Kachemak Bay Environmental Education Alliance
Meeting Notes
Friday, October 27, 2006
Meeting Purpose:
1) Share information on new environmental education (EE) happenings in Kachemak Bay
2) Review and clarify direction of Alliance
3) Focus joint efforts
*notes note: These are pretty raw notes. What was I thinking? We’re very busy
people and cover a lot of territory in a five hour meeting! I’m including attendee’s email addresses at
the end of these notes in case I got something wrong or you want more information or clarification on what was presented at
this meeting. Please contact the presenter directly for more information.
Thanks - Elizabeth
Updates on NEW or UPCOMING local EE programs
Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council
Linda Robinson robinson@pwsrcac.org
Crab monitoring project
Crab models
Will help with aquatic invasives kits
Funding for discovery labs – oil, Oil spill curriculum
Film Festival, 1st – February 17
Contact Linda to recommend environmental films, up to 30 minute
Soliciting drawings for their coloring book, line drawings
3 projects
·
Updating oil spill curriculum k-12
·
Youth in Development mentoring project – recruiting
youth onto committees/ with mentor (review draft and communicate with Linda – deadline January)
·
DVD professions in oil trans, response and oversight,
AK careers, free DVD
Kenai Peninsula Conservation Educators (KPCE)
Dan Pascucci Kenai Watershed Forum, Kenai River
Center
dpascucci@borough.kenai.ak.us
EE providers organizing in Soldotna
Building alliances
Kenai Watershed Forum grant from ACF
Alliance
Curriculum development
2 meetings so far
Id areas for EE
Group focus
See handout
Action Plan
Education Plan for Kenai Peninsula
Matrix developed (one pager) – to id curriculum and trainings for teachers
– Dan please send
Teacher survey – funding and time to develop
Target audiences
Key questions
Needs assessment contact Shelly Renamin? – Ed Specialist with KWF see email
Dan – Adopt-A-Stream, made to order programs
Carmen has teacher questionnaire
Broader scope - Kenai Peninsula
(Anchorage Inservice)
Terry suggests looking beyond KP for program development
Carmen suggests including villages, homeschool
Bree suggests including KRC high school migration
Steve suggests including KPB personnel curriculum director
Demographic changes, voucher
AVO
Program evaluations – core questions, seasonal
Outreach to teachers – brochure, website
KBRR
ADF&G table top interpretation
displays currently in development for the Alaska Marine Highway, will be using Catie’s illustrations (Catie)
Crab monitoring programs: Students from Otter Beach and West Homer are monitoring Kachemak
Bay beaches for European Green Crabs using protocols developed by Judy
Hamilton. (Carmen) Other communities also monitoring include Kodiak, Valdez,
Cordova, and Tatitlek
Discovery Labs
Bugs collaborative lab and illustration class – modeled after Oceans and
Arts (plankton) event
Planktonfest 3rd Wednesday in February 21
March – no Catie, no Carmen
Developing Education Kits for use in Homer/ANC: invasive, clams, salmon, plankton, before end of June
KBC collaboration – Marine Plankton Ecology Course, 1 cr February
17, 24 Scott Pegau, General public
Decreased staffing for spring/summer 2007
Increased programming trend Fall 2004 – 20 kids, fall 2005-120, fall 2006 650!
Budgets Terry – projects – statewide duties –
Producing PSAs on the benefits of sportfishing to AK, family fishing, fish safely
with bears, sportfish aquatic ed web page
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Marianne updated us on:
Simeon’s Guide to I&O employees
National Scenic Byways Ferry table top displays
Wildlife Viewing Trail – watchable wildlife
Draft corridor plan for Sterling Hwy Scenic Byway
Grant for Tustemena – interpretive plan, products on Ferry and communities, they plan to hire
interpretive planner, contact Marianne with candidates
Ed specialist (Melonie’s old
position) – GS 9 year round position, contact Poppy Benson
(226-4606) for more information
Rat Reach pop-up display, brochure on invasive rats in the Refuge
VC Projects – holiday programming, highlighting community winter programs
Holiday open house Wed 12/20, discovery lab, live music
Cook Inlet Keeper, Ingrid Harrald
Participating in the Envirothon
helping Al Poindexter with his Natural Resource class
working on stream monitoring/bug stuff with Pratt
Pratt Museum
Ryjil Christianson is multitasking as Exhibits Coordinator and part time Education Assistant. Gale Parsons is still involved contributing her expertise as cultural liaison and
exhibits director.
Lois Bettini is developing Beauty
and the Bug: a celebration of insect’s opportunities to study insects,
artists involved,
Lois is teaching Natural History of the
Insect @ KBC
Pratt is Closed in January – reviewing 22 study kits, updating, revising, resource list
Pass at the Pratt a program serving struggling students, working with their teacher, Pratt as a place to study, waiting
for funding
WHIZ Kids – Halloween kick off, Tuesday and Thursdays through April, no Jan, free weekly workshop, Tuesdays pre=-K , 1st thru 6th grade, sci, art, history, 3:30-4:30pm
Center For Alaskan Coastal
Studies
WYNN – Beth Trowbridge
Winter programs
Fall programs
Winter ecology – unstructured, call ahead to set up, 2 hour, winter survival, Jan – March snow dependent,
Community – cabin open January
Snow shoes available to borrow
at office, 6 adult pairs, 6 kid pairs,
Visually impaired trail installed next summer, rope, interp displays, Braille plant labels,
Moose education
**Climate camp – Monday open to the public, 5-7 reception Climate Change in Bering Sea
focus, T/W workshops with scientists,
Inconvenient Truth @ Tues 7pm, please register
Sat 3pm, private showing
Lunch 8$ Monday
climatecampak.org
Bree Murphy
February 16-17– CACS is hosting AK
Coastal Stewardship Workshop, AK, Forum on Env. – coastal issues, Homer – tool kit – monitoring techniques,
action kit, invasives, marine debris, COASST, Otter
Marine Debris Challenge Grants - $2000 Challenge Grants offered by CACS
Summer – Aleutian Life Forum – Coastwalk presentation
COASST – University of Washington, beachcast seabirds monitoring, 3 trainings, ramping up Coastwalk
Summer ’06 Trainings – LNT with NPS, Project Learning Tree, Project WILD (25),
WYNN – developing new trail thru Cottonwoods, new habitat, comparisons of forest types, opens up
to views of Kachemak Bay, Billy Fisher Cottonwood Forest Trail, ¼ mile with switchbacks, open guided only, volunteers trail
Kasitsna Bay Lab – Kris Holderied
Marine Studies for Science Teachers, see handout
Send Kris ideas for topics, Dave Christie UAF, science director for lab –
passionate about education, lifelong learning, working with CACS,
Oster Learning sci/culture,
AK educational tours innovative business grants – sci/ed tours 60 people from outside Alaska, 48 beds @ lab
UAA course
Carmen’s Marine Invertebrates class was a great collaboration with
KBC
High School Science Field Camp – UAF/ 4-HExtension, NPS, CACS, KBRR, PRATT, desire to repeat, field data
collection for res management, youth development, needs more advanced planning, 2 next summer, outreach to underserved audiences, (Meg Burgett, COOP Extension Service),
NOAA Education office Mini Grants see Kris regarding application process, education on state or national level application,
regionally collaborative program, AK is considered a region
***Richard Louv – KBC interested, videoconferencing, high interest in Last Child in the Woods, reinstating
EE to FEDs
Glen Seaman, NOAA
Regional Natural Resource program, collaboration with Interior Aleutian Program, training people to work with Tribal
councils
New shape, statewide curriculum, classes
Partnerships with KBC & PWS campus,
Intro to Tribal Natural Resource management, Traditional Ecological Knowledge,
ADF&G
4 students from Tatitlek and 10-15 students from Chugach interested
Statewide efforts – AK Native Science and Engineering Program 75-80% success, headquarters
at UAA, expanding to bio science, internships, mentoring, well funded
Recruiting k-12 career
Needs assessment in collaborations with tribal council, school product for to inform our collaborations, interest
high in villages, January initiative
Contact Glen if you want
to help out or have input
Spring presentation on his
program
Kachemak Bay Campus – Carol Schwartz
New UAA provost coming to Homer today!
Fall Courses
Carmen’s Marine Invertebrates class – Kasitsna
Ed Berg’s Geology of KBay class, younger students HS,
1st time forensic exploration discovery!
Lois Bettini’s Insect Natural History class
New marine biology instructor, Debbie Tobin, specializing in river otters
Spring Semester Courses
Ed Berg, Global Climate Change, Lichen
Fly fishing class
New people certifying 1st aid CPR class each semester, register Monday
Chris Lopez, Boating Safety Navigation Basics, AK Water Wise, weekend class,
March 31 April 1, pool practice, AMSI,
Birding Elderhostel 2 programs in May,
July Elderhostel registration open
Expanding Lifelong Learning / Elderhostel
Outdoor Education with Anders Gustafson
icebreaker – ice climbing class,
Spring Break – March 19
Backcountry skiing
Winter camping class
3 cr survival safety winter survival
3 outings Caribou Hills, natural history component, across the bay, Saddle trail,
skill building in an educational context, risk management procedures
*May have opportunity for kid programs in conjunction with winter classes
Public info for School
of Oceans and Science
2nd phase of remodel
done in couple of weeks!
Art studio, 1100 sq ft
East campus Open house in a month
or so
Steve Hackett – IDEA Homeschool
Program
Participation increasing
Earth Science Week October packet
Earth as a system
Reports to the Nation
Earth Week activities in April
Matt Weaver, coordinator
Department of Natural Resources Project
Learning Tree(PLT) 269-8481
Matt_weaver@state.dnr.ak.us
PLT new national program: Places We Live
(PWL)
Fun training workshops with fun activities
New delivery system module with experiential lesson modeling
Overview of PWL module
PWL Rationale – change is inevitable
Changes affect aspects of lives, environmental, quality of life, community character
Choices make effects on future
4 purposes
§
Provide students with skills and knowledge to involve
themselves in planning for change
§
Connect students to where they live – community
characteristics developing sense of place
§
Changes in public health
§
Future impacts of choices
8 activities form a framework for teachers to
lead students through community investigations
1 personal places – prompts
id and report reflect on their connections to a special place in the community (tidal creek, tree fort, etc)
2 community character – framework to id unique attributes of their community, explore community response to
growth the change
3 mapping your community through time – aerial photos of past and present, infer patterns, make predictions about future
4 neighborhood design – explore
and detail their neighborhood – present, discuss eval development options, future change
5 greenspace – investigate
and document green space and native plants, neighbor, common region, options for protecting
6 vision for the future – teams
develop and present vision to class of HCOC, city council,
7 far reaching decisions –
develop presentations, how individual decisions affect the local env. , measure eco foot print
8 case study – investigate
regional issue, adopt role of stakeholders
Audience – secondary students, community
580 series credit
PLT
FIREWISE
PWL
580 PLT for mid/high school teachers could be turned into places module
Formal and non-formal educators, 2 choices credit – Friday night Saturday
class, non credit classes,
Matt has not delivered a places module yet…estimates it as a 15 hour class…initiate in Homer…community fits the profile…Spring 2007…Matt initiating
and collect source material, Kenai Peninsula focus,
Matt planning a trip down to collaborate
