Podcasts about coastal studies

In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we begin a series on Landsat's usefulness in coastal studies. First, we talk with Sean Vitousek, a USGS research oceanographer, about changes to beaches in California and how he is using Landsat and other data to create models that can predict how the coastline may change in the future because of sea level rise and coastal erosion. Landsat's global reach stretches back decades—that, along with its free availability, can help in planning for the prevention and adaptation to future hazards along the coast. See how Landsat complements other data and ground truth studies, and how machine learning plays a part in this study as well.

On this week's episode of ⁠⁠Orleans: Behind the Scenes⁠⁠, host Mia Baumgarten welcomes Shelly McComb, Coastal Resilience Specialist with Cape Cod Cooperative Extension & Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant and Katie Castagno, Ph.D., Director with The Center for Coastal Studies. Welcome to Orleans! Are you a longtime visitor, lifetime resident, or newly minted explorer? Mia and Mike are here for you with the scoop on happenings in this bustling and beautiful Lower Cape town. Want to know what's driving the initiatives and innovations coming out of Town Hall? Get a glimpse behind the scenes as Mia and Mike introduce you to the fresh faces and dynamic projects around town. Mia and Mike will keep you up to date and informed about all the ways your local government works. For a weekly dose of local news delivered with a different perspective, subscribe and listen to ⁠⁠⁠Orleans: Behind the Scenes⁠⁠⁠. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For more information: Volunteer with The Center for Coastal Studies: coastalstudies.org/get-involved/volunteers/ Data Portal: mapthatcapecod.com/ Storm Tide Pathways: stormtides.org/ Homeowners Handbook Coastal Resilience Week 2024: seagrant.whoi.edu/cccrw-2024/ Community Beach Monitoring: mycoast.org/ma/coastsnap/about   Connect with Barnstable County Government on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and Youtube   Connect with The Center for Coastal Studies on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X   Upcoming Events: Beach Sticker Information Snow Library ⁠Calendar⁠ Orleans Farmers' Market:  Every Saturday 8 AM - 12 PM | ⁠www.orleansfarmersmarket.org/⁠ ⁠Pop Up Practices in Parish Park⁠ - Sponsored by the Orleans Cultural District: Every Saturday 1 - 2 PM Orleans Chamber of Commerce ⁠Events Calendar⁠ Over Sand Vehicles (OSV) Updates ----------------------------------------------------------- Connect with the Town of Orleans now on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ Contact us at: ⁠orleansbts@town.orleans.ma.us

Charles "Stormy" Mayo, an expert on right whales and helped develop techniques for disentangling whales from fishing gear, is retiring from the Center for Coastal Studies this year. He spoke with WBUR's All Things Considered host Lisa Mullins about his work and the future for marine life in a warming world.

When we're gone from this Earth, what will we leave behind? What will we pass down to those who come after us?Plastic. If nothing else, lots of plastic. A plastic bag might take 20 years to break down, but harder, thicker plastics, like toothbrushes, might take 500 years or more to break down.Elizabeth Bradfield is a poet and naturalist who sees first hand, in her work as a marine educator, the ravaging impacts of plastic on marine life. But she also confronts plastic and our collective addiction to it as a subject of poetry.Her poem, “Plastic: A Personal History,” is what she calls a “cranky naturalist” poem, which is pretty funny, but embedded in the humor are big questions: how has plastic become part of who we are as individuals and as a species? Now that we know the dangers and devastating effects of plastic production and disposal, how must we change our relationship to this petrochemical product? What kind of world are we making, and what alternatives do we have?Elizabeth Bradfield is the author of five collections of poetry, including, most recently, Toward Antarctica. She co-edited the newly-released anthology, Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, The Sun, and Orion, and her honors include the Audre Lorde Prize and a Stegner Fellowship. She teaches creative writing at Brandeis University and is founder and editor-in-chief of Broadsided Press. She lives on Cape Cod, where she also works as a naturalist and marine educator.This episode of Chrysalis is part of the Chrysalis Poets series. You can listen on Substack, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.Please rate, review, and share to help us spread the word!Elizabeth BradfieldBorn in Tacoma, Washington, Elizabeth Bradfield is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently Toward Antarctica, which uses haibun and her photographs to query the work of guiding tourists in Antarctica, and Theorem, a collaboration with artist Antonia Contro.Bradfield is also co-editor of the anthologies Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry, and Broadsided Press: Fifteen Years of Poetic/Artistic Collaboration, 2005-2020. A professor and co-director of Creative Writing at Brandeis University, Bradfield has received a great deal of recognition through awards and fellowships. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, The Sun, Orion, and her honors include the Audre Lorde Prize and a Stegner Fellowship. Based on Cape Cod, Liz also works as a naturalist, adding an engaging and proactive component to back up the prowess of her evocative literature. She also is the founder and editor-in-chief of Broadsided Press, a journal and grass-roots initiative that, through monthly publications, aims to expose the broader community (beyond academia) to relevant literature and art.“Plastic: A Personal History”By Elizabeth BradfieldHow can I find a way to praise it? Do the early inventors & embracers churn with regret? I don't think my parents —born in the swing toward ubiquity—chew & chew & chew on plastic. But of course they do. Bits in water, food-flesh, air. And their parents? I remember Dad mocking his mother's drawer of saved rubber bands and his father-in-law's red, corroded jerry can, patched and patched, never replaced for new, for never- rusting. Cash or plastic? Plastic. Even for gum. We hate the $5 minimum. Bills paperless, automatic, almost unreal. My toys were plastic, castle and circus train and yo-yo. Did my lunches ever get wrapped in waxed paper or was it all Saran, Saran, Saran? Sarah's mom was given, in Girl Scouts, a blue sheet of plastic to cut, sew, and trim with white piping into pouches for camping. Sarah has it still, brittle but useful. Merit badge for waterproofing. For everlasting. You, too, must have heard stories, now quaint as carriages, of first plastic, pre-plastic. Eras of glass, waxed cloth, and tin. Of shared syringes. All our grocery bags, growing up, were paper. Bottom hefted on forearm, top crunched into grab. We used them to line the kitchen garbage pail. Not that long ago, maybe a decade, I made purses for my sisters out of putty-colored, red-lettered plastic Safeway bags. I'd snag a stack each time I went, then fold and sew, quilt with bright thread, line with thrift store blouses. They were sturdy and beautiful. Rainproof and light. Clever. So clever. I regret them. And the plastic toothpicks, folders, shoes that seemed so cheap, so easy, so use-again and thus less wasteful, then. What did we do before to-go lids? Things must have just spilled and spilled. Do you know what I mean? I mean, what pearl forms around a grain of plastic in an oyster? Is it as beautiful? Would you wear it? Would you buy it for your daughter so she in turn could pass it down and pass it down and pass it down?Recommended Readings & MediaTranscriptIntroJohn FiegeWhen we're gone from this Earth, what will we leave behind? What will we pass down to those who come after us?Plastic. If nothing else, lots of plastic. A plastic bag might take 20 years to break down, but harder, thicker plastics, like toothbrushes, might take 500 years or more to break down.Elizabeth Bradfield is a poet and naturalist who sees first hand, in her work as a marine educator, the ravaging impacts of plastic on marine life. But she also confronts plastic and our collective addiction to it as a subject of poetry.Her poem, “Plastic: A Personal History,” is what she calls a “cranky naturalist” poem, which is pretty funny, but embedded in the humor are big questions: how has plastic become part of who we are as individuals and as a species? Now that we know the dangers and devastating effects of plastic production and disposal, how must we change our relationship to this petrochemical product? What kind of world are we making, and what alternatives do we have?I'm John Fiege, and this episode of Chrysalis is part of the Chrysalis Poets series.Elizabeth Bradfield is the author of five collections of poetry, including, most recently, Toward Antarctica. She co-edited the newly-released anthology, Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, The Sun, and Orion, and her honors include the Audre Lorde Prize and a Stegner Fellowship. She teaches creative writing at Brandeis University and is founder and editor-in-chief of Broadsided Press. She lives on Cape Cod, where she also works as a naturalist and marine educator.Here is Elizabeth Bradfield reading her poem, “Plastic: A Personal History.”---PoemElizabeth Bradfield  “Plastic: A Personal History”How can I find a way to praise it? Do the early inventors & embracers churn with regret? I don't think my parents —born in the swing toward ubiquity—chew & chew & chew on plastic. But of course they do. Bits in water, food-flesh, air. And their parents? I remember Dad mocking his mother's drawer of saved rubber bands and his father-in-law's red, corroded jerry can, patched and patched, never replaced for new, for never- rusting. Cash or plastic? Plastic. Even for gum. We hate the $5 minimum. Bills paperless, automatic, almost unreal. My toys were plastic, castle and circus train and yo-yo. Did my lunches ever get wrapped in waxed paper or was it all Saran, Saran, Saran? Sarah's mom was given, in Girl Scouts, a blue sheet of plastic to cut, sew, and trim with white piping into pouches for camping. Sarah has it still, brittle but useful. Merit badge for waterproofing. For everlasting. You, too, must have heard stories, now quaint as carriages, of first plastic, pre-plastic. Eras of glass, waxed cloth, and tin. Of shared syringes. All our grocery bags, growing up, were paper. Bottom hefted on forearm, top crunched into grab. We used them to line the kitchen garbage pail. Not that long ago, maybe a decade, I made purses for my sisters out of putty-colored, red-lettered plastic Safeway bags. I'd snag a stack each time I went, then fold and sew, quilt with bright thread, line with thrift store blouses. They were sturdy and beautiful. Rainproof and light. Clever. So clever. I regret them. And the plastic toothpicks, folders, shoes that seemed so cheap, so easy, so use-again and thus less wasteful, then. What did we do before to-go lids? Things must have just spilled and spilled. Do you know what I mean? I mean, what pearl forms around a grain of plastic in an oyster? Is it as beautiful? Would you wear it? Would you buy it for your daughter so she in turn could pass it down and pass it down and pass it down?---ConversationJohn Fiege  Thank you, that's so beautiful. And there's so much going on there, in this poem.Elizabeth Bradfield  It's funny it started, this poem started kind of just, you know, as a bitter rant.John Fiege  Well, it didn't end there.Elizabeth Bradfield  No, it didn't end there.John Fiege  So, tell me about that. What's the bitter rant?Elizabeth Bradfield  Oh, just plastic. You know? Honestly, the poem started when my friend Sarah, you know, she's my age. I'm 50, 51. And she showed me this little bag her mom made and I started thinking, "Wow, imagine being the generation that discovered plastic, right? Wow, plastic, so handy," tupperware parties, all that stuff, right? And I mean, to be the generation that saw plastic come into use, I was just really thinking about that shift and, and that's where the poem started.John Fiege  So I want to just dive into to probably my favorite moment in the poem. So I'm gonna I'm gonna reread this one stanza. You too, must have heard stories now. quaintest carriages have first plastic, pre plastic eras of glass, wax cloth and tin of shared syringes. So that line of shared syringes hit me really hard. You know, prior to this, you mentioned rubber bands and credit cards, and Yo-Yos, and saran wrap, and Girl Scout pouches, all these kind of quaint objects of the past. But shared syringes is like this bomb you drop in the poem, you know, toys, and everyday items, the toils and frivolities of childhood all of a sudden become the life threatening addictions of the teenage years and young adulthood, a plastic addiction that may seem at first to make our lives better, while it slowly kills us. Can you talk about this moment in the poem, like, you know, where did this come from? Maybe, what's going on structurally here that gives this moment in the poem so much weight?Elizabeth Bradfield  Well, I think a couple of things, I was, you know, I did just want to imagine and put forth the ground truthing that we did have a world before plastic, right? What did we do? There were these things. And then I was thinking, I was thinking, all right, let's think about the advantages of plastic right of disposable syringes of, you know, the problems of disease being swapped out, the doctor comes to your house, or what you're a morphine addict, or whatever, in the Sherlock Holmes-ian kind of way with his glass syringe. But of course, you didn't throw any of that away, right? And so there is a benefit to plastic, right? There's a danger in this older world, as well as the danger in this present world, and so I wanted that pivot and that shift I didn't want this poem to be. I mean, gosh, you know, I think about what my life would have been like, as a queer woman in the era of wax cloth, and tin, it wouldn't have been so happy. So I was thinking of just the darker shadow of that nostalgia, I suppose. John Fiege  Yeah, I mean, it's so interesting to start with nostalgia. And then, I mean, this is the poetry of it. It's that single turn of phrase changes the color, and the tone of everything so quickly. Elizabeth Bradfield  Yeah and I really, you know, there's, I think, you know, how you write a poem. And for me, when I write a poem, it's a journey, right? It's an act of discovery. And a lot of the discovery for me in this poem was through sound, as well as through images. And for me, that rhyme of tin and syringes was a discovery, a linkage, and I think it was same as same as earlier in the poem, you know, plastic, even for gum that we hate the $5 minimum, and that gum minimum, right? These kind of resonances. They kind of they tickle me, you know what I mean? So there's like, the darkness and also the humor for me, and also the delight of sound and all of these things swirling around. John Fiege  Right. Well, you know, the other thing, you know, I got cancer 10 years ago, and, and almost died.  Yeah, it was horrendous, but I'm here. But, you know, I spent two years in treatment, and the number of disposable plastic objects that were discarded in front of me to care just for me, just blew my mind away. And at the same time, it saved my life, you know, and so when I get, you know, you talk about how you started this poem as a rant against plastic. And I find myself in that place frequently. But I guess I try to--I don't know, I guess I try to forgive our society, our humanity sometimes, to say, you know, people weren't trying to destroy the planet when they invented plastic. You know, they were trying to create this miraculous thing that would allow us not to cut down so many trees and, and grow so much cotton and, you know, do all these other things that felt like the limits of the natural world.Elizabeth Bradfield  Oh, I'm so sorry. Not kill so many whales, right? I mean, that used a pre-plastic material. John Fiege  Exactly. So, you know, I try to remind myself of that. And, you know, you could talk about syringes in kind of a life saving positive way. But you can also talk about them as shared syringes. Which, you know, immediately brings to mind of course, you know, heroin epidemic, and things like that, that have just taken so many lives. So I don't know how, when you were in the midst of the journey for this poem, what were you--how are you weighing those things of the ranch versus kind of checking yourself about nostalgia or other things?Elizabeth Bradfield  I think what I love about poems is the ability to hold contradiction, you know? And I, you said, check yourself, and I do try and check myself, I try and think in poems, you know, how am I culpable in this moment? You know, I'm not removed from it. And so I wanted, I wanted those layers of complexity to be in the poem. And I think, you know, it's funny, I wrote this poem, the first draft of it, before the pandemic. I think the first draft was in 2017. And of course, during the pandemic, I've thought only more and more and more about plastic and the way that we've turned toward disposables in order to, you know, prevent contagion and contamination and spreading of disease, through our face masks, or even to-go containers. But I think what I really--what angers me about plastic in our lives, is how thoughtlessly it can enter, right? And I think I wanted a poem that used a little bit of humor, to possibly suggest that we can think twice about some of these things, right? Especially a yo-yo. There are still wooden yo-yos out there, right, there's still, there are glasses that we can use instead of plastic cups, we can--all of these things that we can do. And it's not convenient. And so we don't. And so I thought if I could just play a little and be a little funny, and a little snarky, but also kind of acknowledge these darknesses, that might be a way to just shine a little light.John Fiege  Yeah, definitely. Yeah, and what I was saying before about, you know, being understanding of, you know, how we didn't really know how bad plastic was when it was invented. But the other side of that coin is--Elizabeth Bradfield  But now we do.John Fiege  And we're still not doing anything about it. Right? And that's where the, like, the real culpability starts to come of like, you know, what are you doing about it?Elizabeth Bradfield  Yeah. Are you going to buy another fleece, is that recycled wood porch really a good thing? You know, the recycled wood?John Fiege  Yeah, well, it's got that word recycled in it. Elizabeth Bradfield  Oh, absolutely everything is recycled.John Fiege  Well, let me let me reread another stanza. So this is in the middle. Not that long ago, maybe a decade, I made purses for my sisters out of putty colored red lettered plastic Safeway bags, I had snag a stack each time I went. Then fold and sew quilt with bright thread line with thrift store blouses. They were sturdy and beautiful. rain proof and light, clever, so clever. I regret them. So there again, that last line is so cutting, "I regret them." You set us up to see your kind of crafty upcycled purses, as, you know, practical, durable, ecologically responsible. But then you regret them. So I have questions about that. So I see the complicated relationship we have to plastic in this in this section of the poem: It's incredibly durable and malleable and useful, and in some ways, it can allow us to reduce our use of other resources. But there's this dark underside, again, like we were talking about before, to this durability and persistence in the environment, specifically. So maybe you regret stealing a bunch of Safeway bags so you weren't actually upcycling but I was hoping you could just talk a little bit about you know, what do you regret?Elizabeth Bradfield  Yeah, I mean, I think to what you were speaking about before when you read that other stanza, too, in terms of form, for folks who haven't seen this poem, there's a there's a dropped line here, right? "Clever, so clever." And then a little bit of space and the next line, "I regret them," drops down, a continuation, but a break. And I wanted that break, you know, that pause and I wanted to allow the poem to be caught up in that kind of delight and joy of making, you know, I was totally broke, I wanted to make something pretty for my sisters. I felt like I was, yeah, upcycling, I suppose, I'm not sure the word existed then, it probably did. But yeah, make something new, free from what was at hand, and I love doing things like that. And I was kind of, you know, a little, a little in love with myself for coming up with this awesome plan. And pulling one over on Safeway.John Fiege  Free bags, I'll take some!Elizabeth Bradfield  And they were really cute little purses. I'm not a purse kind of person. I wonder if they still have them? I have no idea. But of course, now looking back, I'm like, "Oh my God. That's what I regret," that I would even think of this as a gift to give to, to spend all that time with that plastic, making this thing for my sisters, who I love. What an idiot, you know. And I was just, I was so blind to that at the moment. I was just in love with the making. And, you know, 10 years ago, we knew plastic was bad. But it just it wasn't, I don't know, the alarm bells were not as heightened. I was living at the time in Alaska. And we hardly had recycling. Paper recycling, no. Plastic recycling, no, you know, so even to that extra use adds another another layer, right? But yeah, I was living in a place where even, ostensibly, there was no recycling happening.John Fiege  So, you know, you can pay a lot of money right now to buy a fleece that's made from recycled plastic bags. And that is marketed as better than creating new plastic. I can't do the math about you know what the waste is in one direction or the other. But it seems on the surface like "Yeah, that's better. If you're going to have a fleece jacket, that's better." Elizabeth Bradfield  Oh, no. John Fiege  Not at all. You don't even think the recycled fleece is better?Elizabeth Bradfield  No, because, okay, wear wool. But also, those fleeces, when you wash them, the microfibers come out, and they go out through your gray water. And they go through if you, you know, if you're on a septic system, they just go right in, if you're on a sewer system, even they escape out, and they go out into the ocean. So I mean, I work on these, I work as a Marine educator and I work you know, help out with some field work with some whales and I work on the local WhaleWatch boats here as a naturalist and I always tell people like, one thing you can do to help save whales is do less laundry, all the stuff that we wash, it all goes out. And so, no, the recycled bottle into a fleece is, I believe, not good.John Fiege  Okay, so the better thing is to take that plastic and contain it and never let it release into a water source again.Elizabeth Bradfield  I think so.John Fiege  And find completely different alternative natural fibers to use.Elizabeth Bradfield  Yeah, and I mean, we don't need we don't need plastic bottles. We don't need plastic trash liners. I still use a paper liner in my kitchen. You know what I mean? I I don't use shampoo, I use bar soap. I mean, now we're getting to this, like, what do you reduce your plastic footprint? Because there's plenty of plastic in my life. I mean, right here I am on a computer. My headphones that are plastic are plugged into my ears. You know, I'm not a purist in that way. But I do try and think, is there an alternative?John Fiege  Well, it's interesting too, because you know, things like upcycling, that's such a hip thing right now. And if you if you look at a lot of the eco fashion kind of world, that kind of all the rage. It's not just about the source of the of the materials, it's about the end destination of the materials. Elizabeth Bradfield  Yeah. John Fiege  Let's jump to the last stanza. Elizabeth Bradfield  Sure. John Fiege  Do you know what I mean? I mean, what pearl forms around a grain of plastic and an oyster. Is it as beautiful, would you wear it? Would you buy it for your daughter? So she in turn could pass it down and pass it down and pass it down. So you end the poem by expanding these questions of our relationship to plastic to questions of time and value and beauty. And finally, you end with the question of what, you know, specifically with a question of: what would you pass down to your daughter? And thinking on that generational level, we pass down fair family heirlooms, or wealth or knowledge or traditions. But we can also pass down ecological devastation, social pathologies, inequalities, a planet polluted by so much plastic junk, and maybe junk disguised as a pearl, that appears to hold meaning, importance, value and beauty. But really, it's rotten or toxic or plastic at its core. So what's going on here at the end, for you?Elizabeth Bradfield  I mean, I think for me, that ending is very ironic, because we are passing this down, right? We are passing this down to the generations that follow us. And would that pearl be as beautiful? Probably, if you didn't know what was inside of it. How, you know, how important is it for us to drill down and really examine what we're holding? And what's inside of it? And to really question what's at the heart of what we're carrying? To me, that's a really, really important question.John Fiege  Right. Right. So how does this poem fit into the broader context of your work and your life? And in you know, are there any other, kind of, stories around this poem, specifically, that you think are interesting? Elizabeth Bradfield  Well, I kind of consider this poem as a sub-genre of nature poetry, which I call the cranky naturalist poem that I find myself writing quite a bit of, I think there's a lot of poems in, especially my book, once removed, that fall into the cranky naturalist genre. And I mean, I think I write them because I do get cranky. But also, I think they're a little bit funny. And things are so bad that I have to laugh. You know what I mean? I have to laugh, I hope someone else has to laugh too. Because if we're not laughing, then we're turning away. You know, and laughter is a way of engaging, it's a way of being. So I like putting on that posture of the cranky naturalist. And yeah, I do, I work as a naturalist. I work mostly with marine mammals with marine ecology. And so I divide my life between books and boats, basically. And both of those things really feed me and I think a lot about the world that a seal or a whale is swimming through. And the urban ocean, that most of us know, most of us who live on the coasts, whether you're on the East Coast, I live on Cape Cod, or the West Coast, or, you know, the UK, South Africa, Australia, wherever. All of these coasts are very urban coasts. And we, the ocean has been thought of for so long as something that's, you know, "too big to fail." But we're seeing some failures. And it's really concerning to me. So I think a lot about the ocean, which I love so much, you know, that I find inspiration and solace in and has a very complicated human history. Also a really complicated ecological history that we hardly even understand. You know, I mean, we don't even know how long really, humpback whales live. There are so many mysteries out there, and, and we're changing the ocean pretty rapidly. So a lot of my time and thought goes into thinking about ocean ecology, marine ecology.John Fiege  And in reality, the oceans are too big to ignore, which is exactly what we do. You know? Yeah. Human history is a history of dumping our waste into a water source, whether that's a river or an ocean, or some other place where it seems to our to our eyes to disappear.Elizabeth Bradfield  Yeah. And in all honesty, we're all downstream. Right? Exactly. I mean, some people more immediately than others.John Fiege  There's no, there's no stream on a sphere.Elizabeth Bradfield  That's right. Yeah. So yeah, so In terms of my writing, I read a lot about, there's a little ocean in here, not a ton. But I read a lot about the fulcrum between our social selves and our animal selves, you know, or the other more than human beings that are out there in the world. And I find that a really interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspiring, and complicated set of dynamics.John Fiege  And you know, if you're going to start a podcast, eventually you're going to have to call it "The Cranky Naturalist."Elizabeth Bradfield  My friend Melissa and I, she's a naturalist also. But we had a joke that we should start a podcast called "Wait, wait, don't touch that." All the things that you shouldn't be doing that the naturalist would like, you know, tisk tisk you for doing. Um, number one would be those those recycled fleece sweatshirts.John Fiege  Wow, I don't buy those recycled fleece sweatshirts, but I've at least given them the benefit of the doubt that it's better than the alternative. But you, you're right, you're totally right. So, right now, there's so much activism going on around our use of plastic and the ridiculous ubiquity of plastic pollution, single use plastic wasteful packaging, microplastics in the bodies of fish and every other living thing in the ocean. How do you see poetry or other forms of art, in relationship to the activist project of understanding and bringing attention to huge problems like plastic pollution,Elizabeth Bradfield  I think what I love about poetry, in addition to so many other things, is that it's really a form that asks us to occupy both the mind and the heart, right, the intellect and the emotion. And that's what we need to do to move forward and make any kind of progress. Thinking isn't enough, we also have to feel, and to help people connect and care. And so I think, if we can write things that keep these conversations alive, and stop us from just numbing over to the things we know, like we know plastic is bad. But if there's--I was at this show the other day, at the Center for Coastal Studies, which is a research and education nonprofit, on Cape Cod and Provincetown. And there was an art show that had a lot of marine debris-inspired of work in it. And one of the one of the images that was so striking to me, I can't remember the name of the artist, but it was a photographer, and she had collected, you know, tennis balls on the beach, which you find so many of and she set them up in this grid and photographed them in this sterile, pristine way. And they were so beautiful, and so strange and made me look at them differently and think about them differently. And I think that is what I think art and poetry can do to just wake us up and make us consider, slow down a little bit of time, hold a little bit of space, and allow us to feel and not just be numbed out by all this information. John Fiege  Right. Yeah, and, you know, ice core data, and, and, you know, carbon dioxide level changes over the last couple of decades, you know, that stuff's really important, but it doesn't, it doesn't make you feel in a direct way. I mean, maybe it has an indirect way of making you feel if you have enough background knowledge about what it means and you can translate it in your own head. But also, I think, besides the feeling is, kind of, a there's a pragmatic side to art, too. You know, you have a poetry reading, and you invite people and they come and it's fun. And you get to hang out with people, you know, you're not gonna, you're not gonna read your ice core data to people in a room unless you're at a scientific conference, at a glaciology conference, you know? So it, I mean, for me, also just in this on this very pragmatic level, and just allows us to keep the conversation going, in forms that people are more comfortable with, more excited about, are kind of a positive, beautiful, kind of beneficial side of their experience, rather than something that seems dull and grueling and opaque.Elizabeth Bradfield  No, absolutely. I think the energy of a rant or a cranky naturalist poem, for me can be a lot of fun and can be a way to vent frustration and rage that that is really necessary, and then hopefully move on, pick up and move on. Right, I think we look for art not just to help us explore the more difficult realities of our world, but also find energy, solace, inspiration to move on, you know, maybe do something a little bit differently to, to not just sink into despair.John Fiege  Yeah. Yeah.Elizabeth Bradfield  I think that's really important to me, that poems are part of our greater public discourse. And I think, you know, what you're doing with your podcast is doing that, our conversation is about that also. And, you know, it's not it's not an elite, isolated form, right? Poems want to connect. And they can, and, I welcome every little moment where I see that happening in the world. John Fiege  Awesome. Yeah, I, I have Irish heritage, although I've never been to Ireland. Although I've never been to Ireland, and I'm completely disconnected from the culture and place in a direct way. But, you know, I've heard that, to this day poets are, like, huge celebrities in Ireland, like, every town has their, like, you know, poet laureate, essentially. And it's such a big deal culturally. And then I think about America and how all of our superstars are, you know, from Hollywood or, you know, or like sports or, you know, business moguls. And sometimes ask myself, how would our society be different if the poets were the superstars here?Elizabeth Bradfield  I don't know. I think in some circles they are, you know, I was lucky enough to be able to study with the poet Eavan Boland, who's Irish, when I was at Stanford, and I'll never forget her telling us a story of Aer Lingus that the airline for Ireland. They were redesigning their interior cabin and they, I don't know, this kind of cracks me up. But they took one of her poems and wove it into the seat embroidery. And so I just think about all of those people sitting on Eavan Boland's words. And it's kind of gross, and kind of, like, farting into it and all the things that you do on an airplane. But it's also kind of amazing and wonderful that they would want poetry as part of this journey into the sky, too, you know? So yeah, so I wonder the same thing.John Fiege  Great. Well, can can you end by reading the poem once again?Elizabeth Bradfield  I'd be happy to. ---PoemElizabeth Bradfield  “Plastic: A Personal History”How can I find a way to praise it? Do the early inventors & embracers churn with regret? I don't think my parents —born in the swing toward ubiquity—chew & chew & chew on plastic. But of course they do. Bits in water, food-flesh, air. And their parents? I remember Dad mocking his mother's drawer of saved rubber bands and his father-in-law's red, corroded jerry can, patched and patched, never replaced for new, for never- rusting. Cash or plastic? Plastic. Even for gum. We hate the $5 minimum. Bills paperless, automatic, almost unreal. My toys were plastic, castle and circus train and yo-yo. Did my lunches ever get wrapped in waxed paper or was it all Saran, Saran, Saran? Sarah's mom was given, in Girl Scouts, a blue sheet of plastic to cut, sew, and trim with white piping into pouches for camping. Sarah has it still, brittle but useful. Merit badge for waterproofing. For everlasting. You, too, must have heard stories, now quaint as carriages, of first plastic, pre-plastic. Eras of glass, waxed cloth, and tin. Of shared syringes. All our grocery bags, growing up, were paper. Bottom hefted on forearm, top crunched into grab. We used them to line the kitchen garbage pail. Not that long ago, maybe a decade, I made purses for my sisters out of putty-colored, red-lettered plastic Safeway bags. I'd snag a stack each time I went, then fold and sew, quilt with bright thread, line with thrift store blouses. They were sturdy and beautiful. Rainproof and light. Clever. So clever. I regret them. And the plastic toothpicks, folders, shoes that seemed so cheap, so easy, so use-again and thus less wasteful, then. What did we do before to-go lids? Things must have just spilled and spilled. Do you know what I mean? I mean, what pearl forms around a grain of plastic in an oyster? Is it as beautiful? Would you wear it? Would you buy it for your daughter so she in turn could pass it down and pass it down and pass it down?---ConversationJohn Fiege  Beautiful. Liz, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been great.Elizabeth Bradfield  Thank you for having me. I really, really appreciated this conversation and really enjoyed it, John.---OutroJohn Fiege Thank you so much to Elizabeth Bradfield. Go to our website at ChrysalisPodcast.org, where you can read her poem “Plastic: A Personal History,” see some photographs of her at work as a naturalist and marine educator, and find our book and media recommendations.This episode was researched and edited by Brodie Mutschler, with additional editing by Sofia Chang. Music is by Daniel Rodriguez Vivas. Mixing is by Morgan Honaker.If you enjoyed my conversation with Elizabeth, please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Contact me anytime at ChrysalisPodcast.org, where you can also support the project, subscribe to our newsletter, and join the conversation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chrysalispodcast.org

Dr. Olga Shpak once worked with scientists from the Center for Coastal Studies to understand the world of whales, but as Russian bombs fell this Ukraine native left the oceans for a new role as Director of Assist-Ukraine. She recently returned to Provincetown to share insights into her war time transformation from Arctic whale researcher to fighter for the future of Ukraine.   https://vimeo.com/913492477?share=copy

This week: A shuffle in how the state is sheltering people in need locally, as the temporary shelter at Joint Base Cape Cod closes. Pieces of radioactive equipment have gone missing from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. And, a big change at the Center for Coastal Studies.

Upsculpt artist Cindy Pease Roe joins Gianna Volpe on the Heart of The East End Thoughtful Thursday segment underwritten by Grace & Grit on World Ocean Day just before unveiling her 14-foot up-sculpted Great White shark, Sugar, at Provincetown's Herring Cove. ‘Mama Sug' is a jury-selected commission by the National Park Service, Center for Coastal Studies and Cape Cod National Seashore with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program.Listen to the playlist on Apple Music

This episode is a discussion of the Coastal Studies & Society Journal with co-editors Isaac Land, Professor of History at Indiana State University, and Rob James, senior lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth, UK.

The Center for Coastal Studies and community volunteers completed the seventh annual Outer Cape Clean-up on Oct. 17 at Race Point Beach. Over the course of the four-day program, participants picked-up trash and other debris from National Seashore beaches between Eastham and Provincetown.

Laura Ludwig is very familiar with the phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle," and she takes it seriously. Laura works for the Center for Coastal Studies, working with lobster people and - you'll never guess - ARTISTS. Learn more by listening! She also is the director of CCS Debris Brigade on Cape Cod, and has so many stories of treasures and junk! Laura also loves music and people - you'll hear her invite you to volunteer on the beaches if you're in Provincetown, MA! Connect with Laura's groups @ https://www.instagram.com/ccsdebrisbrigade/ or https://www.instagram.com/coastalstudiesptown/ at Center for Coastal Studies on Facebook, or visit their website https://coastalstudies.org/Check out Orly Genger, sculptor mentioned by Laura, at https://orlygenger.com/Support the recycled rope efforts- purchase a lobster rope doormat! https://capecodlobstermats.com/ Please follow Grounded In Maine podcast at https://www.instagram.com/groundedinmainepodcast/ , or https://www.facebook.com/Grounded-in-Maine-Podcast-101968515779712/Send me a DM  or email me at amysgardenjam@gmail.com.  Amy's Garden Jam website is http://amysgardenjam.com/How Do I Get There From Here by Jane Bolduc - listen to more at www.janebolduc.comPodcast cover by Becca Kofron- check out her awesome art at https://www.instagram.com/artbybeccakofron/ or https://www.artbybeccakofron.com/ Grounded in Maine Podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout, the easiest podcast hosting platform. Learn more at www.buzzsprout.com 

Links1. "Misremembering Risk in the Age of Hurricanes: The Rhode Island Coast in the 1930s-1950s," Dr. Kara Schlichting, Coastal Studies and Society, October 29, 2021.

Jeremy Hobson speaks with Bryan Legare, seascape ecologist and manager of the shark ecology program at the Center for Coastal Studies, about his shark research and the health of our oceans.

The Gulf of Mexico can be a complicated body of water. We know the water is hot but there are various currents and eddies that are sometimes cold. All of these can have big impacts on hurricanes both good and bad.   Dr. Nan Walker is a James P. Morgan Distinguished Professor of Coastal Studies in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University. She is also Director of LSU'S Earth Scan Laboratory. Her areas of expertise include physical oceanography, satellite oceanography, air-sea interactions and tropical cyclone intensities, the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current and eddy circulations. 

The CEO and co-founder of Willie's Superbrew, a craft hard seltzer company, joins the show to tell the origin story of his company, which may or may not include a goat farmer. Plus, Nico discusses earning the respect of older colleagues, facing competition from legacy companies like Bud Light, his company's humanitarian efforts and advice for young entrepreneurs. And of course...is it OK for a man to drink hard seltzer? Nico Enriquez, now 28, co-founded Willie's Superbrew in 2015. He attended Brown University with the intent of becoming a synthetic neurobiologist, but quickly changed course. Originally, the company manufactured ginger beer. In 2017, Willie's Superbrew committed to making hard seltzer, separating itself from companies like Spiked Seltzer, White Claw and Truly by making seltzers with real fruit, rather than artificial fruity flavors. Today, you can find Willie's Superbrew in stores across nine states along the East Coast, and you can expect to find their seltzers in more states by the end of 2021. Nico was also named to Forbes' prestigious "30 Under 30" list in the Food & Drink category in 2020. To learn more about Willie's Superbrew, visit superbrew.com or follow them on Instagram, @drinksuperbrew. You can follow @thetroyfarkasshow on Instagram and TikTok, and Troy Farkas on YouTube. For more episodes, blogs and videos, check us out on TheTroyFarkasShow.com. If you enjoyed today's episode, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or on our web site. Today's cause: The Center for Coastal Studies, a non-profit organization dedicated to understanding, preserving and protecting marine ecosystems and the coastal environment through applied research, education and public policy initiatives. You can donate here as part of the podcast's all-natural initiative. Memorable quotes: Nico Enriquez on entrepreneurship: "It's so much harder than just saying, 'Here's a good idea.' It's more like, can you do distribution? Can you market it well? Can you make your message? Can you build a good team? That's a beautiful and bumpy ride to figure that out." "The biggest reason I'm an entrepreneur is to grow as an individual and to try and change the world." - Nico Enriquez "If you can demonstrate your commitment, if you can do it through any sort of pain, if you have a clear 'why,' and you have good data to back it, then you're putting yourself in the best position to succeed." - Nico Enriquez on getting respect from older colleagues "The only way you can really succeed is if you understand other people. And then you try and help them improve their life through interacting with them. And that's what a business or a product should do." - Nico Enriquez

Conserving More Than Just the Planet’s ‘Beloved Beasts’ Historically, “conservation” simply meant not overhunting a game animal, preserving sufficient populations to continue to hunt the following year. Over time, however, conservationists have learned to broaden their focus from individual animals to entire ecosystems, protecting not just species, but the food webs and habitat they need to thrive. But the evolution of conservationist thought hasn’t been straightforward. In her new book Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction, science journalist Michelle Nijhuis profiles some key figures in the history of the conservation movement–from well-known names such as John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Rachel Carson, to lesser known figures such as 1930s-era bird lover Rosalie Edge. Nijhuis explains how some of these conservationists did the wrong thing for the right reasons, while others managed to do the right thing despite misguided or short-sighted thinking. SciFri’s Charles Bergquist talks with Nijhuis about how conservationist thought has progressed, and her hopes for the future of the movement.     The Plight Of The North Atlantic Right Whale Every year, Earth Day is a reminder that we share this planet with many other species, large and small. And every year, humans have to reckon with the impact we have on those species—like the recent case of the disappearing North Atlantic Right Whale. Experts estimate there are fewer than 400 right whales living off the coast of the North Atlantic. Less than 90 are reproductive age females. Their declining population and poor birth rate can be largely explained by one thing: humans. Boat strikes and entanglements in lobster fishing gear accounted for nearly two thirds of right whale deaths in the last decade—and new research suggests those deaths are being undercounted. A new documentary called “Entangled,” by Boston Globe reporter and filmmaker David Abel, gives us a glimpse of what these encounters are doing to right whales, introducing a slew of researchers, conservationists, lobstermen, lawmakers and politicians who are tangled up in the effort to save the species from extinction. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, a Senior Scientist at the Center for Coastal Studies, and Melanie White, a project manager for the North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute—both featured in the film—join Ira to discuss the tragic story of the right whales, and the simple, high-tech solution that is getting little attention and even less research funding. Plus, Massachusetts implemented a nearly state-wide ban on lobster fishing in all state waters from February through early May, giving right whales an opportunity to feed unencumbered in Cape Cod Bay as they migrate. The ban also gives local scientists an opportunity to monitor the pods, tracking which whales have returned, and how they’re fairing. WCAI environment reporter Eve Zuckoff shares thoughts on her recent journey out into the bay with right whale scientists.     It’s Okay To Be Confused About J&J’s Vaccine This week, the FDA and CDC both recommended a temporary pause in distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, after the emergence of a very rare, very unusual blood clotting side effect. The clots, which block blood leaving the brain, have been found in only six of the nearly seven million people who have already received the vaccine in the U.S. One has died, and another is in critical condition. Vox staff writer Umair Irfan has been reporting on the Johnson & Johnson pause, and joins Ira to explain the challenging balance between side effect risks—the rarest of which cannot be detected in clinical trials and therefore naturally emerge when vaccination moves to the general population—and the benefits of protecting people from COVID-19. Plus, what recommendations the FDA may end up making. He also talks about why a small number of people are still getting COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated, the grim outlook for wildfire in the West this summer, and more science stories from the week.

As the author of “Jaws,” Peter Benchley, put it, “You could start now, and spend another forty years learning about the sea without running out of new things to know.” This week’s guest on Sea Change Radio would surely concur. Richard Delaney, the President and CEO of the Center for Coastal Studies, has spent the past forty some-odd years on Cape Cod, striving to understand the fathomless and majestic depths of the ocean. In our discussion, we look at the impact that pollution and climate change are having on the Cape’s fragile ecosystem, how shark, whale and seal populations have been affected, and what these changes mean for the area’s seafood industry. We also note that Delaney’s organization is currently hosting a free online film festival, coincidentally dubbed Sea Change Film Shorts 2020.

As the author of “Jaws,” Peter Benchley, put it, “You could start now, and spend another forty years learning about the sea without running out of new things to know.” This week’s guest on Sea Change Radio would surely concur. Richard Delaney, the President and CEO of the Center for Coastal Studies, has spent the … Continue reading Richard Delaney: Heading Down The Cape → The post Richard Delaney: Heading Down The Cape appeared first on Sea Change Radio.

Ever wonder how a shark reacts to a hurricane? No they don’t combine with them like in the “Sharknado” movies, but it turns out sharks don't always get out of the way when a big storm hits, either. That's one of the things Bryan Legare, a shark researcher with the Center for Coastal Studies, told us about his studies of the fine-scale movements of white sharks in the Cape Cod area.

On today's show, Jacques and Simone are talking to future leaders in coastal restoration! Today’s first guest is Milan Mardia, senior at Jesuit High School. Milan has presented to the CPRA Board about educating younger generations of coastal advocates and is learning how A.I. (artificial intelligence) could enhance how we approach coastal projects. Check out Milan’s website dedicated to Louisiana’s coastal restoration here: https://www.lacoastalerosion.com/. Next up is Martin Mantz, Coastal Restoration Program Manager at Nunez Community College. He brings on a professor and a few students to talk about their new Coastal Studies and GIS Technology program and other opportunities to build a career in coastal restoration at Nunez. You can learn more on their website: https://www.nunez.edu/academics/coastal-studies-and-gis-technology-450799

Welcome to Delta Dispatches, with your hosts Jacques Hebert, and Simone Maloz. Today we're talking to future leaders in coastal restoration! Today’s first guest is Milan Mardia, senior at Jesuit High School. Milan has presented to the CPRA Board about educating younger generations of coastal advocates and is learning how A.I. (artificial intelligence) could enhance how we approach coastal projects. Check out Milan’s website dedicated to Louisiana’s coastal restoration here: https://www.lacoastalerosion.com/. Next up is Martin Mantz, Coastal Restoration Program Manager at Nunez Community College. He brings on a professor and a few students to talk about their new Coastal Studies and GIS Technology program and other opportunities to build a career in coastal restoration at Nunez. You can learn more on their website: https://www.nunez.edu/academics/coastal-studies-and-gis-technology-450799

Countdown to summer is on! This week we're kicking off pre-summer (it's a thing) vibes with Boston local entrepreneur Patrick Clarke, Founder and CEO of Cape Clasp. Cape Clasp started from a pretty unconventional hobby and has evolved into a purpose-driven brand with a mission to #makewaves for marine life causes. For each of their designs, they partner with a marine life organization and donate 15% of their profits. Pretty impressive: over the past two years, their non-profit donations totaled over $35,000. NBD.     Patrick + Cape Clasp work with so many amazing non-profits so today we wanted the notes to highlight these amazing organizations! Cape + Islands Cape Cod National Seashore The Trustees Sharks Atlantic White Shark Conservancy  Bimini Shark Lab Nakawe Project UMiami Shark Research + Conservation Program Blue Sphere Foundation Whales + Dolphins Whale + Dolphin Conservation Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Center for Coastal Studies based in Provincetown Turtles Mass Audobon   CONNECT WITH CAPE CLASP www.capeclasp.com Instagram Store Locator Read about their PR stunt by a right whale HERE   Be Unhesitant, K

Patreon support standing at 395 – last week 388. Help us get to 500 Patreon Supporters. Bitcoin address: 1FcqW3GEWFX9tuoyFrn1ySKoeybyc3J4W9Ethereum address: 0xacC43A99b1eDe0e4a04B43A7A7fa3aA476B87EAA Main Fiction: "Home Sweet BiOme" by Pat MacEwen Originally published by The Magazine of F&SFPat MacEwen is an anthropologist. She does independent research on genocide, having worked on war crimes investigations for the International Criminal Tribunal, and did CSI work for a decade in California. Oddly enough, she was once a marine biologist at the Institute of Marine & Coastal Studies at USC. She has two novels out - Rough Magic, a forensic/urban fantasy, and Dragon’s Kiss, a YA fantasy about a crippled boy who can talk to dragons. She writes mystery, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Her hobbies include exploring cathedrals, alien-building via nonhuman biology, and trawling through history books for the juicy bits.Narrated by: Ibba ArmancasIbba Armancas is an award winning writer/director based in Los Angeles available for audio or cinematic projects across the board. She's read for Starship Sofa, Escape Pod, the Drabblecast, and Psuedopod, but still hasn’t found time to build a website and encourages listeners to shame her about it on instagram or twitter.Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H. Sturgis See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Wise women come from great girls! This week we explored how girls become great, with the help of a bevy of very wise women. Our guests include:  Robin Hodgskin of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Margaret O'Keefe of Pierce Atwood; Joanne Arnold, Body, Mind & Sport Strength Trainer and Consultant  and Tara Treichel of Coastal Studies for Girls. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/2012/01/girl-power-20/

Over the past year, Deconstructing Dinner has spent an increasing amount of time focusing on the discussions that take place on food and farming within Canada's parliamentary committees. Today, we visit with a previously unexplored committee on the show - the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, where, in the past few months, the subject of salmon farming has been a focus of attention. Among the many issues addressed within the Committee, host Jon Steinman deconstructs dialogue that took place on resistance among sea lice to the anti-parasitic drug - SLICE. The drug is an open-net cage salmon farmer's primary and most effective control to keep lice levels down and reduce their threat to juvenile wild salmon. Sea lice experts around the world believe it's only a matter of time when sea lice in British Columbia will develop resistance to the drug. Despite a graph released by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands that is suggestive to some biologists of possible drug resistance, government officials have exhibited their own resistance to these said warning signs. On another front, Steinman also deconstructs the federal Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) - a government body who receives a lot of criticism among marine conservation groups for what they and the Attorney General of Canada believe of the Department's dual mandate is a conflict of interest - a mandate to protect wild salmon and promote salmon aquaculture. Deconstructing Dinner uncovers some glaring mis and disinformation on a DFO web page that lends a more tangible example of these seemingly confusing and conflicting roles of the DFO. Voices Craig Orr - executive director, Watershed Watch Salmon Society (Coquitlam, BC) - Craig Orr has been a professional ecologist for more than 30 years and helps Watershed Watch in its efforts to conserve water and salmon habitat, and to minimize impacts to wild salmon from mixed-stock interception fisheries, aquaculture practices, and climate change. Craig also currently serves as Chair of the Pacific Marine Conservation Caucus, Science Coordinator of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, and as an environmental advisor to Kwikwetlem First Nation. He recently served as Associate Director of Simon Fraser University's Centre for Coastal Studies, Chair of BC Hydro's Bridge Coastal Restoration Program, Vice-Chair of the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund, a member of the Vancouver Foundation's environment committee, and as a director of the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society. Mark Sheppard - senior aquatic animal health veterinarian, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture & Lands (Courtenay, BC) - The B.C. government supports the development of the aquaculture industry. While the B.C. government has overseen the industry since the federal government allocated responsibility in 1988, that regulatory regime is now in a transition to federal authority following the B.C. Supreme Court case Alexandra Morton et al vs the A.G. of British Columbia and Marine Harvest Canada. Alexandra Morton - biologist, Raincoast Research Society (Echo Bay, BC) - While studying orca whales up until the 1990s, Alexandra watched as the salmon farming industry appeared in the Broughton Archipelago where she calls home. As she observed the arrival of industrial salmon farms, the whales she studied disappeared. She believed the cause was salmon farms, and when 10,000 pages of letters to all levels of government failed to elicit meaningful response, Alexandra realized that she would have to scientifically prove that salmon farming had driven out the whales and caused epidemic outbreaks of bacteria, viral and parasitic infections in wild salmon. By partnering with international scientists and in some cases commercial fishermen, Alexandra has documented the loss of the whales, thousands of escaped farm salmon, lethal outbreaks of sea lice, and antibiotic resistance near salmon farms. Lawrence Dill - professor emeritus, department of biological sciences, Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC) - Dill's major research interests are in the development and testing of cost-benefit models of behaviour, and experimental studies of the decision rules used by animals to ensure adaptive behaviour in various contexts. The emphasis is on understanding how behaviours maximize individual fitness; this is achieved by experimental analyses of the benefits and costs of the various behavioural alternatives available to the animal. Dill studies marine invertebrates, fishes (marine and freshwater) and cetaceans (whales and dolphins). Fin Donnelly - member of parliament, new westminster - coquitlam, port moody, New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) (Coquitlam, BC) Gerry Byrne - member of parliament, humber - st. barbe - baie-verte, Liberal Party of Canada (Corner Brook, NL) Scott Andrews - member of parliament, avalon, Liberal Party of Canada (Conception Bay South, NL)