The Stegner Memorial Lecture

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The Stegner Memorial Lecture is named in honor of Dr. Robert Stegner, a pioneer in marine education who died shortly after he retired from teaching at the University of Delaware. Bob hosted one of the first meetings of marine educators that would become the National Marine Educators’ Association, and was a central figure in charting the course for what marine education would become. His efforts also led to the creation of project COAST, one of the first marine education curriculum projects.

Over the years, this Memorial Lecture has evolved into a variety of presentations, including lectures, musical presentations, and visual displays.

Past Stegner Memorial Lecturers have included:
2021 Aissa Yazzie & Charlie Kaaiai (Traditional Ecological Knowledge practitioners)
2020 None
2019 Andy O’Brien and Hanji Chang (science animators)
2018 Mati Waiya (Chumash ceremonial leader and Dolphin Dancer)
2017 Queen Quet (storyteller)
2016 Megan Davenport & Gary Bremen, National Parks Songs & Stories
2015 Valerie Tutson (storyteller)
2014 Billy B. (musician)
2013 George Crozier (speaker from Dauphin Island)
2012 Ray Troll (artist)
2011 Candida Rose & Kabu Jazz (musicians)
2010 Charles Maynard (speaker)
2009 Banana Slug String Band (musicians)
2008 Janisse Ray (writer); McIntosh County Shouters (singers)
2007 Schooner Fare (singing group)
2006 Arm-of-the-Sea Theater (puppets)
2005 Session on the arts, including Jim Toomey (cartoonist) and Robyn Kneubuhl (hula)
2004 Christopher Still (artist)
2003 King Mackerel & the Blues Are Running (band)
2002 Chris Rolands (singer and musician)
2001 Holly Arntzen (singer and songwriter)
2000 The Queen Mary tours/and dancing
1999 Mary Edna Fraser (visual artist), Dr. Orrin Pinkey (coastal geologist), and Marjory Wentworth (poet); “A Celebration of Barrier Islands: Restless Ribbons of Sand”
1998 Roy Brown (musician and activist)
1997 Pat Dailey (singer and songwriter)
1996 Schooner Fare (singing group)
1995 Banana Slug String Band (musicians)
1994 None
1993 Jack and Ann Rudloe (authors, lecturers)
1992 Susan Strauss (storyteller)
1991 Richard Ellis (artist and naturalist)
1990 Nainoa Thompson (Native Hawaiian traditional navigator)
1989 Dale and Linda Crider (Florida environmental troubadours)
1988 Sam Hinton (folksinger) “Songs of the Sea”
1987 Dr. Ken Sebens (lecturer) "Rediscovering the Gulf of Maine"
1986 Jack Vallentyne (lecturer)
1985 The Press Gang (singers of Chesapeake chanteys)
1984 Dr. Stephen Dow Beckham (lecturer) “How Vast the Sea, How Great the Opportunity”
1983 Schooner Fare (singing group)
1982 Walter Munk (lecturer) “Oceans and Climate”
1981 Texas Senator A.R. Schwartz (lecturer)
1980 Captain Irving Johnson (lecturer)