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Join SOS!
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In The News
Newly discovered blue-green algae loses ability to
photosynthesize... Read
More.
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Farming the Chesapeake. Calvert watermen's
aquaculture experiment could help revive faded MD oyster industry... Read More.
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No
Recovery for Atlantic Cod Population. A new study predicts for the
first time that a major population of Atlantic cod will go extinct
within 20 years... Read
More.
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Help
us Build Our Network
Please forward this email to friends and
family who would want to be a part of The Society.
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 Ring in the season
with GoodShop!
This
holiday season, help us raise funds by shopping online using GoodShop.
For every online purchase you make, a percentage of the price will be
donated to SOS. Since our inception with GoodShop in March, you have
helped us raise $60! Thanks for using GoodShop.
Never used it before? It is really easy, here's how. Take a look at our
tutorial.
Visit the GoodShop
website and enter The Society for Ocean Sciences in the box
that asks "who do you GoodShop for" then simply choose from over 700
online stores to shop from, you will be directed to the
official website of your choosing. Most popular shopping
sites include, Barnes and Noble (3% donation), Amazon (1.5% donation),
Apple Store (1% donation) and heaps more!
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 Oyster Lab at Poolesville High School
On December 3rd and 8th, SOS staff visited
Poolesville High School to instruct a hands-on lab on oyster biology.
Katrina Ward, an SOS intern, led two lab sessions for a class
of senior Marine Biology students. The students carried out an oyster
dissection and an experiment to determine the prevalence of the oyster
disease Dermo. Students removed tissues from a sample of oysters taken
from New England and the Gulf coast of Texas.
 Dermo
(pictured left as dark spheres) is the common name for the protozoan
parasite Perkinsus
marinus. P.
marinus is a single-celled organism that infects oysters
over 1 year old. Heavy infection will cause: poor condition of the
oyster; reduced growth; tissue damage; and ultimately death. While
dermo does not affect humans, it can cause huge mortalities of oyster
populations. Oyster infections have been found from Maine to the Gulf
of Mexico. High temperatures and salinities increase the infection rate
of Dermo.
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 SOS Forms New Partnership
The Society for Ocean Sciences
is happy to announce our partnership with Dr. Ken Paynter's laboratory
at The University of Maryland. We are working together to develop
programs for underrepresented groups in elementary and middle school
students with opportunities to experience Ocean Science. Currently, we
are in talks with Prince Georges County to develop a comprehensive
program which provides multiple field experiences to the kids. We
believe that a child's decision to choose science as a career occurs
early in their lives. A single experience does not influence a child's
direction in education, rather multiple hands-on experiences over
several years have a significant impact on their retention in
science. We are working with marine scientists from the
University of Maryland to develop such programs for public and private
schools.
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Grants Submitted
The
SOS staff and their partners have been working hard to seek funding for
several program initiatives. Since October, we have submitted four
proposals to: The Montgomery County Community Foundation; The Sparkplug
Foundation; National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; and
The Chesapeake Bay Trust.
With
funding from such sources, we hope to soon be offering a variety of
programs for schools and the communities in Montgomery County
and throughout Maryland. "These funds are crucial to the
continued growth of the Society and the education of our children with
regard to the preservation and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and
its watershed", explained Claire Hudson, Executive Director of SOS.
If
you would like to support our program initiatives, please make a $5
donation by clicking the donation button below.
Want
to donate a different amount? Please visit
our website.
Thank you for your support!
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 Beach Cleanup
We thank everyone who participated in the Beach
Cleanup events at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic
Shrine in Baltimore. Keep an eye on our events
schedule for opportunities to get involved next year.
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