I went to John William's The Invisible Shoreline video tour Saturday night at the Poulsbo Marine Science Center. I have not been to the Science Center in a while. I forgot how fascinating it is to get a peak at the underwater creatures. We got to see crabs delicately dining on a clam dinner. I could relate having just come from one myself. The center is housing a huge octopus in the large tank in the foyer. He (I found out how to tell it is a he) was extremely active . . .ballooning up and thrashing around the tank. He even did a few head butts on the window. Niki, MSC volunteer, told us this boisterous activity wasn't typical and wondered if it was time to release him to find his soul-mate in the depths.
The tiny auditorium at the center was packed. Obviously there is interest in our Puget Sound life. It was a free event sponsored by one of our KEEP/ECONet grants. John showed clips of underwater videos shot by him and his diving buddies. Amazing stuff going on down there. Sea Slugs are definitely much more attractive than the terrestrial kind. We were amused by a hitchhiking worm protecting his host by giving a sea star a painful pinch. John slipped in episodes of education in between clips: teaching about wave action, differences in tidal zones and that, indeed, Puget Sound health starts with picking up dog poop.
Looking around, I did recognize a few folks as members of the "choir". But the viewing definitely drew from a larger population. To reach even more new audiences . . .maybe he needs to show his footage on the wide screens in bars. I did learn that John has his own TV show on BKAT. For more information, visit: http://SEA-Inside.org.
Showing posts with label Puget Sound Starts Here. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puget Sound Starts Here. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Puget Sound starts in Kitsap County
Wow. I have one follower. AWESOME! This does pose some responsibility though. What to blog about????. . . .
This week, as well as 5th grade field trips at Buck Lake, I attended a KEEP meeting. KEEP stands for Kitsap Environmental Education Programs. This group has been getting together for 16 plus years. Members are all doing some type of environmental education in Kitsap County. We represent government or quasi government agencies like PUD, Kitsap County Public Works (Solid Waste and Surface and Storm Water Management), Conservation District, WA Sea Grant and WSU, but also have nonprofit members such as Stillwaters Environmental Center, the Great Peninsula Conservancy and the Illahee Citizens Group .
The purpose of the group is to network to facilitate members working cooperatively with each other. KEEP has changed somewhat recently due to the interaction with the Puget Sound Partnership and its Puget Sound Starts Here campaign. I have heard positive and negative comments about the Puget Sound Partnership, but I would have to give them a thumbs up because they are funding our group and groups like ours for projects that promote a healthy Puget Sound. This means that KEEP has added EcoNet to its name in order to play. A major result of doing that is that a coordinator for KEEP is being funded. The compensation is small, but Joleen Palmer from Stillwaters volunteered to take the KEEP/EcoNet coordinator position. Also, we were given an opportunity to choose a handful of projects to be funded through EcoNet block grants. Activities resulting from these projects can be found at www.greatpeninsula.org/events.
At this week's KEEP meeting updates were given on the funded projects:
Belonging to KEEP is a valuable tool to help environmental educators to make a difference.
This week, as well as 5th grade field trips at Buck Lake, I attended a KEEP meeting. KEEP stands for Kitsap Environmental Education Programs. This group has been getting together for 16 plus years. Members are all doing some type of environmental education in Kitsap County. We represent government or quasi government agencies like PUD, Kitsap County Public Works (Solid Waste and Surface and Storm Water Management), Conservation District, WA Sea Grant and WSU, but also have nonprofit members such as Stillwaters Environmental Center, the Great Peninsula Conservancy and the Illahee Citizens Group .
The purpose of the group is to network to facilitate members working cooperatively with each other. KEEP has changed somewhat recently due to the interaction with the Puget Sound Partnership and its Puget Sound Starts Here campaign. I have heard positive and negative comments about the Puget Sound Partnership, but I would have to give them a thumbs up because they are funding our group and groups like ours for projects that promote a healthy Puget Sound. This means that KEEP has added EcoNet to its name in order to play. A major result of doing that is that a coordinator for KEEP is being funded. The compensation is small, but Joleen Palmer from Stillwaters volunteered to take the KEEP/EcoNet coordinator position. Also, we were given an opportunity to choose a handful of projects to be funded through EcoNet block grants. Activities resulting from these projects can be found at www.greatpeninsula.org/events.
At this week's KEEP meeting updates were given on the funded projects:
- Still Hope Productions' The invisible shoreline video tour is being shown June 15 at Long Lake County Park, June 17 in Port Gamble and June 19 at Poulsbo Marine Science Center.
- Print and online ads are running in the Sun about activities for citizens.
- Stillwaters Environmental Center is sponsoring shoreline boat and kayak tours
- Rain garden mentors have been trained by WSU
Belonging to KEEP is a valuable tool to help environmental educators to make a difference.
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