The Wrack

Teachers on the Estuary Returns in 2016

The four New England research reserves are putting teachers on the estuary again this summer by offering free workshops that will give educators data-driven climate change activities to bring back to their classes. Each of the four TOTE (Teachers on the Estuary) workshops, one 3- or 4-day session per reserve, will train a dozen educators in reserve-style environmental monitoring, "coastal blue carbon" concepts, and ways to understand and address climate change.

Please note: The workshop at Wells Reserve will be held Monday, July 11 through Thursday, July 14, 2016. Review of applications will begin May 31, 2016.

Wells Reserve TOTE Application

Wells Reserve TOTE Draft Agenda

Wells Reserve TOTE Promotional Flyer

To learn more about TOTE workshops, see the articles at wellsreserve.org/tote.

Why TOTE?

Teachers often don't get much exposure to estuarine and watershed concepts during their own education, so it can be daunting for them to develop a curriculum (and locate suitable data sets) around these topics. TOTE workshops show teachers how to access and employ custom curricula and data that already meet Next Generation Science Standards or state education frameworks.

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 2/28/2016.

Today, I feel like a chimney swift, because Im looking for a mate!

We had been asked, at the start of the meeting, to reveal the animal we most felt like. At 89 years old, June Ficker had the best answer. Of course it was a bird, because she was the Wells Reserve at Laudholms most committed and knowledgeable master bird bander. But the uproarious looking for a mate part was so June. She had that spark, that consistent ability to deny the age society said she should act.

A saltwater farm with rustic barn, expansive grounds, and environmental mission made the Wells Reserve at Laudholm our first and only choice for a wedding venue.

We have lost a committed conservationist, a lover of birds and of all things wild, a master bird-bander and masterful birder, an excellent teacher and an enthusiastic life-long learner, and one the greatest friends one could ever have.

Two years ago, Kate and I participated in the National Association of Interpretation's (NAI) 40-hour Certified Interpretive Trainer (CIT) workshop with the intent of facilitating our own Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) workshops at the Reserve. Last week, our vision became reality as twelve talented interpreters from Maine and Massachusetts convened for 32 hours of training with us in Mather Auditorium.

Recently the Coastal Training Program hosted a webinar series on environmental communication by Water Words that Work (WWTW). Space was limited and several of you asked for materials and resources. I'll recap the webinar in two parts.

Shhh... don't tell anyone about my grand idea...

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The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco Journal Tribune Sunday edition of 2/7/16 and Making It At Home Thursday?edition, 2/11/2016.

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On February 12, 1809, two boys were born, one in England, one in Kentucky. Though separated by an ocean they were, by the end of their lives, united in genius, vision, and courage.

Dovekies, or little auks, are sea-going plankton consumers who tend to stay to our north. You're most likely to spot one from a boat or, with persistence, through a telescope at a good "sea-watching" site. I've never been so lucky; dovekie's on my wish list.

I had been bugging John about getting engaged for months.

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco Journal Tribune Sunday edition of 1/24/16 and Making It At Home Thursday?edition, 1/28/2016.

Always eager to start some new long-term monitoring project, Im now keeping track of the number of conversations I have about the weather. Im planning to henceforth keep tabs on with whom, when, and for how long we chatted. Im already certain one thing will be constant: the changing weather will be discussed in only the most general, equivocal, unchanging terms. You and I will talk about the weather, my friends, but we will say nothing new.