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The Ocean, our Great Teacher
"I need the sea because it teaches me"
Pablo Neruda
Welcome to OceanEducation Online. This site is inspired by two main principles:
1) The Ocean is vital for life on Earth and education is needed to inspire people to understand this importance and protect it.
2) The Ocean is an awesome teacher and can be used to teach almost ANYTHING!
Learning with the Ocean can create or strengthen a passion for the big blue and all she contains. Our hope is that this passion will translate into action and the Ocean will survive to teach the generations to come.
Please explore this site, learn something new, and share it with others.
learn with us Virtually
Learning with Aquaponics
Explore science, math, reasoning, and adventure as we care for an aquaponics system in our home and share our learning through videos and activities.
Cuyler (3rd grade) and Torrey (1st grade) are finding out that asking their mom (a marine science educator) for pet fish was a lot more involved than they hoped.
Your Neighborhood Ocean
It doesn't matter what your address is; if you live on Earth, then the Ocean is in your Neighborhood! You might be asking now, "WHERE?!" especially if you live far from the coasts.
Discover where the Ocean is in your Neighborhood!
Dive Deeper
The terms "Dive Deeper," "Climb Higher," and "Go Farther" all come from a place of passion and drive.
Once you know a little about a topic and find a passion, this page will allow you to explore it more and make connections to the Ocean.
Or, use it in reverse and allow your passion for the ocean to take you deeper into topics that would otherwise not appeal to you.
Get Involved with Citizen Science
Hopefully the material presented here provokes learning, and a love of science and the Ocean. But, as educators we know that the best way to learn is to engage in Hands-On experiences.
We are fortunate to live in Southern California and have access to several Coastal Projects. I will detail these projects for others who live in the Southern California area, and provide ideas to find a project near you whereever you are.
Who WE Are
After 13 years in the Coast Guard focusing on Marine Pollution Enforcement, I realized that we don't have a pollution problem--we have a knowledge problem.
It's a long-held fact that people protect what they love, and so I decided to change careers and teach people (especially youth) about the Marine Environment to encourage a generation of change. My Coast Guard career gave me robust experience with the ocean, marine ecology, and chemistry, but I did not engage in formal education. And so, here I am going back to school to pursue my B.S. in Marine Biology and ultimately my Master's in Informal Science Education to share with everyone the wonders of the ocean. Please JOIN ME and my lil' dudes on this journey!
My goal is to reach as many people as possible, providing access to ways to teach about the ocean. I hope that students will not only learn science but also learn to love the sea, and that love will lead to curing our ultimate knowledge problem.
Jill
(Mom)
Torrey
(lil' Bro)
I'm overly energetic and love video games. When you give me pizza I eat like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. My favorite thing about science is chemicals and genetics so I can make superpowers like stealth of the cat, or mega shark teeth.
Cuyler
(big Bro)
Hi, my name is Cuyler. I like to eat pizza like a Velociraptor. I like to hang out with my Aunt, who is a middle school math teacher. My favorite part of science is learning with my new aquaponics system because I get to have pet fish!
I love my wife and my boys, and I'm here to be supportive! I see Jill come to life when she can teach about the ocean (even when it's unsolicited!), and that makes me happy as well. My boys love learning about the ocean, and I hope you do too.