Work Example:

Ocean Science Workshops for Educators

As part of NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration program, Mystic Maritime Consulting (MMC) facilitated all-day, on site Professional Development workshops for middle and high school educators around the country. Groups of 25-30 teachers participated in each workshop. Content focused on ocean science topics such as marine biology, deep sea technology, marine geology, bioluminescence, exploration, and seabed mapping.

MMC also led efforts to expand NOAA Ocean Exploration workshops into Portugal and the Azores, based on previous work with NOAA.  MMC catalyzed relationships between teachers and ocean researchers, and each workshop encompassed classroom, lab, and field components.

In addition to on-site workshops, MMC has collaborated with the College of Exploration in developing and facilitating online workshops for up to 700 global participants through the College of Exploration. MMC personnel served as the Instructor of Record for participants seeking graduate credits, as well as liaising with keynote presenters, designing content, and aligning content to national education standards.

Work Example:

Oceans and Human Health Courses

Melissa Ryan holds a M.S. degree in Natural Health and one of her professional interests is the relationship between oceans and human health. Within this field lie the answers to questions such as: What can we learn from a squid about our own nervous system? How can substances found in marine sponges help to treat cancer? And why does spending time by the ocean calm our nerves?

MMC has created two online courses on Oceans and Human Health. These professional development courses have been offered to teachers through the nonprofit College of Exploration, and to undergraduate students at Goodwin College in East Hartford, CT. The materials serve as a general introduction to this cutting-edge topic in ocean science. Global climate change, harmful algal blooms, marine biopharmaceuticals, and the use of marine organisms as biomedical models are some of the topics explored.