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ExpeditionDispatch
22 April 2009 (Vol. 3 No. 2) Earth Day Edition!
 Guggenheim Delivers Opening Address to Scottish Parliament
Scotland Puts Forward Leading Climate Change Bill
Scottish Parliament’s Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change
Committee held a full-day climate change event, Scotland and Climate Change –
Getting it Right, in the Chamber of the Parliament on March 27, 2009. Dr. David E. Guggenheim, president of 1planet1ocean, delivered the opening address, providing focus on the impacts of climate change on the world’s oceans and the importance of strong environmental education. He also provided a U.S. perspective on the climate change issue, including expectations from the Obama Administration. Guggenheim congratulated the Scottish government for its leadership on climate change, which includes commitment to an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. The Scottish Parliament has created a special web page for the event, including video coverage of the entire day’s events, transcripts, and speaker information.
An Ocean Partnership with Cuba
Cuba, Mexico & the U.S. Build a Plan of Action
On March 18-19, a group of 28 Gulf of Mexico marine scientists and officials met in Veracruz, Mexico to continue an historical dialogue on bringing collaboration in marine science and conservation to a new level. The event meeting was co-organized by The Ocean Foundation, the Center for International Policy, and the Harte Research Institute. The meeting was led by Dr. David E. Guggenheim.
The meeting follows a groundbreaking first meeting held in Cancun, Mexico in November 2007 (covered by the New York Times) where research and conservation priorities were established. For the Veracruz meeting, a tri-national effort generously hosted by Admiral Alberto Vazquez de la Cerda and the Mexican Navy, and funded by the Christopher Reynolds Foundation, the Bay and Paul Foundations and Sherritt International, participants worked to build a Plan of Action that establishes a blueprint for collaboration among Cuba, Mexico and the U.S. over the coming years.
A third meeting is planned for Havana in October 2009 to reunite the group and to put the new Plan of Action into motion by creating new partnerships and projects.
Special Event:
A New Era for US-Cuba Relations on Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation
Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 2-5 pm
The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC
See also:
The 50-States Expedition Continues…
The expedition resumes next week!
4th Graders at Fred Ipalook Elementary, Barrow, Alaska
The Ocean Doctor’s “50 Years – 50 States – 50 Speeches Expedition“ is a one-year journey of outreach, education, and discovery, announced by Dr. David E. Guggenheim on his 50th birthday (October 6, 2008) to bring, at no charge, speeches about the oceans to schools in all 50 U.S. states plus territories. By its culmination, the “expedition” will have reached well over 100 schools and tens of thousands of students to share firsthand accounts, stories, humor, passion, and important lessons about the oceans and their conservation.
To date, the expedition has reached nine states: California, Florida, Kansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Wisconsin, Alaska and New York, including a visit with 4th graders at the northernmost settlement in North America: Barrow, Alaska, where temperatures dipped to -43 F during the visit.
Fred Ipalook Elementary School,Barrow, Alaska
Through additional outreach in the visited communities, engagement of the media, and encouraging the visited schools to connect with each other and share their perspectives on the oceans through a new online social network, it is hoped that this project can help encourage an enduring wave of renewed interest in the oceans by its next generation of explorers, scientists and stewards.
 The expedition is a joint project of The Ocean Foundation, the project’s fiscal sponsor, along with 1planet1ocean, and is supported by your tax-deductible donations to the “Ocean Doctor’s 50 Years – 50 States – 50 Speeches Expedition Fund” at The Ocean Foundation. Become a supporter!
A Word from the Ocean Doctor
A decade or so ago, an article appeared in the Palm Beach Post quoting me as saying, “The leaders we have to reach are in diapers today,” referring to the decades-long Everglades restoration, speaking as a former co-chair of the Everglades Coalition. I suppose those once-diapered kids I was referring to are now in elementary school, which is why I was intrigued to hear explorer Scott W. Hamilton, speaking at a recent Explorers Club Dinner, state that “the next commander of a manned mission to Mars is in elementary school today.” The daunting challenges ahead of humanity, whether saving coral reefs, battling climate change or holding the first handful of red sand on Mars, are decades-long efforts that can’t rest on the shoulders of a single generation.So is the next generation more ready than we were?
In my journey to visit with students in all 50 states, I’m certain I’m learning as much from the students as they are from me. What have I learned? Unfortunately, young people still know very little about the oceans, and in many parts of the country are increasingly living lives devoid of any contact with nature. Fortunately, the students I’ve met with do feel strongly positive about the oceans, even those who’ve never seen an ocean, roughly half of the students in the Midwestern schools I’ve visited. That gives me hope that even a modest effort to better young peoples’ environmental education — and outdoor experiences — would go a long way.
I can still remember the first Earth Day. My class cleaned trash out of the creek that ran behind our suburban Philadelphia school. And I was ecstatic when I convinced my mom to switch to a phosphate-free laundry detergent called, “Ecology.” The participation of my teachers and parents made a lasting impression? upon me that has carried me to my half-century mark. I was that proverbial elementary school kid who figured it out with a little help and inspiration.That’s the best gift we can share today with the next generation. My warmest wishes for a wonderful Earth Day 2009.
Sincerely,
David E. Guggenheim, Ph.D.
President
P.S. For my personal commentary from at sea or behind my desk, I invite you to read OceanDoctor’s Blog
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David Guggenheim, president of 1planet1ocean, is featured in the forthcoming book, “Lessons from Empowering Leaders”
The “Ocean Doctor,” David Guggenheim, is featured in the recently-released book, Lessons from Empowering Leaders by Ed Poole, author of Lessons from the Porch and Lessons from the Crossroads. The author brings examples of leadership to life through storytelling in his latest book. Order your copy!
The ExpeditionCasts podcast made its debut from the Bering Sea. Thanks to your positive feedback, the series resumed earlier this year with new features, interviews, and video, bringing you dispatches from expeditions, research and conservation projects around the world. You’ll find ExpeditionCasts videos within the new Google Earth 5.0. And remember, you don’t need an iPod to subscribe to a podcast, and it’s always free.
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ExpeditionDispatch is the newsletter of 1planet1ocean.
© Copyright 2009 1planet1ocean. All Rights Reserved.
1planet1ocean is a nonprofit organization, founded
to explore, restore and sustain the oceans through strong international
partnerships, offering solutions to the problems our oceans face.
Areas of Focus:
Expeditionary research
to identify and map important marine ecosystems, especially coral
ecosystems, in order to inform strong conservation policies.
Sustainable aquaculture
and the promotion of next-generation land-based recirculating
aquaculture systems in order to reduce pressure on wild fish stocks and
provide a sustainable alternative that supports local communities.
Connecting people to the oceans through outreach, education, videography, photography and leading-edge Web technologies.
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