Initiatives

The Gulf of Maine Institute employs three overlapping, interconnected initiatives and related projects to realize its objectives:

Community Based Initiatives (CBIs): GOMI participants are recruited throughout the watershed via local environmental groups and school systems. GOMI/CBI teams include seven high or middle school aged youth and three adult mentors and represent the cultural diversity of the region. Participation requires a two-year commitment: two summer CBI Workshops and two academic years. Each summer international CBI Workshop is a weeklong residential immersion in environmental science, team building and civic engagement. CBI teams learn: 1) the basics of scientific inquiry; 2) to interpret, with the help of regional based scientists, findings using NOAA data; 3) to plan and execute local projects; 4) how their local efforts promote the health of the bioregion; 5) to make the linkage between their watershed and the ocean; 6) to present scientific findings and recommendations to civic groups; and 7) how to involve larger groups of citizens. As a result youth become aware and active contributing citizen/stewards.

Student home projects include removing invasive plant species; transforming a degraded urban salt marsh into a local wildlife sanctuary; and lobbying local officials to require school bus drivers not to run their vehicles in idle while waiting to pick up children. Volunteers from the scientific and public school communities as well as local government and community environmental groups have made it possible for GOMI to support an extensive array of CBIs. While not requesting NOAA funds to support this initiative we will ramp up our CBI team numbers over the three year period from 10 teams to 20 teams per cycle.  This growth will, based on the Newburyport, MA team involvement of 1,850 others over a two-year period, allow us to reach over 50,000 others.

Teacher Training Initiative (TTI):  TTI’s goal is to prepare, via internships, pre-service science, social science and environmental educators to incorporate hands-on, experiential place-based initiatives into their curriculum. GOMI is collaborating with Tufts University, Medford, MA, Salem State College, Salem MA and Acadia University, Wolfeville, Nova Scotia to develop a model internship program employing GOMI’s approach. Each pre-service intern will make a one-year commitment, including two summers with the GOMI/CBI Workshop and one academic year. Interns will be matched to seasoned scientist and educators. The first summer they will assist the seasoned teachers and the second they will teach under supervision. They will learn to: 1) understand the power of hands-on place based education; 2) access and present NOAA science; 3) make the connection between local and bioregional environmental issues; 4) integrate place based learning into the curriculum; 5) plan and implement community based environmental initiatives as part of their classroom teaching, and 6) develop curriculum projects addressing the essential principles of ocean science literacy and state and national standards.

Impact:  Recruiting and training 30 pre-service teachers over the three years of the grant while graduating 20 of the same.  The cascade effects from those going on to teach will be substantial.

Products: 20 trained educators with 10 more in the pipeline, curricula for implementing the approach in the classroom, and institutionalization of the model within the participating universities.

Community Communications Initiative (CCI):  CCI’s goal is to develop print and web published materials that will maintain a connection with GOMI alumni, increase the GOMI membership, reach out to thousands of others and enhance the quality and consistency of the direct service programs.

Student newsletter: The first volume of the newsletter, GOMI Currents, was published electronically this fall. GOMI Currents provides program-related bioregional news and information, resources, and networking connections. Through controlled circulation in schools and communities, the student newsletter will reach tens of thousands of youth, on a cost-effective basis, by 2010. Once the circulation numbers reach 100,000 annually a national funding sponsor will be identified.

              CBI Anthology: This annual book will highlight the writing talents of student participants. The publication, intended to become part of school curricula and a bookshelf tool for environmentalists and educators, will feature student documentation of fieldwork and scientific projects, and showcase youth research and community building in action. The full-color publication will also be a source of revenue, to be distributed to all libraries throughout the watershed, and will serve as an incentive premium for fundraising initiatives. The first edition will appear in the fall of 2008.

              Teachers Kit/Curricula and Workshop Materials: The kit and related materials will provide direct technical assistance and best practice methods to teachers, schools, and community-based organizations wishing to adopt GOMI programming.  These materials will exhibit standards of high quality education and excellence. Materials may be included in program licensing fees or purchased separately. Volume 1 will appear in the spring of 2008 and volume 2 in the spring of 2009.

              Field Manual/Study Guides: These publications will focus on key ecological and environmental issues emphasizing the ocean, coasts and watersheds as natural laboratories. They will be provided to participants at annual conferences and seminars as part of the attendance fee and sold directly to educational, youth-focused, and environmental partnership organizations. The three-ring binder format allows for cost-effective updating while meeting longevity objectives. Volume I will appear in the fall of 2009.

              GOMI Website (www.gulfofmaineinstitute.org): A virtual classroom

will be created through an interactive website, where teams will share strategies, data, methodologies, and research findings. The information site will be launched in the fall of 2007 and expanded through 2010.

              Annual Gulf-wide Conference: Our first annual conference is scheduled for the fall of ‘08. Beyond highlighting the contributions of GOMI youth, from urban, suburban and rural settings, the working conference will bring together all GOMI teams past and current, along with governmental and non-governmental agencies, scientists and other interested parties, to present their work, share their concerns and point to current and future stewardship needs: the result, an agenda for research and action.

            Video/CD: This 15 to 18 minute presentations will frame the ecological and environmental challenges facing the Gulf of Maine. First edition will appear in the spring of 2008.

Entrepreneurial Role

Both the TTI and CCI initiatives are entrepreneurial, as they will provide an income stream; the TTI through in-service training of practicing teachers and the CCI through sales of developed materials to schools and community based environmental groups and individuals.