1. Ocean for Life California Field Study July 26-August 9, 2009 Valerie Morel

2. What is Ocean for Life? Ocean for Life is a field study bringing together high school students from the United States, Canada, and the Middle East. There were two groups of students, a group of Florida field study participants and a group of California field study participants.

3. Themes There were three themes that the participants were encouraged to explore while on the trip and examine how they related to the ocean and to our world: –Interconnectedness –A sense of place –Ocean conservation and stewardship

4. Youth Media Projects Throughout the entirety of the program, all sixty participants were working on youth media projects in small groups. Each group worked with either the National Geographic Photo Camp staff and created still media, or worked with American University graduate student film mentors.

5. Washington, D.C. The two field study groups met in D.C. for three days, Florida at the end of their field study and California at the beginning. The two groups engaged in teambuilding exercises, sightseeing, and cultural activities.

6. D.C. Highlights Tours of the Capitol Building and White House Sightseeing-monuments and memorials Cross-cultural exercises at the Meridian International Center, a main organizer of the program

7. Ocean-related Activities Viewing of the new Sant Ocean Hall in the Smithsonian Going to the National Aquarium (picture taken at the aquarium)

8. Above: California Field Study participants at the closing reception in Washington Right: the Jefferson Memorial Above: in front of the White House

9. California On the fourth day of my field study, we flew from D.C. to San Francisco. For the next ten days, we traveled around northern and central California. The Gulf of the Farallones, Monterey Bay, and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries engaged us in ocean related activities.

10. San Francisco Highlights We stayed at the Headlands Institute located in the Golden Gate Bridge Recreation Area. Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge California Academy of Sciences A sailboat ride in the San Francisco Bay Afternoon on a research vessel testing water and examining sand from the bottom of the bay

11. Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuaries We worked with the two sanctuaries to learn more about what is living in the ocean. Activities at the sanctuary: –Caught crabs –Art projects: sketching and ink presses –Looked at plankton under a microscope We kayaked around Point Reyes.

12. Above: cross-cultural sharing activity Above: field study participants after completing the walk across the Golden Gate Bridge Left: on the sunset sail in the San Francisco Bay

13. The research boat we spent an afternoon aboard. The Headlands Institute where we stayed.

14. Movie Work My group had the theme “A Sense of Place” for our movie project. Each student was given a FlipCam (a small, simple portable video recorder) to use throughout the trip. We filmed anything and everything to put in our movie. We worked with the mentors to develop ideas and a storyboard for our short film.

15. Año Nuevo We stopped at Año Nuevo State Reserve on our way to Santa Cruz and Monterey. We hiked out to the shore to see elephant seals in their natural habitat. We cleaned up one of the trails at the reserve.

16. Santa Cruz Highlights We stayed at the University of California Santa Cruz for the final five days of our study. Redwood night hike Kayaking in the ocean under a full moon Surf lessons Beach clean-up

17. Surf lessons in Santa CruzCleaning up at Año Nuevo

18. Monterey Bay Sanctuary Visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Learned the difference between harbor seals and sea lions Went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Dissected a squid

19. Monterey Bay Aquarium Explored the aquarium in small groups Attended a presentation by Bob Talbot, a renowned marine photographer and filmmaker Spent the night in the aquarium and slept by the big tanks!

20. Above: fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Left: Unmanned vehicles at MBARI

21. What I Learned My knowledge of ocean life and ocean resources expanded greatly. I learned that we must protect our oceans because they have irreplaceable resources. I gained a greater respect for marine science and oceanic research.

22. What I Took Away I met friends for life. I made connections with students and adults alike that will be invaluable in the future. I learned more about cultures different from my own and learned that they are not so different after all.

23. Ocean for Life As a group, we all learned what it meant to be connected as one population around the world. We are all impacted by the ocean, despite our location on the map. We can all make a positive change in our world and on our oceans by putting forth a little effort.

24. Youth Media Project