1993

Through the Years | Conferences | Presidents | Awards | Stegner Lecture | The Pike

18th NMEA Conference

August 2-7, 1993, New Orleans, LA (Tulane University)
Theme: Where the River Meets the Sea

Executive Committee

President: Sharon Walker (MS)
President-Elect: John Dindo (AL)
Past President: Jim O'Connor (DC)
Membership Secretary: Michael Rigsby (CA)
Treasurer: Valerie Chase (MD)
Secretary: Rick Tinnin (TX)

Board of Directors:

(1990-93): John Dindo (AL), Kathleen Heidenreich (WA), Craig Strang (CA)
(1991-94): Sue Gammisch (VA), Mike Spranger (WA), Rhet Wilson (SC)
(1992-95): Deborah Coulombe (NH), Barbara Lee (HI), Michael O’Shea (NJ)
(1993-94) John Trowbridge (LA)
(1993-96): Mark DeCrosta (FL), Rick Tinnin (TX), Maureen Wilmot (DC), Joy Wolf (CA)

Contracted Staff

Current and NMEA news editor: Nora Deans (CA)

Chapter Representatives:

  • FMSEA (Florida Marine Science Education Association): Mark DeCrosta (FL)

  • GAME (Georgia Association of Marine Educators): Margaret Eidson (GA)

  • GLEAMS (Great Lakes Educators of Aquatic and Marine Science): Bill Simpkins (OH)

  • GOMMEA (Gulf of Maine Marine Education Association): Ann Reid (NH)/ Jeanne Meggison (ME)

  • MME (Massachusetts Marine Educators): George Duane (MA)/ Peg Collins (MA)

  • MAMEA (Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association):Terry Kirby (NC)

  • NJMEA (New Jersey Marine Education Association): Mary K. Masterson (NJ)

  • NYSMEA (New York State Marine Education Association): Elaine Dolgins (NY)

  • NAME (Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators): Laurie Usher (WA)

  • OCEANIA: Ann Coopersmith (HI)/ Dave Guello

  • SCMEA (South Carolina Marine Educators Association): Phil Astwood (SC)

  • SAME (Southeastern Association of Marine Educators): Sharon Alonzo (LA)

  • SENEME (Southeastern New England Marine Education Association): Alice Reiseaweaver (CT) / Pam Sears

  • SWMEA (Southwest Marine Education Association: Joy Wolf (CA)

  • TMEA (Texas Marine Education Association): Jack Clason (TX)

Awards:

James Centorino Award: Bill Hastie (OR)
Outstanding Teacher Award: Margaret Olsen (GA)
Marine Education Award: Captain Dave Mattingly
President’s Award: James I. Jones and Robert J. Shephard
Honorary Member: Millie Graham (GA)

Conference Highlights

Co-chairs Sharon Alonzo and John Trowbridge and other members of the Southern Association of Marine Educators (SAME) hosted this exciting conference in the Big Easy.

Board meetings, committee meetings, and conference registration dominated the time on August 1st and 2nd.

On the 3rd, there was a discussion group, moderated by Barbara Lee, which focused on “National Perspectives in Marine Education-Long-Term Goals for NMEA”. This was followed by an opening and keynote panel made up of Sharon Walker (outgoing President of NMEA) , Donald Davis of Louisiana State University, and Rezneat Darnell of Texas A & M. Concurrent sessions began after lunch. Chapter meetings followed the sessions. A reception at the Aquarium of the Americas—Dine with the Ginglymostomatidae topped off the evening. For those who don’t know what a Ginglymostomatidae is, it’s a nurse shark.

Conference Program

Being good conservationists, we used our conference mugs, instead of paper cups. Photograph by Susan Leach Snyder

An eel was one of the many animals seen at the Aquarium of the Americas. Photograph by Susan Leach Snyder

On August 4th, there were mini-sessions, concurrent sessions, Sea World’s Marine Science Live via satellite, dinner, the silent auction, a play called “Estuary: Quest to the Sea,” the live auction, and a night out at the world famous bar, Tipitina’s.

This sign was posted on a telephone pole advertising Tipitina's. Photograph by Susan Leach Snyder

This was one of the many large grasshoppers spotted along the canoe trip in the LaBranche wetlands.

The next morning was the membership meeting and continental breakfast, followed by concurrent sessions, awards, the Stegner Lecture with Jack and Ann Rudlow, Sea Swap, and Hot August Night at the Audubon Zoo.

The field trips on August 6th provided opportunities to visit the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium research facility; tour the J. L. Scott Marine Education Center and Huckleberry Hill, USM Arboretum; canoe through LaBranche wetlands; explore Horn Island on a barrier island excursion; visit Honey Island on a swamp tour; visit Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station; hike through Jean Lafitte National Park, tour historic Fort Massachusetts and beachcomb along the Gulf of Mexico; or explore the “Cities of the Dead”-the above-ground cemeteries of New Orleans. At the end of the day, there was a sampling of Louisiana foods at the Louisiana Nature and Science Center.

The conference ended with the New Board meeting, Sea Faire and brunch, and the closing activities on August 7th.

Additional Highlights of 1992:

Kristine Westerberg from the John G. Shedd Aquarium compiled an index of Current, the Journal of the National Marine Educators Association for the years 1976-1993.

In the spring of 1993, a membership survey was sent with the ballot. The results of the survey were published in Current, Volume 12, Number 3, 1994.

In 1993, NMEA published three issues of Current: The Journal of Marine Education. The first was a general issue, and it contained the 1992 Annual Report. The second was titled “The Gulf of Mexico: Where the River Meets the Sea,” and the third was “Fisheries: Management and Conservation.” The Gulf of Mexico issue was funded by Dr. Sharon Walker (President 1992-93) and Bob Gasaway of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The fisheries issue was created by Andy Dolloff of the Public Awareness Committee of the American Fisheries Society and by Bill Hastie, NMEA member of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who pulled together in-depth articles about issues facing different regions of the United States.