Arriving...

Hello Southmoore,

After traveling this morning, I arrived at the SERC here in Edgewater, Maryland. I met 5 of the 6 other teachers who will be participating in this research experience and we shared our first meal in our Dorm. The tree picture is just outside the door to our dorm. I will work on my camera skills and hopefully, I will have some better examples of the forest life to show you tomorrow. In the morning, I will learn more about the research that I will be participating in and have a safety training before I begin to practice the skills that I will learn and use in the field.

Please work hard and pay attention to Dr. Basara as he shares with you about Oklahoma Weather and Climate.

Heading out!

Hello Sabercats,

It is about 8:00 p.m., after a busy day of organizing and errand running I am finally packed. After 4 days of sleeping in I must awaken by 4:00 a.m. to make my flight to Memphis and then Baltimore, Maryland. Tomorrow should be a pretty easy day once I arrive at the SERC.

Until then.....Kate Shannon

Litter in our Environment

Hello Southmoore,

Many of you have been making comments to the posts on my blog; thank you for joining me. A couple of comments suggested that recycling is an important process to keeping our environment healthy. Today I would appreciate you taking a look at the work of one man who began his journey to a better local environment by removing litter. Chad Pregracke undertook an ominous task. While in high school he launched a one person campaign to clean up the Mississippi river and in the process motivated thousands of community members to become better stewards of the environment. Visit the links below to find out more about Chad and his work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmZoMqTwZZ4

http://www.livinglandsandwaters.org/About/chad.htm

How did Chad accomplish his goal of cleaning up the Mississippi? What characteristics does he possess that help him to be successful?

I hope you enjoyed learning more about Chad, I am really amazed and inspired by his story. How can we impact problems like this in our area?

"The Green Belt Movement"

Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her collaborative efforts to improve her country's environment and empower others. Many books provide biographies of her life and her personal accomplishments, but the "Green Belt Movement" which she facillitated continues to provide renewable resources to the people of her homeland, Kenya. The Green Belt Movement created jobs, mobilized communities to problem-solve together, raised awareness of environmental issues, resulted in reforestation, and improved the image of women in Kenya. You can read and hear more about Wangari Maathai at:

http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2004/maathai-bio.html

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/05/podcast-wangari-maathai-1.php

What type of mobilization can you imagine in our community? How can we increase and maintain awareness about environment issues here in Oklahoma?

Making Good Choices

Hello Sabercats,

After our discussion today regarding the technological challenges of our situation, I did some thinking. If you can commit to visiting the blog often from a convenient site away from school, I know that we can successfully engage in meaningful dialogue about the presentations and activities which you are participating in during my absence.

Take a look at the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/ Scroll down to the "Where I Live" section on the left side of the page and type in your zip code to find out how your electricty is generated. How do you compare with the national averages for emissions? Find out how you can make a difference.

What do you think of the options listed? Can you find a green provider? How can you use energy more efficiently?

I hope to see comments from you soon.

Getting Ready

Hello Southmoore,

This blog will be an important tool to share the new things I am learning in Edgewater, Maryland. In 9 days I will be at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and I am excited to have this new experience. During the week, I will help collect data in a forest near the Chesapeake Bay. I look forward to being in "the woods", even if it might be chilly. The pictures posted are from a "back-country" camping trip I took in June. This forest has bears and mountain lions. I wonder what type of mammals I will see at the SERC. How do you think that the forest in Northeast will compare to the Sangre De Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains?