Texas State Aquarium Student Ocean Conference

Introduction

The Student Ocean Conference held at the Texas State Aquarium on November 29 - 30th, 2001, in Corpus Christi, Texas, was the fourth such conference in a national series. During this two-day event, 100 students grappled with the concepts of multiple-use for marine sanctuaries, specifically the Flower Garden Banks sanctuary near Corpus Christi. The SOC followed a similar format to the previous conferences, with field trips and a talk from National Geographic Explorer in Residence Dr. Sylvia Earle.

Activities

The first things students did when they arrived at the Student Ocean Conference on November 29th was to go on one of six different field trips. The field trips were designed to teach students about the stakeholder issue that they would be addressing throughout the conference. Students were accompanied on their field trips by professionals in a field relevant to the issue they were learning about.

Field Trips Recreational and Commercial Fishing — fishing vessel trip Research — research vessel sampling trip Oil and Gas Exploration — refinery tour Resource Management — US Coast Guard cutter and resource management agency Recreational Diving and Environmental Protection — birding and wetlands tour Transportation — Port of Corpus Christi tour

Stakeholder Discussion Groups and Presentations

The next day started out with students separated into their stakeholder groups for roundtable discussions and to prepare their presentations. In order to help students work through the issues, each group had a stakeholder expert and a facilitator at their roundtable discussion. Students commented that they enjoyed the discussions and presentations because:

• "I got to know more people and experts on my topic."
• "You can get ideas on your topic from other people's ideas and comments. You can get their point of view."
• "You learned a lot about how people use the reef and how it affects it."

A visit from Dr. Earle

• "She wanted us to know that this is all for us; that we are the future."
• "That an individual has an impact on everything that goes on."
• "Be persistent in your ideas and see them through"
• "I was inspired by how excited she was and how you can tell she really enjoys what she is doing."

1. Did you fell prepared for the conference? Why or why not?
   - Yes. Before the conference my class did research on the topics and presented it.
   - Yes and no. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I did some of my research.
   - No, because before the conference I was unaware of all the activities done in the ocean, as well as locations, such as the Flower Garden Banks.
2. Before I came to the SOC I thought….and now I think…
   - About how nervous and how hard it was going to be. I was wrong. I t wasn't hard and I had a great time learning all of these things….that the ocean is not just an endless resource we can abuse and discard, but home to many things other than us.
3. What do your remember most?
   - The trip on the Katy [research vessel] with hands on stuff.
   - The presentations of the stakeholder groups.
4. What positive action can you take to influence the marine environment?
   - Try not to pollute.
   - Tell others about what I have learned.