When: December 15 - February 26
Each concurrent session must address one or more conference strands and be of interest to the NMEA membership: formal educators, informal educators, university professors, researchers and program or agency administrators. It is recommended, but not required, that one or more of the Ocean Literacy principles be addressed.
Audiences - Focus is on cultivating a global community of water conservationists. Presenters are invited to share strategies and programs that focus on reaching out to underrepresented audiences.
Breakthroughs - Focus is on scientific research and new technologies that enable us to better understand the ocean, including the role of freshwater as it applies to inland waterways and its impact on the ocean.
Partnerships - Focus is on successful partnerships and collaborations among educators, researchers, diverse audiences and communities, as well as opportunities for teacher training, grants, awards and classroom funding.
Research - Focus is on behavioral patterns of students and educators in schools and other organizations as they relate to ocean literacy. Presenters are invited to share their specific projects.
STEM - Focus is on combining science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in order to provide inquiry opportunities to enhance students' understanding of freshwater and marine ecosystems.
Sustainability - Focus is on conservation issues as they pertain to the well-being of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources. Specific topics may include global climate change, policy initiates and local success stories.
Teaching - Focus is on successful classroom experiences using aquatic and marine themes. Presenters are invited to share their best practices.
Tradition - Focus is on the long standing traditions, practices and cultures of regional, indigenous and local communities as they relate to freshwater and marine environments. Traditional ecological knowledge is cultural practice based on generations of place-based observations and empirical, experiential information. Presenters are invited to share perspectives, programs and strategies that embrace, support and celebrate traditional knowledge.
Sessions are one hour in length and should follow one of these formats:
Hands-On - Session participants are actively engaged in doing session activities.
Field-Based - Presenter discusses an activity, topic or program that takes place in a natural environment.
Lecture - Presenter speaks to the session participants on an area of expertise with limited participation from the audience.
Round Table - Session participants are actively engaged in a brainstorming discussion on a specific topic of interest.
Panel - A selected number of experts share their knowledge on a specific subject. Session participants should have an opportunity to ask questions to the panel.
Demonstration - Presenter shows the session participants how to execute an activity or experiment.
Web or Video - Web or video is the integral part of the activity, topic or program discussed in the session.
Session proposals must be submitted by Friday, February 26, 2010. Proposals will be evaluated by the review committee. All proposals may not be accepted. Presenters will be notified by March 15, 2010.
Handouts - In an effort to be green, all presenters are asked to send an electronic copy of the session handouts and Power Point presentations to nmea2010@ripleys.com by Friday, July 16, 2010. All handouts and Power Point presentations will be available for download by session participants at NMEA Central throughout the conference.
Internet Access - We have limited availability for sessions that require access to the internet.