NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jeff Miller
(Almost) Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
August 31 – September 14, 2015
Mission: Shark Longline Survey
Geographical Area: Gulf of Mexico
Date: August 19, 2015
Personal Log
Hello from Phoenix, Arizona. My name is Jeff Miller and I teach biology at Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC) in Avondale, AZ. EMCC is one of ten community colleges in the Maricopa Community College District, which is one of the largest college districts in the United States, serving more than 128,000 students each year. I have been teaching at EMCC for eight years. I currently teach two sections of a general biology course for non-majors (that is students who are majoring in subjects other than biology) and one section of a human anatomy and physiology course primarily taken by students entering healthcare-related fields.
EMCC is an outstanding place to teach because of all the truly wonderful students. EMCC serves a diverse set of students from recent high school graduates to adults seeking a new career. EMCC students are also ethnically diverse. Thus, students bring a wide range of knowledge, ideas, and talents to our classrooms. Despite this diversity, one thing most students lack is real world experiences with marine organisms and environments. We are, after all, located in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. Arizona does, however, possess many unique and amazing environments and when I’m not in the classroom, hiking and exploring nature with my family is one of my favorite things to do.
I applied to the Teacher at Sea program to deepen my knowledge of marine systems as part of my sabbatical. A sabbatical is a period of time granted to teachers to study, travel, acquire new skills, and/or fulfill a personal dream. I have always loved the ocean and even worked with sea urchin embryos in graduate school. However, my knowledge and experience of marine organisms and ecosystems is limited. Therefore, participation in the Teacher at Sea program will give me the opportunity to learn how marine biologists and oceanographers collect and analyze data and how their investigations can inform us about human impacts on marine ecosystems. I plan to use the knowledge and experiences I gain to develop curriculum materials for a marine biology course at EMCC that to helps my students gain fundamental knowledge of and appreciation for our world’s oceans. I hope to foster greater curiosity and excitement about marine science and the scientists who explore our oceans and help students see why it is so important to protect and conserve the oceans resources for future generations.
To help fulfill my dream of learning more about the oceans, I have the opportunity of a lifetime – to sail on the NOAA Ship Oregon II. I will be working with the crew and scientists aboard the Oregon II to perform part of an annual longline shark survey. The goal of the mission is to gather data about shark populations in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast. Some of the data collected includes length, weight, and sex of each individual, collection of tissues samples for DNA analysis, and collection of environmental data. Please visit the main mission page or the Oregon II Facebook page for more detailed information and images, videos, and stories from recent cruises. Also check out a recent article from the Washington Post featuring Kristin Hannan, a fisheries biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Services describing the shark research being conducted aboard the Oregon II.
Needless to say, I am extremely excited, though a bit nervous, about my upcoming cruise. I have little experience sailing on the open ocean and have never been up close to a shark let alone actually handled one in person. All that will change soon and I know that I will treasure the knowledge and experiences I gain aboard the Oregon II. I am currently packing up my gear and preparing myself for the experience of a lifetime.
The next time you hear from me I will be in the Gulf of Mexico on my mission to learn more about sharks.
