COSEE NETWORK NEWS 2010
May 2010
 In This Issue CNN Vol. 3 No. 5 | May 2010 
Focus On...COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico Subscribe
Network News
Central Coordinating Office News
Working Group Updates
Ocean Hall Update
Resources
Center News
COSEE Network Calendar
Announcements
Publications
COSEE Centers and Council Representatives
Focus On...COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico
 
COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico workshop
 
What's new at COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico? Visit the May Center of the Month and find out!
 Network News
Cheryl Peach
New COSEE Council Chair-Elect At the recent Network Meeting the COSEE Council announced that the new Chair-Elect is Cheryl Peach, PI of COSEE California and the Director of Science Education Partnerships at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Congratulations Cheryl!

Community Meeting Vision Papers NSF is sponsoring a COSEE Community Meeting in Washington, DC, November 3-4, 2010. In advance of the Community Meeting COSEE is currently soliciting Vision Papers to be used to shape the agenda for the workshop as well as the future priorities, organizational structure, and operations for COSEE. Find out more about the Community Meeting and Vision Papers.
 Central Coordinating Office News
Network Meeting Over 70 members of the COSEE Network gathered in Seattle May 3-7 for a week of presentations, conversations, break-out groups and brainstorming, hosted by COSEE Ocean Learning Communities. CCO staff Andrea Kecskes and Romy Pizziconi joined forces with COSEE Ocean Learning Communities and did a fantastic job of providing an ideal venue and inspiring activities. Two events at the Seattle Aquarium and a cruise on Puget Sound with members of the Ocean Inquiry Project showcased the excellent resources of COSEE Ocean Learning Communities. Watch for a complete report and photo album from the meeting in the June issue of CNN.
 Working Group Updates
ENTS Sub-Group The Excellence in Networking Tools Sub-Group (ENTs) presented the Online Tools Guidebook to the COSEE Network at the recent Network meeting, and received very positive feedback. Next steps include further dissemination of the Guidebook, perhaps including a webinar. View the Tools Guidebook. A second joint call with the Professional Development Ad Hoc Committee is planned, in which ENTs will provide training on best tools for successful online workshops. Submissions for the Tools That Work collection are always welcome. For more information contact ENTs co-chairs Catherine Cramer and Carla Companion.

Scientist Engagement Working Group During April, members of the Production Team finalized the look and feel of the Engaging Scientists website, completed the draft of Dr. Bob Chen’s case study and continued to work on that of Dr. Carrie Thomas. Meanwhile they prepared to work with Dr. Rick Keil, from University of Washington and COSEE Ocean Learning Systems, and scheduled visits to Dr. Michael Kemp, from University of Maryland and COSEE Coastal Trends, and Dr. Scott Glenn, from Rutgers University and COSEE NOW. During the monthly telecon SEW-G members provided positive reactions to these choices while also clarifying details regarding the way Center SEW-G reps coordinate the Production Team visits with featured scientists. In May the SEW-G will consider final approval to post the first case study on COSEE.net. For further information on SEW-G please contact its Chair Jessica Kastler.

Screenshot of COSEE Coastal Trends' home page
Web Working Group Last month, Raytheon Web Solutions unveiled a new staging area to allow COSEE web administrators to test changes to the Content Management System (CMS) before going live. Recent updates to the CMS include behind-the-scenes changes to some admin features and improvements to how images are displayed. For more information, contact Annette deCharon, WWG Chair.

Diversity Working Group "The creative engagement of diverse ideas and perspectives is essential to enabling the transformative research that invigorates our nation’s scientific and engineering enterprise" (NSF, 2008). Strategic, sustained efforts to broaden participation in the sciences remain a central priority for the scientific and education communities. In order to build upon existing literatures and successful prior efforts, the COSEE Diversity Working Group has compiled an annotated bibliography Broadening Participation in the Sciences: Promoting Diversity and Equity in Ocean Sciences. It provides a detailed overview of intellectual and programmatic resources that inform how groups can work to broaden participation in the sciences (i.e., relevant organizations, theoretical perspectives, learning research studies, approaches to evaluation, policy documents, instructional models, etc.). Access the bibliography (PDF, 187 KB).
 Ocean Hall Update
Next month there are several opportunities for COSEE to engage in Smithsonian Museum of Natural History events:

Saturday June 5 World Ocean Day Festivities We will be holding a family festival the Saturday prior to World Ocean Day, asking people to "Find Your Blue". We will have activity tables and scientists engaging with the public about ocean science and conservation. If anyone from your Center will be in the area their participation is welcome.

Tuesday June 8 COSEE/Smithsonian Ocean Science Lecture Series Dr. Jeremy Jackson will be the inaugural speaker for the series, taking place on World Ocean Day at 6:00 PM in the Baird Auditorium. While we have been compiling names for potential additional speakers for the rest of the two-year series, we would welcome your nomination of outstanding scientists who would be willing to speak at the NMNH for this exciting series. The topics should be of national (or international) interest, and relate to one of the series’ focal areas: ocean biodiversity loss, climate change and its effects on the ocean, the ocean and human health, and coastal hazards. NSF-sponsored scientists are preferred.

Monday June 28 Smithsonian Folklife Festival As part of the annual Folklife Festival on The Mall, the Sant Ocean Hall will host a Mysteries of the Ocean Day in the Mysteries of the Universe Tent. We will focus on ocean exploration, deep ocean ecosystems and new discoveries/technologies.

In addition, please Submit a Video to the Ocean Today Video Kiosk. For more information on the Sant Ocean Hall contact Elizabeth Ban.
 Resources
TED Talks on Video: Jeremy Jackson In this bracing TED talk, coral reef ecologist Jeremy Jackson lays out the shocking state of the ocean today: overfished, overheated, and polluted, with indicators that things will get much worse. Astonishing photos and stats make the case. Watch the video.

TED Talks on Video: Mission Blue The TED-sponsored Mission Blue project, powered by Sylvia Earle’s 2009 TEDPrize wish includes a sea voyage to the Galapagos Islands, April 6-10, 2010, which has produced several videos.

Ocean Acidification Audio Slideshow Acidifying oceans dramatically stunt growth of already threatened shellfish. Watch the slideshow

Podcast from EOL Listen to the latest podcast episode from the Encyclopedia of Life to find out how Operation Calamari unfolded and how the museum managed to put their new Giant Squid on display. Listen to all of the podcasts, find intriguing extras, meet the featured scientists and find relevant educational materials at the Encyclopedia of Life Learning +Education website.

Underwater Adventure Videos for Classroom Use Jonathan Bird’s Blue World is an underwater adventure program that has been broadcast on more than 260 public television stations since May 2008. It is also available online and via free podcasts through iTunes. The shows are produced by Oceanic Research Group, a non-profit organization. [Image: Jonathon Bird's Blue World]

Google Ocean Webinar on Using and Adding Content Sponsored by the EBM Tools Network and presented by Charlotte Vick, Google Content Manager of Mission Blue, this webinar provides a non-technical general overview of the ocean layer of Google Earth 5.0 and information on how to add your own content (text, images, video, etc.) to the site. A recording of the webinar in Windows Media Viewer format can be downloaded. [Image: Google]
 Center News
Science fair
COSEE Alaska COSEE Alaska awarded $675 to 12 students at the Alaska State Science and Engineering Fair for their outstanding ocean science fair projects, which were judged for both their scientific merit and their relevance to local culture or community. Many of the more than 50 projects that were judged for these special awards emerged from school and district competitions supported by COSEE. [More]

COSEE Alaska published a revised guide to science camps, fairs, and activities targeted at rural Alaska teachers and students. The guide supports the COSEE ocean science fair program. [More]

Join SEANET, an informal network of people who communicate about research in Alaska's seas.

COSEE California COSEE California will be running a Communicating Ocean Science Instructors’ Workshop in June. COSEE California is also administering an Ocean Literacy Index to measure public understanding of the ocean among several subgroups; developing curriculum materials to provide students (Gr. 3-8) with opportunities to learn the content of ocean literacy; and is conducting a Learning Study to better understand how students build their understanding of ocean sciences concepts.

Bob Chen and friends in China
COSEE China Listen to Ari Daniel Shapiro’s COSEE China podcast.

COSEE Coastal Trends A recent article published in the NSTA journal Science Teacher featured several classroom activities developed by the "Dead Zones" Scientist-Educator Partnership team. More news in the Coastal Trends e-Newsletter.

COSEE NOW In April, Janice McDonnell and her team at Rutgers University hosted the Ocean Field Day program, which combined Marine Activities Resources & Education (MARE) and Communicating Ocean Science for Informal Audiences (COSIA). Learn more on YouTube.

COSEE NOW is hosting webinars on Broadening Your Impact and Using Ocean Data in Education. In addition there will be a tour of the new COSEE NOW website.

SoundCitizen Science Apprenticeship poster presentation
COSEE Ocean Learning Communities The SoundCitizen Science Apprenticeship Program is an NSF OEDG grant funded program and year-long partnership with Passages Northwest that brings high school students to the University of Washington to participate in Rick Keil's SoundCitizen project. This year’s eight apprentices chose to work with ocean scientists to investigate the levels of plasticizers in drinking water, fresh and salt water around Puget Sound. They also created a poster about their work and attended the February AGU Ocean Sciences Conference in Portland, Oregon to share their findings. The apprentices are spending the spring season collecting more samples, updating their findings, and presenting their research and the implications to various communities around Puget Sound.

OACIS GK-12 program poster
Over the past year COSEE Ocean Learning Communities has fostered a close relationship with the Ocean and Coastal Interdisciplinary Sciences GK-12 (OACIS GK-12) program and local area schools. Along with SoundCitizen, COSEE Ocean Learning Communities and OACIS GK-12 collaborated to create high school level curricular materials titled My Place in Puget Sound. The goal was to create a place-based inquiry science unit that addresses environmental issues with real and current data; is community relevant; and empowers students to act around environmental issues (rather than apathy resulting from environmental burnout). The culminating event was a public poster session held in March at the University of Washington where students shared their projects with high school students from other schools along with citizens, scientists and graduate students. This project leveraged the strengths of all three contributing groups to create something that none of them could create alone.

Carla Companion
COSEE Ocean Systems COSEE-OS staff member Carla Companion received an Outstanding Poster award for her presentation at an education technology conference in San Diego, CA on March 31. The Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) conference was sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Educators and software professionals presented talks, workshops and posters designed to showcase the many ways that technology can enhance education. Companion presented a poster reflecting COSEE-OS’s use of software in its four pilot Scientist Educator Collaborative Workshops. Results of the workshop evaluations demonstrated that concept mapping with online tools that are linked to educational resources can be an effective way of allowing scientists and teachers to communicate as peers.

COSEE Pacific Partnerships COSEE Pacific Partnerships is sponsoring a workshop at the Northwest Biology Instructors Organization (NWBIO) conference, Mariculture in Our Coastal Zones Examined Through Ecological Science, examining local and global mariculture and how science can provide ecological data to assist management and potentially inform legislation in the quest for sustainability of these multi-use ecosystems.

Coastline
COSEE SouthEast The 2010 Ocean Sciences Education Leadership Institute, Seas of Change: Exploring Southeastern Climate Change, will run from June 23-July 1 at NC State (Raleigh) and Trinity Center (Morehead City).

COSEE West A free online workshop Arctic Sea Ice: An Introduction was held April 10, in conjunction with the COSEE West Colorado Collaborative. A free online workshop Coral Reefs: Moorea, French Polynesia is being held currently, co-produced with the College of Exploration. A Teacher Exchange Workshop will be held in conjunction with COSEE West Colorado Collaborative, June-August 2010. Info for Boulder workshop here. Info for Los Angeles workshop here.
 COSEE Network Calendar
For the up-to-the-minute list of upcoming COSEE events, visit the COSEE.net Events page.
 Announcements
Online Course Taught by Rosanne Fortner The University of North Carolina Wilmington will be offering an online course this fall, Teaching about the Marine Environment, developed and taught by Dr. Rosanne Fortner, Director of COSEE Great Lakes. The course is completely online and asynchronous.

NOSB Question Writers Needed The Consortium for Ocean Leadership and National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) are seeking question writers for the 2011 competition. Scientists and graduate students are asked to each write 100 multiple-choice and short answer questions for the 2011 NOSB competition. Categories that are covered by questions during the competition include: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Geography, Marine Policy, Social Sciences, and Technology. Details here.

National Lab Day (NLD) is more than just a day; it’s a long-term program/collaboration between STEM professionals and K–12 classroom teachers. Even if you didn’t sign up for this year’s NLD, take a look at the website and projects, and register your class for NLD. Read NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle’s commentary in Education Week titled “Making Science Labs a Priority”. Read the blog from OSTP staff on the White House website about the May 6 NLD event in New York City. Read the e-mail from Energy Secretary Stephen Chu encouraging Dept. of Energy scientists to get involved in National Lab Day. Read the U.S. House of Representatives resolution (H.Res.1213) introduced by Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), which recognizes STEM education and supports National Lab Day.
 Publications
Math and Science Partnership Impacts The NSF Math and Science Partnership Program Impact Report was recently published.

EPA Addresses Ocean Acidification The Environmental Protection Agency is exploring whether to use the Clean Water Act to control greenhouse gas emissions in order to reduce ocean acidification. [More]

Science and Workforce Development Sandra Harpole from Mississippi State and four partner educators co-wrote this article, Science on the Shipyard, published in The Science Teacher, about science and workforce development. The article represents a grant from NSF and is aligned with NOAA’s new Education Strategic Plan and both NSF’s and NOAA’s desire to have greater involvement by industry within the STEM disciplines. Search our Resources for this article.
Contribute to CNN! Send news and announcements of interest to the COSEE Network community to the editor, Catherine Cramer.

 COSEE Centers and Council Representatives
COSEE Alaska (Nora Deans, North Pacific Research Board)
COSEE California (Craig Strang, UC Berkeley)
COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico (Sharon Walker, Institute for Marine Mammal Studies)
COSEE Coastal Trends (Laura Murray, U of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
COSEE Great Lakes (Rosanne Fortner, Ohio State University)
COSEE NOW (Janice McDonnell, Rutgers University)
COSEE New England (Billy Spitzer, New England Aquarium)
COSEE Ocean Learning Communities (Phil Bell, University of Washington)
COSEE Ocean Systems (Annette deCharon, Darling Marine Center, University of Maine)
COSEE Pacific Partnerships (Jan Hodder, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology)
COSEE SouthEast (Lundie Spence, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium)
COSEE West (Linda Duguay, University of Southern California)