Introducing SeaDoc Society’s New Education Program
BY MIRA LUTZ
Team SeaDoc is about to embark on a journey with the children of the Salish Sea! It’s a journey of healing through exploration and stewardship and you are invited. Come aboard and take the plunge as a new kind of doctor, a Junior SeaDoctor.
Hi, I am Mira Lutz, SeaDoc Society’s new Education Coordinator. I live in Anacortes and play with my family, friends, and little dog, Taz, in nearly every inch of the Salish Sea watershed, ridge crest to sea floor. My background is in teaching sciences in public schools from kindergarten through university, researching and restoring estuaries, scientific diving, and guiding kayak tours in the central Salish Sea. I am stoked to join forces with this visionary team and you who already have boots on the ground, building a Salish Sea-wide village to raise a new generation of ocean-literate citizens. These are the future decision-makers who will keep the wild wild, re-wild waterways, and keep civilization civilized from Olympia to Campbell River.
Junior SeaDoctors’ mission is to inspire and mobilize youth for a lifetime of ocean literacy, stewardship, and sustainable Salish Sea citizenship. We achieve this mission through three tributaries: 1) JuniorSeaDoctors.com, a website and club for ocean education and community stewardship, 2) National and Provincial standards-based curriculum for grade 5 teachers, based on our book, Explore the Salish Sea: A Nature Guide for Kids, and 3) Kids on the Beach, a template and guide for educators from schools, Tribal and First Nations, government agencies, NGOs, citizen science programs, and community volunteers to support student projects in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) that help inform policy, restore habitat, and educate the community.
If you are a Salish Sea-o-phile with a hankering for habitats and a vision for the environment, or an educator who wants to incorporate locally-relevant ecosystem, earth, or physical science or art into your curriculum, I will welcome you to our fast-growing sea-savvy youth support network and get you plugged into Junior SeaDoctor resources and activities in your area. Email me at mdlutz@ucdavis.edu or give me a call at the SeaDoc home base. Check back in the coming months for our shiny, new juniorseadoctors.com website, with links to resources (and fun) galore for kids of all ages and teachers of all kinds. A sustainable Salish Sea ecosystem is possible for kids, orcas, salmon, and you. Our children are the answer when we let them explore their questions in the Salish Sea.
