2020 NMEA Award Winners — National Marine Educators Association

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Johnette D. Bosarge Memorial Award

Dr. Becky Cox, Tennessee

The 2020 Johnette D. Bosarge Memorial Award for service and dedication to NMEA or the local chapter goes to Dr. Becky Cox, recently retired from the University of Tennessee at Martin.

The characteristics, “dedication, loyalty, efficiency, and enthusiasm for aquatic and marine education” have been shown by Dr. Becky Cox throughout her 35 years career in education. Dr. Cox has exemplified the criteria for this award through her innovative teaching experience in both elementary education and post-secondary education and her leadership role in both her local organization, TEAMS, and the NMEA organization. Her enthusiasm for aquatic and marine sciences has been infectious to not only her students, young and old, but to her colleagues.

In her 22 years as an elementary teacher, Dr. Cox has inspired young students by instilling a love of aquatic and marine sciences She has used a hands-on approach of teaching to immerse her students in learning while integrating aquatic and marine sciences whenever possible. She was an innovative teacher not only in the classroom, but sponsoring field experiences for her students, Oceans Alive in 2001 and 2002. She served as a role model to her students participating in 1998 Ocean Voyagers Sea Scholars where she worked with scientists aboard a USNS survey ship from Lisbon, Portugal to Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Cox has influenced her students beyond the four walls of the classroom. Many of her former elementary students have continued to nurture their love of aquatic and marine sciences by choosing professions to continue to share with others that same love of science that Dr. Cox instilled in them.

As a post-secondary teacher, Dr. Cox has continued to share her love for science with preservice teachers and her colleagues. Her love for science has continued to spread through her teaching at the post-secondary level. Her students have continued her legacy of hands-on science that incorporate aquatic and marine science in their classrooms. Many of post-secondary students have joined with her on her mission to promote aquatic and marine sciences by joining Tennessee Aquatic and Marine Science, TEAMS, and actively promoting aquatic and marine science instruction in Tennessee.

Dr. Cox’s post-secondary students honored her in 2009 with the UT Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009, the Distinguished Higher Education Faculty Member for the University of Tennessee at Martin’s STEA Organization in 2010 and the 2014 Outstanding Advisor for UTM Award. Dr. Becky Cox has written many publications that promote innovative science instruction methods supported by statistical research and student achievement that have inspired her students and colleagues.

Dr. Becky Cox has demonstrated a dedication to NMEA and her local organization, TEAMS. She has been an active member in her local organization, TEAMS, since its revitalization in 1999 as well as an NMEA member. She has served in various leadership roles at the state and national level including: TEAMS Program Coordinator, TEAMS President, NMEA Chapter Representative, and NMEA Conference Committee Chair. One of her greatest feats was co-chairing the 2010 NMEA Conference from the Mountains to the Sea. For the past 20 years Dr. Cox has organized and presented interactive, hands-on presentations and workshops for both TEAMS and NMEA.

Outstanding Teacher

Earnie Olsen, Florida

The 2020 Outstanding Teacher award for effective and innovative classroom teaching at any level goes to Earnie Olsen, Supervisor, Citrus County School District’s Marine Science Station in Crystal River, Florida.

Earnie works to provide outstanding educational and support services to all public school students within all communities of Citrus County, including those in underrepresented groups, economically disadvantaged groups, and those with disabilities. As part of their curriculum and at no cost to them, all of these students visit the Marine Science Station when they are enrolled in 4th grade, 7th grade Science, or 9th-12th grade life science courses. The Marine Science Station serves over 3,000 Citrus County School District students per academic year.

In May 2018, The Southwest Water Management District recognized Earnie Olsen of Citrus County as one of this year’s springs community partners at its May Governing Board meeting. Olsen and his staff lead daily field trips, taking Citrus County students by boat to experience the Crystal River/Kings Bay springs and the local riverine, coastal and estuarine ecosystems. Olsen also leads an annual District-sponsored summer camp program that focuses on springs and connects the local community with his environmental education efforts through camp sponsorships and media coverage.

Earnie’s professional training and work experience is in marine biology, fisheries, aquaculture, science education, and educational leadership. Earnie has served on the FMSEA Board and was the Chair of the FMSEA annual conference in 2019. Earnie has a B.S. in Biological Science from Florida State University, a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of South Florida, a USCG 50 ton Captain’s License, and an Advanced Open Water SCUBA Certification.

Earnie is a dedicated teacher who uses innovation and creativity in his teaching practices. science education and authentic field experiences in near coastal ecosystems for students and teachers is his passion!

Marine Education Award—Individual

Kasey Gaylord-Opalewski, Florida

The 2020 Marine Education Award for outstanding individual work and leadership in any aspect of marine education at the local, regional, or national level goes to Kasey Gaylord-Opalewski, STEMExplore Coordinator at EarthEcho International.

Kasey originally hails from North Dakota and holds a B.A. in Biology from Minnesota State University - Moorhead (2001), a Graduate Certificate in Coastal Studies (2004) and M.S. in Environmental Education (2006), both from Nova Southeastern University.

Kasey was President of FMSEA and a member of FMSEA’s Board and she co-chaired the 2017 FMSEA Conference and when FMSEA hosted the NMEA Conference.

Kasey is the STEMExplore Coordinator for EarthEcho International and is an Instructor, Florida Master Naturalist Program. For 16 years Kasey was a Senior Coordinator of Digital Programs, Mote Marine Laboratory.

Kasey has been designing, developing and coordinating innovative digital programming for non-profit organizations since 2002. She has over 16 years of “on-air” experience as an educator and moderator for virtual interactive lessons. Over the years, Kasey has received innumerable accolades for her lively and engaging marine science and conservation presentations. She specializes in teen programs as well as public programming for adults, such as Science Cafes and professional development for educators and lifelong learners. Kasey specializes in the interpretation and translation of scientific research concepts and utilizes strategic framing techniques to lead complex conversations, such as those focused on climate change. She is an Alumni member of the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation, a year-long study circle that helps to bring climate change resources and training to communities of staff, volunteers and professionals.

Kasey has previously worked in the animal husbandry and rehabilitation fields, working with Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, African penguins, California sea lions, Pygmy sperm whales, Rough-toothed dolphins and various species of sea turtles.

Marine Education Award—Organization

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), California

The 2020 Marine Education Award for outstanding work and leadership by an organization in any aspect of marine education at the local, regional, or national level goes to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in Moss Landing California.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute ITD Department

The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is to achieve and maintain a position as a world center for advanced research and education in ocean science and technology. The general public is still largely unaware that the world ocean is facing urgent threats like climate change, overfishing, and pollution. MBARI seeks to share its research, technology, and data with the public, key stakeholders, and policy makers so we can advance and inform conservation solutions.

As a result, education is a priority within MBARI’s Information and Technology Dissemination (ITD) Division, which was established in 1996. Education efforts include a teacher-education program, a robust summer internship program, and program to connect students with hands-on science and conservation efforts, and real-world science experiments.

Some of the programs that MBARI has established:

MBARI’s EARTH (Education and Research: Testing Hypotheses) program, led by George Matsumoto, is a professional development program that brings together educators and researchers with the goal of bringing real data into classrooms and exploring new technologies and their applications in educational settings. These workshops have been held each year since 2003, and bring together educators, scientists, and engineers in order to explore the data available from current research and develop data-driven lesson plans that teachers can use to build ocean literacy for their audiences. Since its inception, EARTH workshops have provided professional development opportunities for nearly 250 educators spread across 35 states. In the 2018 workshop, participating teachers developed 14 different lesson plans on topics ranging from ocean acidification to marine mammal stranding to ocean careers.
MBARI’s highly competitive summer internship program, which began in 1997, provides an opportunity for talented college students (undergraduate and graduate) and educators to come to MBARI for a period of 10 weeks to work on a specific project under MBARI staff supervision. These opportunities match emerging young talent with MBARI scientists and engineers and provides hands-on research, engineering, and science communications experience.
National Science Foundation-funded Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) team developed excellent outreach kits that offer lesson plans and materials for hands-on science activities in a self-contained format. They are designed for use with a range of grade levels. Each kit provides the information and supplies necessary for educators to teach their students about a particular topic in oceanography. These easy to use kits are a great resource for any classroom and can be borrowed for short periods of time – educators are responsible for arranging both pickup and drop-off of the kits. MBARI continues to collaborate with the STEM Pre-Academy at University of Hawaii to ensure that these kits remain available for educators. The kits are currently available from several locations in Hawaii, Oregon, Massachusetts, and MBARI.
MBARI seminars are usually held on Wednesdays (unless indicated otherwise) at 11:00 a.m. in the Pacific Forum and are open to the public. The seminars cover a wide range of topics related to deep-ocean research and engineering. Our speakers include top scientists and engineers from all over the world, as well as from MBARI.
Through the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) project, scientists partner with teachers and classrooms across the country to inspire and educate students about the Southern Ocean biogeochemistry and climate change through a pilot “Adopt-A-Float” initiative. This program creates a powerful opportunity for elementaryand secondary-school-aged students to engage directly with world-class scientists and learn about their research by naming and tracking SOCCOM floats.
The WATCH (Watsonville Area Teens Conserving Habitats) educational program offers high school students experiences to connect with marine science, learn about conservation, and act on behalf of the ocean in their local community. The program is run jointly with the aquarium, with the involvement of several members of MBARI’s ITD and science groups providing mentoring for students. event, and board participation.

President’s Award—given by the current President of NMEA based on outstanding contributions to NMEA and/or marine education.

Sean Russell & Kathy Fuller

NMEA Student Engagement Committee Co-chairs

Francesca Santoro

Programme Specialist, Regional UNESCO Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe