It’s always wonderful to see TAS alumni continuing to engage with NOAA, even years after they sail. Recently, Mark Wolfgang (TAS, 2017) was a guest on the Planet NOAA Podcast. Mark teaches Biology and Zoology at Franklin High School, just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. He joined guest host Sarah Jester and three other guests in a deep dive (pun intended) into NOAA’s educational programming. The guests shared their perspectives, coming from NOAA, NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program, and science communications and policy at the Office of the NOAA Administrator. Participants highlighted the many ways that NOAA offers educational programming, funds educational projects through grants, and supports learners through scholarships and internships.

As Mark and the others talked about what drew them into their current careers, themes of curiosity, love of the outdoors, and inspirational teachers emerged. The discussion turned towards the importance of being able to communicate scientific research findings to a broader audience, and how environmental solutions will require interdisciplinary approaches that include social sciences and the humanities.

In terms of bringing science to a broader audience, Mark spoke of how he was able to communicate his daily experiences aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker to his classroom the very next day. His Teacher at Sea experience has been an important part of a shift in the way he teaches biology, where he now takes a more integrative approach and aims to teach students how to be good scientists, rather than good test takers. He shared how classroom science experiments often try to create very clear-cut experiences with perfect data points but, in reality, scientific data are “kind of messy and muddy, and that zero was definitely a data point that we had to kind of deal with”.

Mark encourages teachers to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by NOAA, and to continually look for opportunities to grow. Thanks for helping to spread the message, Mark!

On a monthly basis, you can tune into the Planet NOAA Podcast (available on Apple Podcasts or on your computer) to learn more about how NOAA’s impact is felt from sun to sea and everything in between, whether it’s delivering America its daily weather forecasts or unlocking the secrets of the deepest depths of the ocean.

(Photo Credits: NOAA Teacher at Sea)