Following are brief introductions to the three new COSEE Centers. For more information, please visit their respective About Us pages.
COSEE Florida
The goal of COSEE Florida is to engage a spectrum of people and organizations throughout the state - ocean researchers, educators, and the general public- in a wide range of activities, with multiple levels of involvement, designed to improve ocean literacy both regionally and nationally. COSEE Florida is a partnership between:
In addition, the University of Florida Sea Grant Extension Program will be involved in community outreach and faculty at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute/Florida Atlantic University will provide scientific expertise and mentoring. COSEE Florida will be based at the IRSC Science Center at the Main Campus in Fort Pierce.
COSEE Florida will:
- Sponsor workshops to engage ocean scientists and help them effectively communicate their discoveries and the relevance of their ground-breaking research to non-scientific audiences
- Design and disseminate a new ocean-based curriculum for college students planning to teach middle school science
- Create an eight-region Florida Ocean Science Learning Network offering public programs that focus on regional and statewide challenges
- Collaborate with organizations throughout Florida to host Water As Habitat events that will bring scientists, educators, and the general public together.
Dr. Edwin R. Massey, IRSC, Lead Principal Investigator
Dr. Susan B. Cook, Project Director and Co-PI
Dr. Richard Tankersley, Florida Institute of Technology, Co-PI
Dr. Valerie Paul, Smithsonian Marine Station, Co-PI
Dr, Edith Widder, ORCA, Co-PI
For more information visit the About Us page for COSEE Florida.
COSEE OCEAN
COSEE Ocean Communities in Education and social Networks (OCEAN) is a collaboration between:
Supporting partners include the Lawrence Hall of Science and COSEE China.
The overall approach of the COSEE OCEAN thematic center is to leverage existing networks and communities by strategically investing COSEE OCEAN resources. By supporting the connectivity between people and resources, COSEE OCEAN will act catalytically and in a sustainable fashion.
Some of the COSEE OCEAN proposed activities include:
- Engaging ocean scientists through workshops at ASLO meetings
- Facilitating adoption of ocean science curriculum by Boston Public Schools
- Engaging networks of informal science educators
- Linking the COSEE Network with STEM learning communities
- Exchanging ideas, experiences and resources with COSEE China
Dr. Robert Chen, UMass Boston, Lead Principal Investigator
Dr. Arthur Eisenkraft, UMass Boston, Co-PI
Dr. Alan Friedman, New York Hall of Science, Co-PI
Pam Pelletier, Boston Public Schools, Co-PI
Dr. Adrienne Sponberg, ASLO, Co-PI
Kristin Uiterwyk, UMass, Project Manager
Catherine Cramer, Communications
Carol Baldassari, Program Evaluation Research Group (PERG), Evaluator
For more information visit the About Us page for COSEE OCEAN.
COSEE TEK
COSEE Technology and Engineering for Knowledge (COSEE TEK) focuses on the enabling role of technology and engineering in oceanography. The Center will support technology-based educational activities and learning communities, develop resources that broaden the impact of ocean science and technology, and communicate the history, breadth, and advancement of oceanographic technologies to diverse audiences. The Center is a collaboration between:
Other partners include the American School for the Deaf, National Association of Black Scuba Divers, UConn School of Engineering, and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation.
COSEE TEK has begun the research and review of STEM-related broader impact resources pertaining to a large number of ocean science technologies. The range of technologies being surveyed includes vessels, platforms, vehicles, sensors/samplers and remote sensing and imaging tools. The results of this effort will be input into a comprehensive database that is currently being designed. This database will be searchable from the COSEE TEK website and serve as a resource for scientists developing proposals, educators seeking teaching resources and the public wanting to learn more about the technologies that allow us to explore and understand the ocean.
Part of COSEE TEK’s mission is to be entrepreneurial in its approach – constantly on the lookout for emerging technologies and new opportunities to partner with researchers who are developing and applying cutting edge tools to better understand our blue planet. As these innovations arise COSEE TEK will seek to work in partnership to identify ways to enhance the broader impacts of these technologies and their role in understanding the ocean. Following are two new potential technology applications and partnerships:
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| Selecting instruments for BOB
(Photo: Lundie Spence) |
As a result of her involvement with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Dr. Penny Vlahos, UConn Department of Marine Science, began exploring the possibility of deploying her Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) based sensors on Basic Ocean Buoys (BOBs), an educational initiative being jointly developed by NOAA’s IOOS, SECOORA and COSEE SouthEast. Dr. Vlahos and COSEE TEK are currently developing a pilot program that would integrate her EVA sensors on BOBs in Long Island Sound to provide a novel technology-based monitoring program for teachers and students to track pesticides and emerging contaminants across the Sound. Dr Vlahos and COSEE TEK Director Ivar Babb are attending a workshop being hosted by COSEE SouthEast, SECOORA, NOAA-IOOS and Jacksonville University to learn more about the initiative and hopefully identify pathways for greater collaboration, with a focus on the sensor technologies.
Ocean Technologies – Are There Apps for That?
COSEE TEK Director Ivar Babb and Technician Dr. John Hamilton attended an Apple-sponsored seminar on the development of applications using Apple’s iOS, as a first step in accessing the feasibility of developing iPhone, iPod and iPad applications that can be used as social networking tools to share data from and media about ocean technologies. The vision is to develop tools that promote the interaction of the learning communities developed through planned COSEE TEK activities such as the Technology Teams.
Ivar Babb, UConn, Lead Principal Investigator
Lauren Rader, Project Oceanology, Co-PI
Dr. Diana Payne, Connecticut Sea Grant, Evaluator
Kelly Matis, Mystic Aquarium, Co-PI
Dr. John Hamilton, UConn, Technician
Kevin Joy, UConn, Technician
Michael McKee, UConn, Web Developer
Melissa Ryan, Mystic Maritime Consulting, Broader Impacts Coordinator
For more information visit the About Us COSEE TEK page.
