TASAA Blogs

When Tonya Prentice (TAS ’24) sailed on the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow, her school, Tremont Consolidated School in Bass Harbor, ME, had been assigned two drifter buoys for Tonya to deploy, through the NOAA Adopt a Drifter Program.  After roughly nine months at sea, one of those drifter buoys was spotted in the waters... View Article

Congratulations and a warm welcome to the NOAA Teacher at Sea class of 2025! Stay tuned to read about their adventures at noaateacheratsea.blog in the coming months! Kiersten Newtoff teaches Ecology & Evolution and Environmental Biology at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD. In an unusual turn of events for the program, Kiersten was able to... View Article

In September 2024, Teacher at Sea Alumni Jeff Miller (TAS 2015, Oregon II) and Kate Schafer (TAS 2017, Oregon II) spent time at NOAA’s Little Port Walter Research (LPW) Station in Southeastern Alaska, piloting a “Teacher in the Field” experience. The field station, located on Baranof Island, south of Sitka, is the oldest year-round biological... View Article

In the early days of the pandemic, we looked for ways to bring our community together virtually. One of those ways was through an iNaturalist challenge. You can see the results of that endeavor here. We were inspired to revisit this effort by alum Dr. Ragupathy Kannan’s Bioblitz in Malaysia. As we celebrate 35 years... View Article

You may remember when we posted a request to our TASAA Facebook page for you to submit your naming ideas for two new NOAA charting and mapping vessels. After reviewing them to ensure that they met the criteria in the NOAA vessel naming policy, viable suggestions went through the review process. In total, NOAA received... View Article

The third cohort of Project ROVe took place in July, 2024. In partnership with Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, it was the first hybrid cohort, where local educators joined TAS alumni as participants. Local educators who were invited are interested in bringing Project ROVe to their local communities. By La`akea Laano, TASAA Digital Communications &... View Article

By Andrea Schmuttermair, TASAA ROV Education Coordinator You may have watched the second Project ROVe video, Engaging Learners, Creating Leaders, which highlighted 2018 TAS Alum Brandy Hill and her 6th grade students as they built ROVs in their science classroom in 2023. Brandy participated in the first Project ROVe cohort and received funds to support... View Article

The ocean is a life force for our planet. It produces over half of the world’s oxygen and stores 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. It produces over half of the world’s oxygen and stores 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. It covers over 70% of the Earth and contains over... View Article

One of the pillars of Project ROVe, a marine technology program for educators, is building community and creating a network of support between teachers, students, and experts in the field. From 2022-2024, there have been three program cohorts, totaling 39 educators from across the country, spanning multiple grade levels and content areas. Sharing the expertise... View Article

On Sept. 14th, 21 TAS alumni joined a private live Ship-To-Shore interaction with the team from the E/V Nautilus. In September 2023, the E/V Nautilus explored unseen deep-sea habitats with ROV and seafloor mapping operations in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) focused on the largely unexplored northwestern section of the Monument.    Our hosts,... View Article

by Laura Guertin (TAS, 2014 & 2023) We are surrounded with Earth Science data, some right before our very eyes. In fact, we are able to observe and collect data from our atmosphere easily and without any scientific equipment. We don’t have to look far above our heads to see incredible cloud formations, the distribution of... View Article

By Andrea Schmuttermair, TASAA ROV Education Coordinator The thing I love most about the Teacher at Sea Alumni Association (TASAA) is the people, the amazing network of educators who all have one thing in common-we are explorers. Each one of us shares a passion for the ocean and our planet, and equally, the opportunity to... View Article

By Jenny Goldner, TAS 2011 It seems like it was just yesterday, but it was three years ago. I had just fixed myself dinner and sat down to watch a little TV before bed. I heard an announcement come over the evening news that would change all our lives: a mysterious virus had entered our... View Article

Enjoy the holidays with some winter weaving! The NOAA Teacher at Sea Alumni Association got together “virtually” last week to create wreaths from old crabbing lines as part of TASAA NOAA Fellow Denise Harrington’s focus on marine debris. As an avid ocean kayaker, she wanted to do more than just pick up the derelict fishing gear... View Article

By Cathrine Prenot (NOAA TAS 2011, 2016) Letters from my father starring “Ima Elephant.” These cartoons and others were part of every letter he wrote to me. I grew up in a family that valued science and art. My parents and grandmother were backyard naturalists, and although my dad was a car salesman, he ran... View Article

By Denise Harrington, TASAA NOAA Fellow Spending time in the great outdoors was a cornerstone of my childhood. Many family vacations were enjoyed in the woods and I went on 50- and 70-mile hikes with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. I was a fast hiker, gaining the nickname Billy Goat. This was not a... View Article

By Andrea Schmuttermair, TASAA ROV Education Coordinator Some might say exploration is in my blood. My grandparents immigrated to the US from Germany over 50 years ago, and instilled in me a sense of adventure. From exploring nature and the ocean near my home to traveling and teaching around the world, exploration continues to drive... View Article

By Andrea Schmuttermair, TASAA ROV Education Coordinator Who doesn’t love a good story, especially one about adventure and the unknown? This is a story, a story of adventure, of the unknown. A story with unexpected twists and turns, one that has evolved over time. I am writing this from a coffee shop called “Wayfinder” — aptly named,... View Article

By Cristina Veresan (NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, 2015) I remember the first time I saw this simple Venn diagram of “art” and “science” with the overlap of the circles labeled “wonder.” It really resonated with me; while the disciplines have even more in common, I do believe a kind of amazed curiosity is central to... View Article

In the last decade, the acronym STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art, and math — has become a popular way of acknowledging that the arts have a vital role in STEM subjects. The arts have long been a way to engage people in new ideas, and they can be an important tool in communicating science.... View Article

By Dr. Laura Guertin (NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, 2014) I started quilting in 2006, creating blankets and wall hangings that I mostly gave away to friends and colleagues. But a trip to the southern Louisiana coast several years ago made a significant impact on the future direction and purpose of my quilting activities. Now, instead... View Article

The last few years have been very different for many people and especially so for teachers. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Teacher at Sea Alumni Association responded by turning our alumni grant program into a process for alumni to request teaching supplies to make the transition to remote teaching. Document cameras, microphones, green screens,... View Article

This year, NOAA’s Teacher at Sea program celebrated its 30th anniversary. Formed in 1990 to provide teachers with hands-on, real world research experience working at sea, the Teacher at Sea program has served over 850 teachers. Teacher at Sea provides a unique opportunity for pre-kindergarten through college-level teachers and informal educators to participate in research cruises that… View Article