The Observer, May 2008

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Community Corner: Council teams up with Alaska Geographic to teach teachers

Hopefully, by the time this newsletter is published, spring will be here. I’m sitting in my office watching it snow…and it’s April already!!!

For the first time, the council is collaborating with the Alaska Geographic Association and others to sponsor an accredited teacher training program called Recovering the Sound: After the Exxon Valdez. The course will take place in Prince William Sound, with teachers traveling to communities, beaches and forest service cabins to learn about culture, the oil spill and the Sound. This information will then be taken back to their students. The oil spill curriculum developed by the council in collaboration with the Prince William Sound Science Center and Prince William Sound Community College will be presented to the teachers as well.

This is a wonderful opportunity for teachers to learn first hand about the Sound and its features. If you are interested in the course, which will be presented again in 2009, the website is www.alaskageographic.org.

The film “Then & Now, The Alaska Oil Spill at 20” has been completed. It will be shown at the International Oil Spill Conference in Savannah, Georgia, in May, and in other venues in the future. The 30-minute film provides information on the spill and its effects on people and the environment. It also shows many of the improvements made since the spill to make the oil transportation in the Sound one of the safest in the world. If you would like a presentation of this film, contact me for assistance.

The council’s information booth was recently taken to two sportsman’s shows: one in Wasilla and one in Kenai. Thousands of people make their way through these shows and having our booth there is a good way to make contact with those who use the waterways in Southcentral Alaska. Next year, we plan to attend the Fairbanks sportsman’s show. In May, the booth will go to the International Oil Spill Conference in Georgia, and in June to the Arctic Marine Oilspill Program Technical Seminar in Calgary, Alberta.

Two firsts for Alaska are happening this spring. In April, the 2008 National Ocean Sciences Bowl took place in Seward. This national competition is held in various locations throughout the United States. It’s an academic “quiz bowl” type competition with questions related to the study of oceans. High school students participate in 25 regional competitions and the winning five-member teams attend the national competition. For more information, see www.nosb.org.

In May, the federal Invasive Species Advisory Committee holds its annual meeting in Anchorage. The committee includes approximately thirty stakeholders from state organizations, industry, conservation groups, scientists, academia and other interests. There will be presentations on such things as vectors for invasive species introduction to Alaska, citizen monitoring, and noxious weed control.

In other events, the council will hold a public reception in Soldotna in the Kenai Assembly Borough office building on June 17.