NOAA’s Pacific Northwest Region Teacher at Sea Alumni (PNW TASA) Workshop was held on November 4-6, 2016, in Seattle, WA at NOAA’s Western Regional Center Sand Point Facility. Eighteen Teacher at Sea Alumni (TASA) from the region (WA, OR, WY, MT, AK, and ID) attended this three-day professional development workshop in order to strengthen oceanographic content knowledge, create relationships with NOAA scientists, gain knowledge about NOAA resources, and build an alumni network in their region.  

PNW TASA toured the facility and learned about topics related to atmospheric pressure, wind and waves, hydrology, nautical charts, water quality, radio frequency seal tagging and radio telemetry, diving principles, beluga whale population assessment, salmon habitat and life cycle, and watershed concepts. Alumni also built and tested remotely operated vehicles, toured the AFSC National Marine Mammal Lab and its Marine Mammal Osteology Collection which consists of 2,500 specimens from 43 marine species from around the world, and shared lesson plans related to their Teacher at Sea experience. You can view the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program Pacific Northwest Region Alumni page and read a full workshop report here.