ECOHAB PACIFIC NORTHWEST (ECOHAB PNW) OUTREACH: OPENING THE SCIENTIFIC JOURNEY TO THE WORLD
Vera L. Trainer1, William P. Cochlan2, Mark L. Wells3, Charles G. Trick4, and the ECOHAB education group (Lauren Kuehne5, Christine Muir6, Dennis Costello7)
1NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112
2Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University, Tiburon, CA 94920
3School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469-5741
4Schulich School of Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, ONT, N6A 5B7, Canada
5Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, 98505
6Woodside Priory School, Portola Valley, CA 94028
7North High School, Torrance CA, 90504
Public and education outreach has been an integral part of the ECOHAB Pacific Northwest project from its inception in 2002. Public outreach activities include a project-dedicated web site, public contact, and multiple interactions with journalists over the course of the study. Educational activities have included participation at in-service teacher workshops, and hosting four teachers-at-sea on research cruises through: 1. the NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET), 2. the West Coast Center for Oceans and Human Health, 3. the NSF ARMADA program, 4. individual NSF research grants, and 5. the NOAA Hollings undergraduate summer scholarship program. Real-time cruise journals targeting high school level students and the general public were created and maintained while at sea. These journals detailed the scientific journey of oceanographic research, and in particular the challenges investigating harmful algal blooms, collaborative research activities, and human-interest aspects of life at sea. During our final cruise in September 2006, as a collaboration of undergraduate, and graduate students, principal investigators, and Evil Bunny Films, two documentary films (10- and 20-minutes) were produced. These films detail the scientific problem, the collaborative approach to oceanographic research, and the vision for the future of forecasting of harmful algal blooms in the Pacific Northwest. The 20-minute film is targeted for both secondary and undergraduate audiences and details the complexity of science at sea. It is accompanied by the "Harmful Algal Bloom Hunter's Handbook", a series of lesson plans consisting of classroom activities and experiments, cruise journals, a plankton identification chart and a glossary. These outreach materials will be presented, and the films displayed at the poster session during the 4th US HAB Symposium. See also: www.ecohabpnw.org/outreach