NOAA Teacher at Sea Alumni (TASA) from the Mid-Atlantic Region (Washington D.C., DE, MD, VA and WV) attended a two-day workshop at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, MD on November 7-8, 2014. The workshop met the following objectives: 
   · Enhance science content knowledge and pedagogical skills.  
   · Model scientific field investigations and classroom activities. 
   · Promote environmental stewardship 
   · Strengthen a sustainable NOAA TASA network in the Mid-Atlantic. 
 
SERC’s 2,600-acre campus includes forests, wetlands, marshes and miles of protected shoreline. It is a natural lab for ecological research. 
 
Mid-Atlantic Teacher at Sea Alumni toured the LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory, the Smithsonian’s “greenest” building to date. They learned about ecosystems that are at risk due to invasive species, pollution and climate change. Additional workshop content included a visit to the Marine Invasions Research Lab—a national and international center for research on biological invasions in coastal marine ecosystems. Alumni toured the Biogeochemistry Lab where scientists study element cycling to better understand how ecosystems respond to global changes. The lab also operates the Smithsonian’s Global Change Research Wetland that has operated since 1985. 
 
Mid-Atlantic TASA participated in a Chesapeake Field Experience which is a hands-on program consisting of five stations in which the living and non-living components of the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem are explored. They learned how to apply the workshop science content in their classroom, as well as other pedagogical 
skills.