oklahoma – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Hayden Roberts

(In advance) Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II

July 8-19, 2019

Mission: Leg III of SEAMAP Summer Groundfish Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico

Date: July 2, 2019

Introduction

“There are many good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only one you.”

–Ernest Hemingway (Old Man and the Sea)

As I sit at my home computer, my mind is racing with thoughts of what I need to do before leaving for Mississippi. My family doesn’t quite know what I am doing aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II, not that I am sure either! They vacillate between images of cramped, hot quarters portrayed in old World War II movies like Das Boot (1981), which is about a German submarine crew. In contrast to the sailors traversing icy, choppy waters as in the reality TV show Deadliest Catch, which is about King Crab fishermen in Alaska’s Bering Sea. I am not sure my time aboard Oregon II will be either, but perhaps they will think me braver if I leave that picture in their minds ahead of my trip [wink, wink].

Roberts Family. From left to right: Owen, Hayden, Jackson, and Sarah.

However, before I talk about my trip, I should take a step back and talk about where I came. I am from Oklahoma, one of the most landlocked areas of North America. I grew up in Oklahoma (both Tulsa and Oklahoma City), but have had many other experiences since then. I have been teaching at the collegiate level for 15 years. I mostly instruct high school students taking concurrent enrollment classes and community college students working on undergraduate general education requirements. I teach regional geography, folklife and traditional culture, and introduction to the humanities at Oklahoma State University—Oklahoma City (OSU-OKC) and Oklahoma City Community College. I am lead faculty in geography at OSU-OKC.

Sarah and Hayden — My wife Sarah and I at one of our favorite date night adventures, Thunder basketball games.

I earned my BA from Sarah Lawrence College in New York (1994). I studied visual arts, primarily painting and filmmaking, and cultural studies. I earned my MA in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green (1998), and I earned my PhD in Geography from the University of Oklahoma, Norman (2015). Through my education and early adult life, I lived coast to coast in seven different states. This education prepared me to work in the field of public history, historic interpretation, community development, and arts administration in addition to teaching at the collegiate level. Before teaching, I worked in Washington, DC for Ralph Nader (yes, the clean water, clean air, clean everything guy…oh, and he ran for president). I worked for several historic sites and cultural agencies, including Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky Museum, Historic Carnton, and the Tennessee Arts Commission. I have also worked in education administration. I served as the director the Oklahoma Center for Arts Education for the University of Central Oklahoma, as executive director of the Oklahoma Folklife Council for the Oklahoma Historical Society, and recently, as Director of Community Resources for Western Heights Public Schools. At Western Heights, I have been fortunate to work close to a younger group of students. I have been a part of the expanding arts and science curriculum at the high school. The school district is in the process of renovating the high school science wing and building a new arts and science high school building for an emerging STEAM program. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math instruction. Working with community partners, I am also involved in promoting college and career readiness at the secondary level.

Students gardening — Gardening with 5th and 6th grade students during their after school STEAM program in Western Heights’ outdoor classroom.

My research interests include the cultural geography of Oklahoma, family stories and cultural expressions, and community building. However, through my research in folk studies (similar to anthropology) and cultural geography, I have studied human interconnectivity associated with occupations, which is what initially drew my interest to the NOAA Teacher at Sea (TAS) program. In the past, I have studied occupations associated with rural culture and how environment and increased urbanization have effected work settings and their relationship to identity. My research interest aside, I am excited to learn more about the science of fishery surveys. I think learning about the maritime career opportunities associated with NOAA programs will be important to convey to the students I teach. Especially because so many of my students come from economically challenged, urban settings, and the thought of pursuing a career based on scientific research is foreign. As a geographer, I am also excited to share with students ways they can connect to geography as an influence on their career plans.

Mayes County Fair in Pryor, Oklahoma. Shot as part of my fieldwork on rural culture and place identity.

Mission Information

I will be part of the third leg of the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP) sailing out of the NOAA Pascagoula, MS facility. SEAMAP is a State/Federal/university program for collecting, managing, and disseminating fishery-independent data in the southeastern US. The Gulf of Mexico survey work began in 1981. I have read blogs and videos from NOAA TAS alum that have been part of the similar research cruises, and I have reviewed the NOAA website under the SEAMAP pages and NOAA Oregon II pages. TAS alumni Angela Hung from the 2018 SEAMAP survey crew posted a great blog on roughly what Oregon II crew will be doing while I am sailing (see https://noaateacheratsea.blog/2018/07/03/angela-hung-dont-give-it-a-knife-june-30-2018/). However, I am still working to understand exactly what I will be doing. Coastal culture and scientific research of this nature is new to me. The closest experience I have goes back to my childhood when in the 1980s my mom built a catfish hatchery and commercial pond operation on 10 acres of farmland in southeastern Oklahoma. The “catfish farm” as we called was only in our family for a few years. The next closest experience I have to coastal fisheries is chartering boats for near shore and deep sea fishing adventures on vacation. Clearly, I am in for a lesson on the broader science of understanding and maintaining the ecology of our domestic waterways in the US. This will be an interesting trip, for sure!

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Alicia Gillean
Soon to be aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp
June 27 — July 8, 2012

Mission: Sea Scallop Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean
Date: Sunday, April 29, 2012

Personal Log

Hello from Oklahoma! My name is Alicia Gillean and I am ecstatic that I was selected as a 2012 NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) Teacher at Sea! I am passionate about adventure, lifelong learning, and the ocean. I can’t wait to merge these three passions together for twelve days at sea this summer and to share my learning with all of my students and coworkers back in Oklahoma. I will be blogging about my adventure and learning while aboard the ship and you are invited to follow my journey and get involved by asking questions and posting comments. I’ll start by telling you a little bit about myself, then I’ll fill you in on the details of my Teacher at Sea adventure.

A Bit About Me

When I’m not pursuing adventure on the high seas, I am the school librarian (also known as a library media specialist) at Jenks West Intermediate School, a school of about 600 5^th and 6^th graders in the Jenks Public Schools District, near Tulsa, Oklahoma. I might be a bit biased, but I believe that I have the best job in the school and that I work with some of the finest teachers and students in the world.

You are probably wondering, “How did a librarian from Oklahoma become part of an ocean research cruise?” I’m glad you asked. It just so happens that this blog entry answers that very question.

I’ll admit it; I was born and raised a landlubber. There just aren’t many opportunities to visit the ocean when you grow up in the Midwest. Rumor has it that I touched the ocean once when I was about 3, but I didn’t touch it again until I was 21. More on that later.

My passion for the ocean began in high school when I took a Marine Biology class where my mind was blown by the diversity and beauty of life in the sea and the complex network of factors that impact the health of an ocean environment. I took Marine Biology 2 and 3 the following years where I set up and maintained aquariums in elementary schools and taught ocean-related lessons for elementary students.

Aquarium newspaper photo — Alicia showing a shark jaw to a three year old at the Oklahoma Aquarium

I started to become a little obsessed with marine life, went to college to become a teacher, and did a happy dance when I learned that an aquarium was going to open in Jenks, Oklahoma. I landed a job as a summer intern in the education department of the Oklahoma Aquarium and was overjoyed to be a part of the team that opened it in 2003. When I graduated from college, the aquarium hired me as an education specialist, where I worked with learners of all ages to promote our mission of “conservation through education” through classes, camps, fishing clinics, sleepovers, animal interactions, crafts… the list goes on and on.

In 2006, I became a 6^th grade teacher in Jenks Public Schools, then I earned my Masters degree and became the school librarian in 2010. I love to work with all the kiddos in my school as they learn to develop as thinkers, scientists, and citizens who have the power to impact the world. They are just the kind of advocates that the environment needs and I want to help prepare them for this important role any way possible. My experiences as a Teacher at Sea will certainly help!

Let’s go back to my actual experiences with the ocean for a moment. After graduating from college and marrying my high school sweetheart David, I hightailed it to an ocean as fast as possible. We honeymooned in Hawaii where we snorkeled, explored tidepools, went on a whale watch, and temporarily filled the ocean-shaped void in my heart.

Alicia in ocean — Alicia on a Maui Beach

I’ve been back to the ocean several times and each time I am reminded of the delicate balance that must be maintained for the fascinating world under the waves to survive and thrive. It is critical we protect the oceans and that people realize that their actions impact the oceans. Even in the landlocked state of Oklahoma, our actions matter.

So, that’s why a school librarian from Oklahoma will spend the summer of 2012 on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean, counting sea scallops. I can hardly wait for the adventure to begin! Enough about me, let’s talk about the research cruise now.

Science and Technology Log

I’ll be participating in a sea scallop survey in the Atlantic Ocean, along the northeast coast of the United States, from Delaware to Massachusetts. My adventure at sea will begin June 27, 2012 and end July 8, 2012.

What is a sea scallop?

A sea scallop is an animal that is in the same category as clams, oysters, and mussels. One way that sea scallops are different from other animals with two shells (bivalves) is that a sea scallop can move itself through the water by opening and closing its shells quickly. How do you think this adaptation might help the sea scallop? Watch these videos to see a sea scallop in action:

Importance of Sea Scallops/Sea Scallop Survey

People like to eat scallops, so fishermen drag heavy-duty nets along the ocean floor (called dredging) to collect and sell them. Most of them are harvested in the Atlantic Ocean along the northeastern coast of the United States. The United States sea scallop fishery is very important for the economy.

Sea Scallop Habitats — Map of sea scallop habitats from NOAA’s fishwatch.gov

The problem is that sometimes people can harvest too many scallops and the sea scallops can’t reproduce quickly enough before they are harvested again. Eventually, this could lead to the depletion of the sea scallop population, which would be bad news for the ocean and for people.

This is where the NOAA Sea Scallop Survey comes in. Every year, NOAA sends scientists out in a ship to count the number of Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) in various parts of their habitat. The sea scallops live in groups called beds on the ocean floor 100-300 feet deep, so scientists can’t just peer into the ocean and count them. Instead, they have to dredge, just like the fisherman, to collect samples of scallops in numerous places. The scientists record data about the number, size, and weight of sea scallops and other animals. Based on the data collected, decisions are made about what areas are okay for people to harvest scallops in and what areas need a break from harvesting for a while. I’m considered a scientist on this cruise, so I’ll get to participate in this for 12 hours a day. I hear it is messy, smelly, tiring, and fascinating. Sounds like my type of adventure! I think most good science is messy, don’t you?

The Ship

I’ll be sailing on the research vessel Hugh R Sharp. You can take a virtual tour of the ship here. It was built in 2006, is 146 feet long (a little bit shorter than the width of a football field), and is used for lots of different scientific research expeditions. When I’m out at sea, you can see where I am on the journey and track the ship here.

RV Hugh R. Sharp — R/V Hugh R. Sharp; photo from NOAA Eastern Surveys Branch

What I hope to Learn

I’m very interested to experience what daily life is like on an ocean research vessel, how scientists use inquiry, data-collection, math, and other skills that we teach our students in a real-world setting. Of course, I’m also hoping to see some fascinating ocean critters and get my hands dirty doing the work of a real scientist.

I’d love for you to join me on this adventure by following this blog and leaving your thoughts and questions in the comment section at the bottom of each blog entry. Let’s make this a learning experience that we will all remember!

Tag: oklahoma

Hayden Roberts: Santiago’s Dream (My Introduction), July 2, 2019

Alicia Gillean: Introduction, April 29, 2012