Outreach

Faculty member and researcher, Dave Burdick, works with Middle School students.


Public Education & Outreach


Public Education & Outreach

Overview

Through the far-reaching efforts of the UNH Marine Docents and the marine education and extension specialists from New Hampshire Sea Grant and the UNH Cooperative Extension program, the University of New Hampshire is a national leader in delivering marine science education programs to students, teachers and the general public in New Hampshire and neighboring states. One such program is the Docent-run Marine Education Resource Center.

With support from the Marine Program, Sea Grant and Cooperative Extension, approximately 175 Marine Docents volunteer their time to be trained in and deliver marine education experiences to students and the general public through a number of programs. These programs not only serve to teach and inform the broader community about the value of marine resources, but they offer numerous opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to obtain teaching experience in marine education as well.

The Sea-Trek Programs include a variety of in-school offerings—ranging from whales to lobsters to coastal wildflowers and the Great Bay Estuary—as well as UNH marine lab tours, Discovery Cruises to Great Bay and the Isles of Shoals and Floating Laboratories for middle school students.

The Marine Docents are also actively involved in marine education programs at the SeaCoast Science Center in Rye, NH, the Great Bay Discovery Center in Stratham, NH and through the Great Bay Coast Watch program, a volunteer-based environmental monitoring program for the Great Bay estuary.

At the University of New Hampshire public education and outreach in the marine sciences are uniquely integrated into the higher education and research missions of the university. Our extension specialists in Sea Grant and Cooperative Extension provide expertise in areas ranging from fisheries and aquaculture, to coastal land use and non-point source pollution. Many of our research centers and programs such as the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET) and the Coastal Ocean Observing Center also have strong public outreach components integrated into their programs.

Concise summaries of our marine education and outreach programs and additional links can be found by following the links in the text above.