Well, the fall term at the University of Oregon has ended. It feels like yesterday since I started teaching at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. Time flies when you are having fun!
The term went so well! Better than I could have hoped. The students were amazing and a real pleasure to teach.
One of the most rewarding parts of the term was the results of the Big BioOce Beach Clean!
On day one of the term, I divided the class (n=23) into five teams and invited them to collect garbage and trash from any marine habitat they visited over the course of the school term. Whichever team collected the most trash (by weight) would win this luxury golden basket of marine-themed candy and handmade whale shark ornaments!
The students were so engaged in this competition! Every week, they would come to class with bags and bags of trash they had collected in their spare time or while doing field trips for other courses.
They took photos of the places they cleaned and the trash they found.
By the end of term, the students had collected 228 pounds (or 102 kg) or trash from beaches, estuaries, sea grass beds, kelp beds, and out of the water from the docks! I am so proud of them!
Here is a photo of everyone gathered around their bounty!
After taking this phot, we then bagged up all of the rubbish and delivered it to a local organization (Washedashore.org) that makes artwork out of marine debris to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the ocean.
Here is a short video I made about the beach clean: enjoy!
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