A few interesting opportunities coming up for you. Also, don’t forget that if you didn’t attend the conference and haven’t done so already you will need to renew your membership by the end of June. It is only $ 20 and gets you great regional outings (see the next one for July below), scholarships for professional development, and reciprocal benefits at various marine institutions around the state. Go to http://fmsea.org/membership/ to renew online.
Sea Turtle Nesting Walk Join us for a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with a nesting sea turtle in the second largest loggerhead nesting site in the world. The Friends of the Carr Refuge is hosting a special walk for FMSEA at the Barrier Island Center in Melbourne Beach on Saturday, July 18, at 9:00 pm. Trained and permitted guides will find a nesting sea turtle and excavate part of the nest so you will be able to see the eggs being laid, allowing you to approach closer than you’d normally be allowed by law. Watch the amazing process as she then covers and disguises her nest and returns to the ocean. While scouts are out finding the turtle you’ll be able to relax during an information sea turtle presentation inside the Barrier Island Center’s theater. This is limited to 20 participants and you must be a FMSEA member to participate. Contact Brandon Smith at rd-eastcentral@fmsea.org by July 8, with your name and phone number to register. FMSEA will be covering the cost of the walk but should there be spaces available after the registration deadline we will open it up to family or friends of the registrants as well; however, they will be asked to cover the $ 15 donation for the walk themselves.
BIC Events Speaking of the Barrier Island Center, you can see the other marine related events happening there for the month of July and August including their ever popular Tour de Turtles. Check out their calendar for all the details.
Become a Master Naturalist There are several Florida Master Naturalist Programs being offered throughout our region. The dates listed are just the beginning and end dates of the classes, click on the Registration link to see the exact dates the classes are offered and contact information for the instructors. The core modules are 40 contact hours and the special topics courses are 24 contact hours.
Brevard
Upland Systems – July 30 – August 29, 2015 Registration closes at 10:00 am on July 24, 2015 UF/IFAS Brevard County Cooperative Extension Office, 3695 Lake Drive, Cocoa, FL 32926
Wildlife Monitoring – September 11-19, 2015 Registration closes at 10:00 am on September 7th. Riverwalk: A Family Park, Riverwalk Nature Center,5355 US Hwy 1, Rockledge, FL 32955
Orange
Upland Systems – October 2 – November 6, 2015 Registration closes at 10:00 am on September 28, 2015 Oakland Nature Preserve, 747 Machete Trail, Oakland, FL 34760
Volusia
Freshwater Wetland Systems – September 18 – October 23, 2015 Registration closes at 10:00 am on September 14, 2015. Volusia County Agricultural Center: Auditorium, 3100 East New York Av. DeLand, FL 32724
Coastal Systems – October 16 – November 20, 2015 Registration closes at 10:00 am on October 12 Marine Discovery Center: Lab, 520 Barracuda Blvd., New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169
Additionally, there is a FMNP Meet-up in Key Largo on October 16-17 at the Murray E Nelson Govt Center Auditorium, 102050 Overseas Hwy, Key Largo. You can get a hotel room at Bay Harbor Lodge with a 20% discount available October 14-19, 2 night minimum, Use code “MAST” when registering. Field Trips will include Snorkeling and Birding. See the schedule here and register at http://stlucie.ifas.ufl.edu/fmnp_meetup_2015.html
Grant and Award Opportunities Excellence in EE Awards
NAAEE recognizes individuals and organizations that excel in environmental education through a variety of annual awards. Awards include the Walter E. Jeske Award, K-12 Educator of the Year, and more. The deadline for nomination is July 31, 2015.
ABC Summer of Creativity Grants
Youth Service America, in partnership with ABC and Disney Friends for Change, can help young changemakers, 5-18 years old with a sponsoring organization or school, create the future they imagine. The Summer of Creativity Grant to supports a service project that makes communities greener, safer, and more. The deadline for application is August 10, 2015.
Hot Planets Cool Athletes Powder Grant
In partnership with The North Face, Clif Bar and MEC, the Hot Planet / Cool Athletes Powder Grant program leverages the power of pro athletes to inspire the next generation to lead the fight against climate change. The deadline for application is August 31, 2015.
Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation Grants
K-12 teachers are invited to apply for grants to develop or implement environmental curricula that integrate hands-on ecology exercises into the classroom. To facilitate learning and student empowerment, environmental curricula should be holistic and strive to synthesize multiple levels of learning (facts, concepts, and principles), often including experiential integrated learning and problem solving. The deadline for pre-proposals is September 13, 2015
Captain Planet Foundation Grants
The Captain Planet Foundation provides grants to school and community groups to support hands-on environmental projects for youth in grades K-12. The objective of the foundation is to encourage innovative programs that empower youth to work individually and collectively to solve environmental problems in their neighborhoods and communities. The next deadline for application is September 30, 2015.
Antarctic Art Contest
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Art Contest seeks entries that explore and interpret Antarctic research and science related to an ice core that engineers and scientists drilled from the center of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Scientists are examining the ice core to make new observations and generate new ideas about the last 100,000 years of climate history. The deadline for entry is October 1, 2015.
US Department of Education Green Ribbon School– For schools, school districts, and now for colleges and universities.
Professional Development Climate and Ecological Forecasting: Predicting and Preventing Health Risks
Space is limited. Reserve Your Spot at:
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar
The featured speaker for July is Ms. Juli Trtanj, One Health Lead for NOAA. Integrating extreme weather and climate science in NOAA’s Climate Program Office, Ms Trtanj is responsible for developing and implementing NOAA’s Health Strategy with Federal, State, local, and international agencies, both public and private.
This webinar will focus on NOAA’s efforts conducting coastal ecological forecasts of harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, pathogens (naturally-occurring marine bacteria), and species distribution in relation to a changing climate, how these events affect people, health, and the environment (including those who do not live near the coast!), and how incidences of these events are changing over time. It will provide answers for some of the most common questions people have when visiting a beach that may be vulnerable to an ecological event, such as a harmful algal bloom. Can I eat that shellfish? Should I swim here? How do I know where to look for information? Some findings of the draft Climate and Health Assessment report, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment, will also be discussed. Department of Energy Climate Change Webinar Serieshttp://www.energy.gov/diversity/mie-webinar> Experts will provide findings from the Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) and outline federal energy policy objectives, proposals, and actions as they relate to climate change and resilience for underserved communities. An expert on energy and climate change job strategies will discuss job opportunities and regional options for renewables and energy efficiency. Authors of the National Climate Assessment will discuss their findings and the regional applicability to those communities who are disproportionally impacted by the effects of climate change. In collaboration with US Global Climate Change Research Program, we hope to engage a diverse audience through these regional webinars. The next webinar is on July 9th.
NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System educators and researchers offer a wide variety of profession development opportunities, grounded in research and fieldwork. The workshops include field activities, in-depth background information about estuaries and other coastal habitats, classroom resources, and more.
Citizen Science Academy Courses Online
The NEON Citizen Science Academy, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, provides online professional development resources for educators to support effective implementation of citizen science projects and activities that focus on ecology and environmental sciences. The project is intended to be a complete professional development resource for educators and will include online courses, modules, tutorials, and a virtual community of practice. Current resources include a variety of online courses, videos, and more.
DataStreme Climate, Atmosphere, and Ocean Courses
The American Meteorological Society’s DataStreme Project is an expenses-paid professional development program for in-service K-12 educators. Graduate-level courses in meteorology, oceanography, and climate science are offered by Local Implementation Teams across the country. To register, please contact your nearest LIT leader. Check out the upcoming fall/spring schedule.
Sensitive Topics in Science Education
Dr. Randy McGinnis, a member of the MADE CLEAR http://www.madeclear.org team, is an instructor of preservice teachers, and has resources on including climate change topics in these courses. He has posted a presentation on teaching about sensitive topics, using climate change as an example. The page is http://www.climateedresearch.org/science-methods/index.html and that resource is listed under Presentations. There are many other resources on this page (Climate Change Learning Sciences Research) for bringing climate change concepts and pedagogy into teacher education courses.
MADE CLEAR is working specifically with preservice teachers and their instructors to incorporate climate change concepts and models for teaching about climate change into courses.
Citizen Science Academy – Online Courses
Have you heard about Project BudBurst, CoCoRaHS, FrogWatch USA, eBird, & PicturePost but aren’t sure how to implement them? Explore these exciting projects by enrolling in one of Citizen Science Academy’s online courses. A few reasons why you should take a CSA course:
Registration is still open for Summer courses, but spaces are limited, so sign up soon!
Online Earth Science Course
Earth and space science has grown in importance, and is now a required high school course in many states. Earth science prepares students for jobs in energy, transportation, agriculture, weather forecasting, oceanography and many other fields. It also helps students understand societal issues that require a global perspective. Yet many districts are unable to offer Earth science because they don’t have trained teachers. In fact, only 25% of high school students currently take Earth science.
In response, TERC and Virtual High School (educational non-profits) created an ONLINE Earth science course, now available for students throughout the US. It combines cutting edge visualization technology along with hands-on field work in the students’ local communities, and is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. The course is operated by the Virtual High School, and features online teachers certified and trained in Earth science. Students anywhere can take the course, whether as an individual student or an entire class. Thus, districts now have a creative solution, providing Earth science online, in a state-of-the-art course, even if they don’t have a local teacher qualified to teach Earth science.
World Climate Project
Participate in this international effort to engage young people, citizens, and decision-makers with climate change science and action through the World Climate simulation-based role-playing game (https://www.climateinteractive.org/tools/world-climate) This effort up is a lead-up to the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris, in coordination with partners in the US, Europe, South America, and elsewhere. There will be a face-to-face workshop on July 24 at MIT as well as a series of webinars. Check out https://www.climateinteractive.org/world-climate-project for dates, times, and an application for the workshop. For more information contact: Juliette N. Rooney-Varga, Ph.D. Juliette_RooneyVarga@uml.edu