NYSMEA 2005 Conference at Dowling College June 3

New York State

Marine Education Association
2005 Conference at Dowling College
June 3, 4, 5

Click on any image to enlarge

Dr. John Tanacredi, Chairperson of the Department of Earth and Marine Sciences and his student assistants greeted participants as they arrived. Friday began with unfortunately aborted planned trips due to weather onboard Dowling's fleet of planes. Participants did however use the school's state of the art flight simulator. This was followed by trips to Brookhaven Labs or Atlantis Marine World. Others spent the day at Fire Island Seashore's Sunken Forest with veteran leader, Steve Lander.

Everyone then met back at Dowling's Brookhaven Campus for a wine and cheese hour overlooking the airport followed by our traditional Lobster Dinner.


	The speaker for the evening was Dr. Paula M. Mikkelsen, Assistant Curator, Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. She gave a great presentation on her research on Mollusks in the Florida Keys. NYSMEA members then demonstrated their vast knowledge of all things marine by participating in a special game of Jeopardy, moderated by Lou Siegel and Ed Wilensky with questions by Anne Bicker and Gail David

	After a few hours rest a hearty crew met Lou Siegel at Dowling's own dock on the Connetquot River for a 7:00 am Saturday kayak trip down this beautiful tidal river. We stuck close to the western shore which is bounded by the serene Bayard Cutting Arboretum. A second crew repeated the trip later in the day when a host of red eared sliders were spotted sunning themselves.


	You would never guess, as they greeted new arrivals at registration, that our conference co-chairs, (Dr. Merryl Kafka of the New York Aquarium and Lisa Breslof of the American Museum of Natural History,) had just returned from the early morning kayak trip! Let the sessions begin!


Dale Stanley, Biology Instructor at Nassau Community College discusses Long Island Beach Ecology	Doren Williamson, Educator, Atlantis Marine World	Julika Wocial, Rescue Program Supervisor, The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research	Robert Cowin, Coordinator Conserve Our Ocean Legacy

	Michael Passow , Science Educator from White Plains Middle School, and former President of STANYS, used Dowling's state-of-the-art computer system to demonstrate Online Oceanography Resources


Kristi Willis, 7th Grade Scence Teacher, Great Neck South Middle School, shares her experiences with the Mighty Blue Whales of the St. Lawrence Gulf	Jim Paul, Manager of Outreach Programs at the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium discusses and demonstrates invasive species

Kimberly Vaillancourt, Teacher and students from Frederick Douglass Academy VII report on Human Impact on NYC's salt Marshes: does Anyone Care?	Mary Leou, NYC Soil and Water Conservation District, presents a Guide to Field Trips in NYC	Patricia Sullivan-Lynch, Education Consultant, Sea Wonders. Shows a sea cucumber and other subtidal organisms.

Bruce Neill, Independent Education Consultant certainly is entertaining Kristy Willis. Must be something about whales!	Bruce who showed his wide ranging maritime knowledge at the Jeopardy game the night before keeps his group on task as they study diversity.

Exhibitors thanked us for inviting them as they not only were able to share their information with our members but they got to spend a beautiful day in the Riverside Cafe. Participnts enjoyed their lunch as they observed boat traffic and and the flora and fauna of the Connetquot River before them!





Kimberly Graff, Outreach Coordinator, New York Sea Grant/Long Island sound Study	Dr Adriana Aquino and Jay Holmes, of the American Museum of Natural History discuss YouthCan: Collaboration Around the Room and the World	Mary Turnipseed of the Blue Ocean Institute discusses Fisheries and Our Oceans	William Reed, Independent Education Consultant and Students discuss environmental problems and solutions

	The taste of Wine and Cheese were enhanced by the beautiful courtyard setting of the former Vanderbilt Estate that forms the nucleus of the Dowling Campus. Dinner was served soon after in the Grand Ballroom. Maxwell Wheat entertained with a reading of several poems as we dined. Wine was donated by Atlantis Marine World, the gateway to Long Islands' wine country!






Merryl Kafka surprised our keynote speaker, Trevor Corson, by revealing her unique appendage!	Trevor Corson, author of The Secret Life of Lobsters, really got into the excitement of the evening by donning a NMEA 2006 Liberty crown.		Hugo Freudenthal joins the rest of the crew in revving up the 06 fever.
	7:30 am on Sunday, Lou Siegel led a hearty crew out to nearby Hechsher State park to find horseshoe crabs and more!
Returning for a quick continental breakfast, we were in time to hear the very interesting presentation by Andre Mele, Director of the Clearwater Fondation, on the Hudson River Estuary.
A dedicatied group then enjoyed another delicious lunch and got down to work on planning the NMEA 06 conference
	Join us for a great time July 16-21 of 06 for the National Marine Educators conference at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge! email us at info@NYSMEA.org to join the committee! Watch www.NYSMEA.org for further details!