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June 2012 Archives

Join teachers, artists, scientists and marine enthusiasts for an adventurous professional development plunge into ocean studies on Saturday June 9 at the SUNY Maritime College under the Throgs Neck Bridge in the Bronx.

Featured keynote speaker Jesse Ausubel, Senior Research Associate at Rockefeller University, and Director of the Census of Marine Life (CoML) will amaze you with unusual discoveries of sea life, such as the "hairy" Yeti crab, a new species discovered by international scientists exploring the deep sea vents in the Antarctic. Named after the fabled Yeti abominable snowman of the Himalayas, this blind crab may use the hairy fibers to trap bacteria as food, or possibly use the bacteria in the fibers to filter out toxic minerals that are released from the vents. Discoveries beget discoveries. 

You think you have challenges taking attendance in your classroom; see what happens when you try to take attendance in the Oceans' registrar. This monumental task involves 2,700 scientists from 80 nations, making 30 million observations. Research scientist Ausubel, one of the esteemed blue-ribbon honored awardees, stated "that the project has identified more than 200,000 different forms of marine species, from plankton to sharks, and perhaps there are a million more forms of complex life yet to be discovered".

Dr. Peter Rona, Professor of Marine Geology and Geophysics at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University, will take you on a tour of the Hudson Canyon, just miles off the NY-NJ Harbor.  Imagine a canyon almost as big as the Grand Canyon, in our own underwater backyard, and navigating through it with a submersible! This ice-age formation occurred about 10,000 years ago when sea level was 400 feet lower than the current level. The canyon is one of the largest submarine canyons, extending out 400 miles seaward across the continental shelf, with walls nearly a mile deep. A unique habitat and winter destination for several species of fish such as flounder, sea bass, longfin hake, and red crabs, it is also a home for deep-sea corals and sponges. Who knows what else may lurk in over 10,500 feet of water when the Hudson River was once a dumpsite for city sewer sludge, reaching and settling into this little studied enormous canyon. 

Join Richard Ellis, renowned marine artist, author, and recipient of the Explorers Club Communications Medal in 2012, in an intimate art & science workshop, along with other presenters such as Dr. Artie Kopelman, discussing marine mammals of New York; Pew Institute Educator Jamie Pollack, reviewing the future of iconic fishes, and sharks in our oceans; Bill Monahan, providing a history of oceanography; Becky Schneider will do a workshop on teaching about NY Harbor; and Dr. John Tanacredi will feature horseshoe crab ecology and local population studies.

The day is filled with lectures, workshops, and fieldtrips on kayaks, or a visit to the campus marine museum, or dockside water quality studies with NYSMEA field educators Tom Green and Lou Siegel.

Full registration ($105) includes all lectures, workshops, fieldtrips, breakfast, lunch and a lobster dinner. Visit exhibitors, and participate in an evening auction to bid on marine fossils, lab kits, books, and marine artifacts and biofacts.  Make an investment in your teaching tool kit, and enjoy professional and friendly, fun networking.

College students are encouraged to attend with a discounted student registration rate. Professional development credit is available.

Why write about a great event that already happened and disappoint so many of our devout readers? Get Marinated Now and join us on June 9!

Please visit the NYSMEA (NYS Marine Education Association) website for conference information and registration at www.NYSMEA.org

Sea you there.
 
crab.jpg

The discovery of the Yeti Crab resulted in the creation of a new family of crabs, although it's a distant relative of the more common hermit crab.

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