The world's coastal zones are home to 70 percent of the
global population and subject to intensive activity.
Scientists at SERC take an interdisciplinary, experimental
approach to research aimed at increasing knowledge of the
biological and physical processes that sustain life on
Earth.
Established
in 1965 with headquarters on the shore of the Chesapeake
Bay, 26 miles east of Washington, DC, SERC encompasses 2,700
acres of land and 14 miles of protected shoreline that serve
as a natural laboratory for long-term ecological
research. The site is valuable for the opportunities
it provides to study the interactions of aquatic,
terrestrial and atmospheric components of complex
landscapes. SERC scientists analyze human impacts in
the coastal zone at the key facilities of the Smithsonian
Marine Research network arrayed along the western Atlantic,
including sites on the Chesapeake Bay as the nation's
largest estuary, the Indian River Lagoon in Florida as the
nation's most biologically diverse estuary, the
meso-american barrier reef off Belize, and the tropical
ecosystems of the panamanian isthmus. SERC scientists
also compare their findings on regional, continental and
global scales, working in coastal areas from prince William
Sound, Alaska, to the mangroves of Central American and to
the Southern Ocean.
A variety
of hands-on science and distance learning experiences are
available for pre-college students; 10,000 school children
visit SERC each year on environmental field trips ( www.serc.si.edu/education
). The Muddy Creek Canoe Trip, for example, takes
participants on an ecological adventure through several
ecosystems on a tidal creek on SERC's property to study the
ecology of wetlands.
Workshops
for professional educators provide scientific training,
continuing education, and environmental curriculum through a
combination of activities. An additional 1,000 adults
per year attend SERC's evening lecture series on
environmental issues.
"Tales
of the Blue Crab," SERC's traveling exhibition, was
visited by more than 8,000 students from Washington, D.C.
schools while it was on display at the national Aquarium in
Washington, D.C. The exhibit tours schools in the
state of Maryland to teach children about one of the most
important resources of the Chesapeake Bay.
In
collaboration with the Sierra Club, SERC broadcasts a series
of daily one-minute radio spots on environmental topics
relative to the Chesapeake region, via stations
participating in "Watershed Radio." The
program also produces a Web site averaging 32,000 hits per
month. www.watershedradio.org
A
distance learning program links SERC educators and
scientists to millions of children in school across the
country through videoconferences and electronic field trips
on such topics as estuarine ecosystems, blue crab biology,
bird ecology and watershed connections.
Smithsonian
Environmental
Research Center
P.O. Box 28
647 Contees Wharf Road
Edgewater, Maryland 21037
Phone:
(443) 482-2200
Fax:
(443) 482-2380
Contact
Information
Mr.
Mark Haddon
Director of Education
Watershed
Radio
Ms.
Dottie Klugel
Marine
Biologist
Distance Learning Coordinator
Please contact a member
of Project VIEW
if you would like to learn more about this project or other
electronic field trips or video conferencing projects. |
