Sanctuary Education Panel -Meeting Minutes
Thursday, September 20, 2001
Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

In attendance:
Anna Cummins, SOS;
Christie Walker, State Parks/Seymour Center;
Dawn Hayes, MBNMS; Debbie Wyatt, Monterey Regional Parks;
Fleur O'Neill, SOS;
Jen Jolly, MBNMS;
Jill Zande, MATE;
Kenton Parker, ESNEER;
Liz Love, MBNMS;
Pat Clark-Gray, State Parks;
Rita Bell, MBA;
Steve Clark, MAOS/MPUSD

Member Announcements:
Elkhorn Slough has a new staff member dedicated to the Coastal Training Initiative. Beth Inman has been hired to take this position and is responsible for developing or importing workshops designed to give coastal managers training in a wide variety of topics. For more information, give Beth a call at the Slough (831) 728-2822.

The Marine Advance Technology Education (MATE) Center is coordinating a National ROV contest to be held at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Date TBA

Save the date, Saturday March 9th is the 2002 Sanctuary Currents Symposium. The annual research symposium, sponsored by AMBAG and MBNMS, will have a technology theme and is titled "New Technologies: Revealing the Secrets of the Sea"

The Annual Santa Cruz Shark Festival and Sanctuary Birthday Celebration will be held on Sunday, September 30th, 10 am-4pm on the Wharf.

Christie Walker, formerly of State Parks, has been hired as the Volunteer Services Manager for the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab. Christie will try to serve as the Seymour Center's representative to the SEP, as they are currently un-represented.

Save Our Shores is hosting 2 lecture series, one on Water Quality with the Surfrider Foundation and another with the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab for the final lecture in their series 'Ebb and Flow: tales of marine research and conservation'. Guest speakers for Tues 25th Sept are: Mr. Scott Benson and Dr. Mike Beck. They are in the third week of their Sanctuary Stewards volunteer programmed is at capacity with 40 new people from Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. The Half Moon Bay Office of Save Our Shores will host an open house on Sunday 9/23 for educators.

The September meeting was scheduled to tackle two items:

1. Identify the items the SEP feels it is important for the SAC to know,
   
   
2. Create the draft outline for the MBNMS Regional Education Plan.

The SEP felt the issues relevant to education fell under four distinct categories:

1. Development of a Regional Education Plan and its incorporation into the new Management Plan to:

a. provide focus for the education team and programs

b. facilitate the creation of new partnerships

2. Increase public awareness (a continuing need) through:

a. Creation of a visitor center

i. Provide a hub of marine education and send visitors to partners

ii. Would provide a tangible location for information dissemination

b. Expansion of programs to northern and southern regions

c. Broaden resource issue education

d. Increase coordination with Research and Resource Protection Programs

3. Implement Multicultural Education Plan to:

a. Increase audience

b. Create new collaborations

4. Increase coordination with other institutions to:

a. Focus efforts

b. Add support to others' efforts

c. Increase knowledge of volunteer efforts w/in region

These issues were quickly identified as strategies to the Education Plan.

The draft outline of the MBNMS Education Plan was created to follow, as much as possible, the progression of the NMSS National Education Plan. Dawn discussed the need to create a broad plan, one that complements the research plan (currently being re-done) and leaves room for flexibility as regional or national priorities and staff change. The grid format the SEP agreed upon last month will be utilized, by a SEP working group, to flesh out the steps necessary, as well as the measurements for success, for each of the goals and objectives identified in the final education plan.

The bare bones, draft outline is roughly as follows (fleshing began with #5 and will continue for all goals):

National Marine Sanctuary Vision

National Marine Sanctuary Education Mission

Introduction / Executive Summary

Goals

1. Provide leadership for regional marine education through effective connections with education community
2. Develop and implement a regional education plan
3. Build and equip an effective education team
4. Develop a network of regional interpretive facilities to convey sanctuary messages
5. Coordinate education, outreach and communication programs and products to reach strategic and multicultural audiences
   a. Identify and prioritize audiences (user groups, cultural groups, educators, etc.)
   b. Reduce threats through resource issue education
   c. Infuse current scientific information in education programs
   d. Promote protection and conservation of marine sanctuaries and the ocean environment
   e. Create a mechanism for ongoing evaluation of programs and products

Conclusion