The Cooperative Oxford Lab (COL) and the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) are collaborating on a new joint education initiative that draws on the unique expertise of scientists and policy experts from NOAA, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and partner groups. The purpose of the initiative is to provide training and in-depth experiences for education professionals, including providers for student field experiences and teacher professional development, field educators for outdoor environmental education centers, and volunteers from outdoor environmental education centers. These experiences ultimately will advance the abilities of students in the sciences. This initiative supports the Chesapeake Bay Program’s commitment to providing students with a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience.

The development of this initiative will happen in two distinct stages. Phase I began in March of 2006 with the first partner meeting and will continue until an education training facility is available at the COL. Phase I involves providing short workshops in the COL facility and offsite at partner sites, and involving COL scientists in training sessions offered by other environmental education groups. Phase II will begin with the completion of a training facility located on the COL campus. These facilities will feature the equipment necessary to host interactive, hands-on training on-site at the COL.

Current partners include:

Government

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• National Phytoplankton Monitoring Network

NonProfit

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
• National Audubon Society: Pickering Creek and Jean dupont Shehan Sanctuary Centers
• Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
• Adkins Arboretum
• Environmental Concern
• Echo Hill
• Maryland Association for Environmental Outdoor Educators

Universities

• UMCES: Horn Point Laboratory and Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
• University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute

Email us for more information and to become involved.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
The first training offered through this initiative in partnership with EcoCheck highlights the Chesapeake Bay Summer Ecological Forecast, and will focus on “Incorporating Ecological Forecasting into Environmental Education.” The forecast focuses on three important elements of the Bay’s health: dissolved oxygen, harmful algal blooms, and changes in aquatic grass distribution.

Upcoming workshops this year may include:

• Looking back at the Summer Ecological Forecast
• Understanding the environment through conceptual diagrams
• Assessing the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries: producing ecosystem health report cards to build community knowledge

Additional topics for future workshops may include:

• Disease-causing contamination
• Diagnostic tools of pathology
• Disease mitigation and management and predicting Bay ecology
• Aquatic habitat restoration
• The newest science and policy related to blue crabs, striped bass, short-nosed sturgeon, native and non-native oysters, and multispecies management