TASAA Professional Development
Alumni Book Clubs
The Teacher at Sea Alumni Association Book Clubs are a way for alumni to connect through regionally relevant, non-fiction books. They are a great opportunity for alumni to get to know each other better, engage in timely and intellectual discussions, and explore ways to bring these topics back to their students.
Explore the reading lists below from past clubs and consider joining a future club!
Four Fish by Paul Greenberg
The Alumni Book Club will be meeting from Feb. 11-March 25, 2025 to discuss Paul Greenberg’s Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food.
A century ago nearly all seafood was wild. Today half of it is farmed. In his James Beard award-winning book, Paul Greenberg tells the story of how we tamed the sea and what the future holds for our last wild food. Zeroing in on four fish – salmon, bass, cod, and tuna – Greenberg travels the globe looking for where we went wrong with the human-ocean relationship and how we might one day get it right.
Check back in January for supplementary resources!
Past Book Clubs
The Alumni Book Club met from Oct. 22-Nov. 19, 2024 to discuss Susan Casey’s The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
This Wakelet collection includes additional supporting articles and multimedia resources curated by Teacher at Sea Alumni.
Gotham Unbound
The Tri-State Regional Book Club met from October 10-November 28, 2023 to to discuss Ted Steinberg’s Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
Find related articles, media, websites, and books in this Wakelet.
The Secret Life of Lobsters
The Northeast Regional Book Club met from April 27-June 8, 2023 to discuss Trevor Corson’s The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
This Wakelet collection includes additional supporting articles and multimedia resources curated by Teacher at Sea Alumni.
The World of the Salt Marsh
by Charles Seabrook
The book club met from January 30-February 27, 2023 to discuss The World of the Salt Marsh: Appreciating and Protecting the Tidal Marshes of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast, by Charles Seabrook.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
This Wakelet collection includes additional supporting articles and multimedia resources curated by Teacher at Sea Alumni.
Where the Water Goes
By David Owen
The Pacific Southwest Region Book Club met from October 6-December 1, 2022 to discuss the book Where the Water Goes, by David Owen.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
This Wakelet collection includes additional supporting articles and multimedia resources curated by Teacher at Sea Alumni.
Gulf
The Gulf of Mexico Region Book Club met from April 4-May 16, 2022 to discuss the book Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack E. Davis. This book won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in History.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes and Great Plains Region Book Club met from February 25-April 22, 2021 to discuss the book The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
This Wakelet collection includes resources curated by Teacher at Sea Alumni from the Great Lakes and Great Plains states.
Salmon
The Pacific Northwest Region Book Club met from October 7- December 2, 2021 to discuss the book Salmon: A Fish, the Eath, and the History of Their Common Fate, by Mark Kurlansky.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
This Wakelet collection includes resources curated by Teacher at Sea Alumni from the Pacific Northwest states.
Chesapeake Requiem
The Mid-Atlantic Region Book Club met from May 12-July 7, 2021 to discuss the book Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island, by Earl Swift.
Our facilitators developed these questions to accompany each chapter:
· Chapters 21-22 (combined with questions from Chp. 18-20)
This Wakelet collection includes resources curated by Teacher at Sea Alumni from the Mid-Atlantic states.
Where the Water Goes Book Club
I had a ball and learned a lot. I’m proud of the groovy Wakelet materials we assembled and am delighted to pay the experience forward immediately by sharing the text & topics with my students.
-Jeff Peterson, TAS 2018
Where the Water Goes Book Club
I’m enjoying the book so much and it was such a great pick! A fascinating topic and being new to Colorado myself it’s an invaluable resource on such a pressing topic.
Joanie Le, TAS 2014
What our teachers are saying…
Where the Water Goes Book Club
I enjoyed each and every meeting and all the fantastic resources that everyone shared in the Wakelet, so much intriguing/informative/engaging information there for us to explore.
This was just what I needed this semester, “enrichment” for my own continuing education/lifelong learning about the world and that amazing kind of energy that comes from discussion and exchange with people who enjoy the same. The conversation every time was nourishment for my book-loving, curious mind.
-Jennifer McDonald, TAS 2002
Where the Water Goes Book Club
The Pacific Southwest Region book club members took us down the Colorado River by sharing their personal experiences and insights as we read Where the Water Goes by David Owen. I didn’t need to worry about my lack of regional knowledge as everyone offered up great songs, boondoggles, stories, movies, and books to accompany our often serious discussions about the history and fate of the Colorado River.
We used the book as a jumping off point to talk about the many newsworthy Colorado River stories and similar water management issues we are facing around the globe. I left inspired to be just a little more conscious about my water footprint and knowing I was not alone in my efforts.
-Denise Harrington, TAS 2014, 2016