1986

Through the Years | Conferences | Presidents | Awards | Stegner Lecture | The Pike

11th NMEA Conference

August 4-8, Cleveland, Ohio (John Carroll University)
Theme: Those Magnificent Sweetwater Seas

Executive Committee

President: Art West (MA) (1985-86)
President-Elect: Mildred W. Graham (GA)
Treasurer: Jack Driscoll (MA)
Secretary: Bonnie Blackburn (TX)
Executive Director: Prentice Stout (RI)
Administrative Assistant: Gretchen Ziegler (RI)
Editor of Current: Sue Fisher Vaughn
Editor of NMEA news: Karen Aspinwall (MD)

Board of Directors:

(1984-86): Sue Gammisch (VA), James Hannaham (DC), Susan Leach (OH),

(1985-87): Karen Aspinwall (MD), Sharon Meeker (NH), Michael Jackson (NC) (Historian's note: This information was obtained from the 1986 Conference Program.)

(1986-88) Karen Aspinwall (MD), Gloria Snively, and Lundie Spence (NC) (Historian's note: These last three names were listed in the Conference Board Minutes as having been newly elected to the Board. Note the duplication of Karen Aspinwall's name. She appears to have had overlapping terms. Perhaps one of these sources of information is incorrect.)

Chapter Representatives:

• CAMEO (Consortium of Aquatic and Marine Educators of Ohio): Pam Sears (OH)/ Vic Mayer (OH)

• FMSEA (Florida Marine Science Education Association): Peggy Kinder (FL)

• GAME (Georgia Association of Marine Educators): Thomas Howick (GA)

• GOMMEA (Gulf of Maine Marine Education Association): Dean Meggison (ME)

• MAMEA (Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association): Lindy Millman (VA)

• MME (Massachusetts Marine Educators): Dr. Philip McLaren (MA)

• NAME (Northwest Association of Marine Educators): Belle Mickelson (AK)

• NJMEA (New Jersey Marine Education Association): Mary Masterson (NJ)/ Michael George (NJ)

• NYSMEA (New York State Marine Education Association): Dr. Maxwell Cohen (NY)

• OCEANIA: Lee Whitten (HI)

• SAME (Southeastern Association of Marine Educators): Dr. Shelia Brown (MS)

• SENEME (Southeastern New England Marine Educators): Sandra Ryack-Bell (MA)

• SWMEA (Southwest Marine Education Association: Bruce Stewart (CA)

• TMEA (Texas Marine Education Association): Rick Tinnin (TX)

Committees:

• Aquarium: Don Wilkie (CA)

• Awards: Jim Lanier (NC)

• Conference 1986: Rosanne Fortner (OH)

• International: Jeff Sandler (ME)

• Professional Development : Barbara Klemm (HI)

• Membership : Jeff Sandler (ME)

• Minorities & Women: Jim Hannaham (DC)

• Nominations: Arie Korporaal (CA)

• By-Laws : Rob Moir (MA)

• National Youth World of Water : Lundie Spence (NC) & Jim Hannaham (DC)

• 10th Anniversary : Thayer Shafer (MD)

Awards:

James Centorino Award: Lindy Millman (DE)
Outstanding Teacher Award: Ann Coopersmith (HI), Michael Stevenson (CA), Mary Masterson (NJ)
President's Award: Rosanne Fortner (OH)

Conference Highlights:

Conference Co-Chairs Rosanne Fortner and Vic Mayer, along with the Consortium of Aquatic and Marine Educators of Ohio (CAMEO), and the Ohio Sea Grant Education Program were able to fill our days with sessions on the importance, value, and fragility of the Great Lakes.

Throughout the conference, curriculum materials from Sea Grant and other programs were on display, there was a Software Fair where marine and aquatic software could be reviewed, and Gam Sessions took place. (For an explanation of "Gam," the Conference Program stated, "Ships at sea in the days of sail would come together periodically for exchange of information and for social interaction. This was called gamming.)

The National Board met Monday, August 4th.

August 5th began with Registration, NMEA Committee Meetings, and the Sea Grant Educators Meeting. After lunch, exhibits opened. The day ended with The Perch and Pickerel Party. This smorgasbord of great food, Lake Erie wines, and fellowship were followed by a live music program of "Songs of the Seas and the Lakes" by Mad Dog Mike Adams and Fiddler Hal.

The next day, following breakfast, the Conference Co-Chairs officially welcomed NMEA to Cleveland and the first Keynote Address was presented by Lee Botts, Director of the Great Lakes Basin Commission. Botts (IL) gave us a detailed sketch of the lakes, and the forces which threaten their future in her presentation titled "These are the Sweetwater Seas." Next came the beginning of the Great Lakes Symposium and Concurrent Sessions.

Lunch came next, and then the NMEA 10th Anniversary Opening Remarks were presented. These were followed by a second Keynote speaker, the Honorable James Bradley, Ontario's Minister of the Environment. The rest of the afternoon was filled with the Great Lakes Symposium, Concurrent Sessions and Sea Swap. The evening special event was a cruise aboard the Goodtime II down the Cuyahoga River, then back out along the Lake Erie shore for a superb view of Cleveland. Participants enjoyed the music of a dance band.

August 7th was a day of many activity choices: a 4-hour workshop about Voyage of the Mimi, 4-H Sessions, Concurrent Sessions, and all-day and afternoon-only field trips. Field Trips included: A Walking Tour of Downtown Cleveland; Mentor Marsh, Mentor Highlands and Fairport Harbor; Learn to Sail on Lake Erie; An Afternoon at University Circle Museums; Canoeing a Scenic and Historic River; Natural and Developed Estuaries; Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Sanctuary; Scuba Diving to Lake Erie Shipwrecks; and Charter Fishing in Lake Erie. Following this full day, dinner was followed by a cash bar and the annual auction.

The second annual auction netted $3,000. A new auction item was introduced to the NMEA crowd....THE PIKE. The Pike was a weather-beaten, stuffed and mounted-on-a-board, pike...from the attic of a friend of Kathy Seall (OH). Little did Kathy know that this fish would become such a popular auction item. Since 1986, THE PIKE has traveled to every national convention to be auctioned to the highest bidding chapter, and it has raised thousands of dollars for the organization. (Click on the picture of the PIKE to see its NMEA history.)

Friday, August 8th began with breakfast and then the Annual NMEA Membership Meeting. Next were the 10th Anniversary Session, Concurrent Sessions, and lunch.

After lunch, Jack Vallentyne of the Canada Centre for Inland Waters came with his lighted world globe on his back to give us a Stegner Lecture on the need for a more holistic, ethical approach to the management of the Great Lakes.

Vallentyne's presentation was followed by the last series of Concurrent Sessions. The last evening of the Conference was titled, "A Little 'Night Magic' at Sea World." A Texas Barbecue Buffet was the prelude to "Shamu's Night Magic" show, a festival of fireworks and spectacular performances by Sea World's killer whales.

Above, left: Right: Jack Vallentyne (Source: 1986 Conference Program)

Above, right: Past and present NMEA presidents gathered at a reception at the 1986 conference. From left to right: Lundie Spence, Prentice Stout, Jim Lanier, Millie Graham, Jeff Sandler, Art West, John McMahon, and Rick Tinnin. (Photograph by James. A. Lanier)

On Saturday, NMEA conference participants were encouraged to spend the day site-seeing along Cleveland's waterfront.

Additional Highlights of 1986:

Highlights of the August 4th NMEA Board Meeting included:

• The announcement that the 1987 conference was to be held on the campus of the University of Rhode Island and would be sponsored by the Northeast Marine Education Consortium (NEMEC).

• Prentice Stout was asked to continue as Executive Director and was given a standing ovation and a hearty thanks for his considerable contributions to NMEA.

• Rob Moir (MA), chairperson of the By-Laws Committee, presented a new draft of the organization's by-laws for review and approval by the Board.

• Three new directors, elected to the Board, were announced: Karen Aspinwall (MD), Gloria Snively, and Lundie Spence (NC).

• The World of Water contest and awards program, coordinated by Lundie Spence (NC), had another very successful year.

• Jeff Sandler, Membership Chairperson, reported that we might soon have a new chapter in Bermuda. He was also working on Quebec and would try in Great Britain that fall when Mr. and Mrs. Fish (Jeff and Deb Hall) visited there.

• The board voted to increase membership dues to $20.00 effective January, 1988. This represented the first increase in five years.

Also on August 4th, NMEA filed a document titled “Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation.” Mildred ("Millie") Graham (New President) and Clive Tucceri (New Secretary) signed the document and sent it to the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The first bylaws of the National Marine Educators Association were dated August 6th. On August 13th, the Secretary of State in Providence, R. I. sent a Certificate of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation Certificate of the National Marine Educators Association to Prentice Stout.

On October 7th, a letter was received from the Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Service classifying NMEA as a publicly supported organization described in section (s) 509 (a) (1) & 170 (b) (1) (A) (vi). In a letter, dated October 16, David J. Kehoe, an attorney, sent a letter to Prentice Stout to explain the IRS letter and additional paperwork that would need to be filed.

For the third year in a row, NMEA sponsored the National Youth World of Water Pre-College Awards Competition and Conference. Winners of local, state, regional, national or international science fairs were invited to submit their marine/aquatic science projects for judging. Projects were judged on (1) Creativity and Originality, (2) Scientific Thought/Engineering Goals, (3) Thoroughness, and (4) Clarity. Each student submitted his/her science fair report and World of Water Entry Form to one of ten regional NMEA representatives. Each region had its own panel of judges judge the projects. The best projects from each region were sent on for the National Competition. National award winners were invited to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Youth Conference on Marine and Aquatic Science and OCEANS '86. Fifteen young scientists from eleven states received World of Water (WOW) awards.

The major activity of the Oceania Chapter was successfully launching the first Teacher in Inner Space (TIS), Laura Mae Duffy, a science teacher from Kamehameha Schools.

This was the third year for NMEA news. Four issues, published under the excellent leadership of Editor Karen Aspinwall (MD), were sent out to the members. Each issue included a “President's Column,” “Announcements,” “Chapter Updates,” “Bouillabaisse” (“An educational 'stew' made of several kinds of resources”), “Sea Sampler” (a sampling of curriculum), and “Water Watch” (news articles about aquatic topics).

In the October/November 1986 edition of NMEA news, it was announced that there was a challenge to chapters to recruit more members for NMEA than any other chapter. The winning chapter was to receive one free, all expense paid trip to the 1987 NMEA Conference in Rhode Island. The prize was to include registration, lodging, meals, special events and field trips. Transportation to and from the conference was not included.

In 1986, NMEA published four issues of Current: The Journal of Marine Education. The first issue was titled, “The World of Water,” the second, “Climate and the Oceans,” and the third, “On the Great Whale."“The publisher of all issues was Prentice K. Stout (RI). Printing was done by Narragansett Graphics/Manfred Printing, Westerly, Rhode Island.