Ocean for Life: River Rescue, Planning

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

River Rescue, Planning

Yesterday afternoon I went to the River Rescue meeting to hand out the data collection sheets for the cleanup. I accidentally forgot one of the stacks (two North Chickamauga cleanups and looking at the paper I became confused and thought only one), and the papers were temporarily lost (Christine Bock thought I'd taken the papers with me when I'd left them in the office), but we got it all figured out with plenty of time to hand them out and explain.

All zones plan on participating.

They received all other supplies as well. I've also gotten involved in some water sampling at a few of the zones by Mary Beth Sutton. I'll have the help of Ryan Gardner, a schoolmate, and we'll be working with a woman named Laura Skyles. The River Rescue will be next Saturday, October 1st. Hope to see everyone there!! I'll post information on the cleanup when I get the numbers back.

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"One World, One Ocean"

On July 14th, 2011, I started a journey that would change my life forever. That was the day I left my small town in Tennessee and headed to Santa Barbara, California, to start the Ocean for Life program, a program about ocean conservation, cultural understanding, and communication. I was going to be spending eleven days with people from all over the world, learning about each other and our world. Throughout the next two weeks, I learned so many things. I made friends from Egypt and Bahrain, and I started to learn Arabic. I saw, first-hand, the effect our carelessness and overuse is having on our planet. Now, since I left, it's my job to take the things I learned and put them into action. This is where I will document every part of my experience, from and since the Ocean for Life program, and every part of my action plan. The newest part of my adventure, and I can't wait to share it with you all.

I'll count this as my first post, though I know it's not. I just wanted the explanation of the blog to always be at the top, not the bottom at the bottom of the list.

So, Ocean for Life. This'll be an explanation.

In March of 2011, I applied to be part of a program called Ocean for Life. It was a program hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in partnership with Qatar Foundation International. I didn't know about the application until two days before, and I rushed through it to make the deadline, faxing everything in the last minute. I hadn't had much time to truly find out much about it, considering the time restriction. A few weeks later, I got a message telling me I was an alternate for the program, and if it were possible they would contact me and I'd cover for another delegate who couldn't go. A few more weeks, and I was told it wouldn't be possible. I went into the summer focusing on work and doing my own thing, forgetting about the entire thing... Until one day, I checked my e-mail and saw a message from Claire Fackler. The project supervisor. The message said there may be a spot open for me, but they weren't yet sure, to make sure to check my e-mails and they'd keep me posted. This was a week before the program start date. The next days, sitting and wondering were crazy. Then, two days before I got an e-mail. "Buy your plane ticket. You're going." I cried. I was happy, scared, excited, worried, nearly every possible emotion I could think of. This was the biggest opportunity I'd ever had, and I was going to be doing something big.

Ocean for Life is a program designed to foster ocean conservation through cultural understanding and the use of media. We went to the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary and the University of Santa Barbara. We learned from National Geographic photographers about how to photograph; we learned from top scientists about conservation and some of the issues facing the oceans. We snorkeled the kelp forests off Santa Cruz Island, lived on the Reserve Station, hiked the island, and kayaked around it. We did beach clean ups and water monitoring. I met people from all over the world. I saw and did things I will never forget, and I will use all of those things to make a difference in the world I see now.

We use pictures

The things we learned

The bad things we saw

Me, along with my new family, my Ocean for Life brothers and sisters, we're all going to change the world together. We'll make it a better place for your children, our children, our children's children. We want to help people understand each other, the world, and how we're mistreating both. We want to peel back the misconceptions about each other and connect over who we are as true people, as well as the connection we all share over the ocean. This planet is all our home. It's protection should all be our number one priority.

So. This is the start of our journey, as a family, to make a difference. Won't you join us??