Funded by the National Science Foundation (COSEE and Communicating Ocean Science to Informal Audiences - COSIA), this workshop was conducted to promote collaborative learning between educators and scientists (1:3 scientist-educator ratio) in order to create online learning resources that align with National Science Education Standards, as well as Climate and Ocean Literacy Principles.

For this particular event, 15 informal educators from the California's Central Coast region were matched with 5 ocean and climate scientists from the California Polytechnic State University (CalPoly) at San Luis Obispo to improve their collective understanding of Earth's major ocean - climate systems. The cadre of educators included representatives from marine sanctuaries, as well as many docents from local environmental institutions who expressed an interest in infusing more ocean and marine research into their programs. COSEE Pacific Partnerships staff facilitated interactions between CalPoly scientists and the informal educators to infuse cutting-edge research topics into educational products such as concept maps that hyperlink to scientist-vetted images, video, news items, and educational resources.

The goals of the workshop were to give the scientists a breadth of educator perspectives, and also to provide the educators with scientific content integrated with networking opportunities - in the hopes of catalyzing a regional ocean education consortium in this region. In the larger educational context, this workshop was notable because it marked the first time the COSEE-OS Scientist-Educator Collaborative (SEC) workshop model was transferred to and executed by another Center. Towards this end, on-site assistance and internal observation of the model transfer was provided by COSEE-OS staff members.

The CalPoly scientists specialize in a wide variety of research topics, but they placed particular emphasis on regional connections to California coastal ecosystems during this workshop. Topics ranged from coastal ocean modeling, to remote sensing of planktonic community dynamics, ultraviolet radiation effects on model marine organisms (and implications for humans), invasive species ecology, and climate change effects on intertidal organisms.

Concept Maps

What can ultraviolet radiation (UVR) impacts on sea urchins reveal about human responses to UVR? Nikki Adams, Christine Heinrichs, Jen Holcombe, and Tyler Korte) View: Scientist Map | Consensus Map Save: Scientist Map | Consensus Map

Why is it important for us to understand coastal ocean dynamics? (Paul Choboter, Jess Ferrentino, Jerry Kirkhart, and Carolyn Skinder) View: Scientist Map | Consensus Map Save: Scientist Map | Consensus Map

How do new technologies (sensors & platforms) help us better understand plankton? (Mark Moline, Bette Bardeen, Abbie Reichner, and Kim Whiteside) View: Scientist Map | Consensus Map Save: Scientist Map | Consensus Map

Why should we care about invasive species in marine environments? (Lisa Needles, Charmaine Coimbra, Hunter Kilpatrick, and Karen Watts) View: Scientist Map | Consensus Map Save: Scientist Map | Consensus Map

Shifting environments impacts on marine organisms: What does that iPad have to do with your clam chowder dinner? (Lars Tomanek, Robyn Irwin, Traci Reid, and Shari Sullivan) View: Scientist Map | Consensus Map Save: Scientist Map | Consensus Map