-profit/Institutional Members:

Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation, Miami, FL
Herring Gut Learning Center, Port Clyde, ME
New York Aquarium, Brooklyn, NY
Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, Australia

Corporate Member

Fluid Imaging Technologies, Scarborough, ME