Seward Student to Study Plight of Chesapeake Bay

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Seward Student to Study Plight of Chesapeake Bay with
World Renowned Oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle

To Work Alongside National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Students,
Educators

Will Investigate Efforts to Restore Chesapeake Bay and other Estuaries

Research To Be Followed by Students and Teachers Across the World
As Part of The JASON Project’s Aquatic Ecology Science Curriculum

Seward, Alaska – Conducting field research with world-renowned scientists is
not the average summer vacation for most high school students. But for Austin
Gillespie, a rising ninth-grader at Seward High School, it will part of an


immersive field experience when he embarks, July 21 through 24, on an
expedition aimed at helping preserve wildlife and resources in the Chesapeake
Bay and other estuaries around the country.

Sponsored by The JASON Project, which connects young students with “great
explorers and great events” to inspire and motivate them to learn and pursue
science, Gillespie will begin his mission at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve in Gloucester Point, Va.  His work will be a central component of
JASON’s upcoming aquatic ecology curriculum, which will be used by students in
classrooms around the world.

Gillespie is one of only nine Student Argonauts chosen from a pool of
applicants from across the globe by JASON, a nonprofit subsidiary of the
National Geographic Society. He will work alongside two students from Mexico
and New Zealand, one teacher from New York state, and renowned oceanographer
and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle. Called a “Living
Legend” by the Library of Congress, Earle has led more than 60 expeditions and
logged more than 6,000 hours underwater.

In Virginia, Gillespie and the expedition team will work on a research vessel
to collect water and biotic samples in the Chesapeake and investigate the
factors that affect how its organisms are struggling to survive. The team’s
research will help teach JASON students about the potential harms ecosystems
like the Chesapeake face and the necessary management and conservation efforts
taken to keep the them alive and healthy.

Gillespie’s fellow classmates and teachers, as well as the general public, can
begin to follow his complete adventures online at www.jason.org beginning in
fall 2008.

“We want to get students like Austin excited about science by having them take
part in actual research with leading scientists in the field. We want them to
work with someone who has a deep passion for exploration, like Dr. Earle, and
say, ‘I want to do what they do, and I will do whatever it takes to get
there,’” said Caleb M. Schutz, president of The JASON Project. “We believe that
creating those connections will help all students internalize the desire to
learn, improve their achievement, overcome obstacles to achieve their goals and
make them more apt to pursue the sciences in their education or careers.  We
also believe that teachers who are provided with these same inspirational
experiences – along with the tools and resources to better teach science – will
become motivated to make a lasting positive effect on their students.”

For Gillespie, the Chesapeake Bay mission is part of a two-year JASON Project
internship, during which he will be involved with developing, reviewing and
launching the aquatic ecology curriculum – a self-contained nine-week unit that
uses ocean basins, rivers, lakes and estuaries as teaching tools to examine
multiple aquatic ecosystems.

The curriculum will investigate the importance of aquatic ecosystems and enable
students to learn ecosystem management techniques by taking on the roles of
scientists and public policymakers charged with analyzing and implementing
management practices in the face of growing pressures from human-induced
changes.  Rooted in National Science Education Standards, the aquatic ecology
unit is designed to fit school districts’ core water science curriculum for
fifth through eighth grades across the country.

As part of Gillespie’s JASON internship, he will also work with JASON staff to
create and test print and multimedia curricular materials that will be used by
JASON students and teachers in classrooms around the world.  These materials
take JASON students on an immersive “field trip” with Gillespie and his
scientific team using technologies such as videos, podcasts, Web casts, live
chat sessions, interactive computer simulations and message boards.

Gillespie prepared for his trip to the Chesapeake Bay by attending a weeklong
Argonaut Mission Training in June with 11 other Student and Teacher Argonauts
as well as scientists.  At the Mission Training in Milwaukee, Wis., he learned
how scientists work in the field, about tools and instruments scientists use,
and how to properly collect data samples.

Upon completing his Mission Training, Gillespie was selected for the Chesapeake
Bay mission. This is one of five missions in The JASON Project's aquatic
ecology curriculum. The other four missions include assisting in the
restoration of local wetlands in the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana, developing
a plan to help protect a coral reef in the Flower Gardens National Marine
Sanctuary in Texas with oceanographer and Titanic-discoverer Dr. Robert
Ballard, helping establish the preservation criteria of a pristine ocean
ecosystem for the new Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, and
studying animal behavior to allow a species to recover from the brink of
extinction at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts with
NOAA Ocean Noise Specialist Leila T. Hatch. This curriculum was developed
through The JASON Project in partnership with NASA, NOAA, and the National
Geographic Society.

In order to be selected for The JASON Project, Gillespie had to go through a
rigorous application process and compete with students from across the world.
As part of the application, he had to submit teacher recommendations, a list of
extracurricular activities, and both a written essay as well as a video essay
describing why he wanted to be an Argonaut. Candidates must be 14- or
15-years-old and must demonstrate a passion for learning, strong leadership
skills, an ability to work as part of a team, and enthusiasm for long hours of
scientific activity.

Visit www.jason.org to learn more about The JASON Project as well as our
current expedition, Operation: Monster Storms.

A nonprofit subsidiary of the National Geographic Society led by President
Caleb M. Schutz, The JASON Project connects students and teachers with great
explorers and great events to inspire them about science. Founded by
oceanographer and Titanic-discoverer Dr. Robert Ballard in 1989, JASON’s goal
is to help improve student achievement and motivate teachers.  We believe that
when students are intrinsically motivated, they will do whatever it takes –
including overcoming any obstacle and studying all the necessary subjects – to
attain their goals.  JASON works with NASA, NOAA and National Geographic to
develop multimedia science based on their cutting-edge missions of exploration
and discovery.