You’re Invited! Annual Meeting & Volunteer Celebration

February 21st, 2012
6:00pm to 8:30pm
Olympia Unitarian Universalist Church
2200 East End Street NW, Olympia, WA 

SSEA members, beach naturalists, guests and all those interested in the south Puget Sound are invited to our Annual Meeting and Volunteer Celebration. We’ll wrap up the year, honor those volunteers who have contributed exemplary service, and listen to a keynote presentation by Jonathan Kochmer of Earth Economics. Please join us for this great event, including refreshments, and bring a guest!

Jonathan, the principal researcher of Earth Economics, will highlight examples of the cost/benefit analyses of specific actions that impact Puget Sound, including stormwater, drinking-water protection and wetland protection. The mission of Earth Economics is to apply economic tools and principles to the environmental challenges of the 21st century.

For more information about the Annual Meeting and Volunteer Celebration, please click here or contact Diana Larsen-Mills at 360-754-7371.

Our Invisible Shoreline: A Video Tour

March 7th, 7 – 9 p.m.
LOTT’s WET Science Center

SSEA is excited to have Filmmaker, John F. Williams, to finish-up our Discovery Lecture Series with his presentation: Our Invisible Shoreline: A Video Tour. On January 18th at the LOTT WET Science Center, Williams will present a video tour of the secret watery world lapping, crashing, and swirling on our local beaches. See unusual underwater video clips, provocative photographs, and engage in conversation about some of the key marine shoreline processes that are not a part of our daily experience. This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

SSEA’s vision:

SSEA’s long-term goal is to build an interpretative center in downtown Olympia, a museum-like environment with hands-on displays that teach and inspire people about the inland marine waters we’re connected to through our watershed. Please consider SSEA in your end of year giving to help us charge forward in this vision! Click here to find out more information about the SSEA Center.

Artist’s concept of the center by Michelle Thompson.
(Thank you Michelle for your fabulous work!)

Free Lecture: Biodiversity in the South Sound and the Human Condition

Don’t miss our upcoming lecture on November 16th at LOTT’s WET Science Center! The lecture will be presented by Daniel Hull, Executive Director of the Nisqually Reach Nature Center. Daniel has championed many citizen-monitoring programs with the goal of connecting people to biodiversity in the Puget Sound. This free lecture is a culmination of Daniel’s work connecting citizens with science and critical thinking.  Click here to find out more information about the lecture.

Plastics in the Ocean: Curiosity or Concern?

Upcoming Lecture: October 19th    SSEA was fortunate to have University of Washington researchers demonstrate their new technique for sampling microplastics during our Cruise on October 2nd. Their research is being duplicated all over the world and samples are being analyzed to give baseline information to determine the extent of the problem. While much research has focused on effects of large plastics in the water, very little has been done on what happens when those big pieces break down.   (Pictured right is UW Assistant Researcher deploying research apparatus to collect microplastics samples)

To expand upon this topic even further, SSEA is honored to have Dr. Joel Baker, Science Director at Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma, give a lecture on October 19th at LOTT’s WET Science Center. This lecture is free and open to the public.

According to Dr. Baker, microscopic fragments are floating in the ocean and washing up on shores, but the exact consequences for marine organisms are still unknown. Do microplastics pose harm to organisms when ingested? What happens when microplastics enter the food chain?

All these questions are being posed in Dr. Baker’s work with the UW Puget Sound Institute. Come find out how they are approaching these questions and more in his upcoming lecture. Plus, the results of samples collected during our cruise will be announced at this lecture. Come find out how our local waters measure up.

October 19th, 7-9pm
Location: LOTT’s WET Science Center
Lecture Title: “Plastics in the Ocean: Curiosity or Concern?”
Presented by Dr. Joel Baker, Director of UW Puget Sound Institute

For more information about upcoming SSEA lectures, please click here or call Leihla Scharlau at 888-0565.

Join Us for the Discovery Lecture Series

During the winter months at the LOTT’s WET Science Center, SSEA will bring in experts on a range of topics regarding the Puget Sound. Event details will be posted soon to the SSEA website but for now, mark your calendars for the following dates:

October 19th, 7-9pm
LOTT’s WET Science Center
Lecture Title: “Plastics in the Ocean:  Curiosity or Concern?”
Presented by Joel Baker, Director of UW Puget Sound Institute

November 16th, 7-9pm
LOTT’s WET Science Center
Lecture Topic: Biodiversity
Presented by Daniel Hull, Executive Director of Nisqually Reach Nature Center

December 7th, 7-9pm
LOTT’s WET Science Center
Lecture Title: The Road to Recovery for Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales
Presented by Lynne Barre, National Marine Fisheries

For more information, please contact Leihla at at 360-888-0565 or leihla@sseacenter.org.

SSEA in the News!

Olympia Power and Light recently had a great article about South Sound Estuary Association. Check out the article by  clicking here.

The article highlighted our programming and events to include:

• The Beach Naturalist Program
• Discovery Lecture Series
• Cruising for the Sound event with programming by Les Eldridge
• SSEA’s ultimate goal of opening an aquarium-like center in downtown Olympia 

SSEA in the News!

The Olympian covered the Beach Naturalist program on-site on Burfoot Park this past Sunday during our FIRST weekend out at the beach! Check out the article by clicking here.

It was a wonderful weekend to kick-off the Beach Naturalist season: great weather, dedicated volunteers, interested beach goers, and lots of marine life!

If you missed us this week, we are at three beaches next weekend. Please view our Beach Naturalist schedule by clicking here.

 

Congratulations to our Beach Naturalists for completing the 2011 training!

Over 50 volunteers dedicated five Thursday nights and one weekend to learn more about our South Puget Sound and how it is unique as part of the Beach Naturalist Program.

Beach Naturalist Training on the Beach

Beach Naturalists braved the rain to explore Tolmie State Park this weekend. Naturalists learned about bamboo tube worms, Pacific Oysters, Limpets, and how bull kelp grows to name a few!