Shoreline Science Workshops Offered this Summer, July 18

Those who are fascinated by coastal natural history have an extraordinary opportunity this summer. Oregon’s CoastWatch program is offering intensive, three-day shoreline science workshops, led by ecologist Stewart Schultz, an authority on the Northwest’s coastal region. He will be joined by Fawn Custer, CoastWatch’s volunteer coordinator.  The workshops will be held in Bandon July 18-20, Yachats July 28-30, and Nehalem Aug. 1-3. Three full days of instruction will cover everything from tidepools and sandy beaches, to estuarine and ocean ecosystems, to geology and forests, to marine mammals and birds.  Matters of concern such as marine debris and invasive species will also be discussed. Each session will include field trips, indoor presentations and laboratory experiences (with some variation, depending on the weather).  While the workshops were developed to provide training to volunteers in the CoastWatch program, they are open to the public, and would be of interest to anyone who would like to learn more about the ecology of our coastal region. Teachers can obtain 26 Professional Development Units by taking a workshop; two college credits can also be obtained by teachers or other participants.  To register online, go to http://tinyurl.com/orshoresworkshop.  Stewart Schultz is the author of The Northwest Coast: A Natural History.  His wide-ranging experience in studying the Oregon coast makes him a very knowledgeable guide to the shoreline environment. An Oregonian who grew up playing on the shore near Gearhart, he went to Reed College and obtained his doctorate in botany from the University of British Columbia. He worked on the Oregon coast for the Nature Conservancy, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, gaining wide field experience, before pursuing an academic career as a professor at the University of Miami, and now the University of Zadar in Croatia. During the academic year he studies marine ecology, as well as his specialty of plant evolution and genetics, but every summer he returns to the Oregon coast to teach shoreline science.  Fawn Custer, who will assist him, is an experienced marine educator who taught for 14 years at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.  The workshops will be held:  July 18-20, Bandon High School, 550 9th St., N.W., Bandon; July 28-30, Yachats Commons, 441 Highway 101 N., Yachats; Aug. 1-3, City of Nehalem Meeting Hall, 35900 8th St., Nehalem.  Each workshop will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the first day, and at 8 a.m. on the final two days, and will run until approximately 4:30 p.m. each day.  Workshop fee will be $60 for those who are both CoastWatchers and Oregon Shores members, $75 for those who are either CoastWatchers or Oregon Shores members, and $100 for others (who are invited to join Oregon Shores on the registration site and take the discount). Snacks will be provided; lunch is brown-bag.  Reservations can be made online at ttp://tinyurl.com/orshoresworkshop, or by linking through the CoastWatch website, http://oregonshores.org/coastwatch.php5. It is also possible to reserve a place and pay by mail. Checks made out to the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition can be sent to P.O. Box 33, Seal Rock, OR 97376.  Be sure to specify which workshop is intended.  For more information, contact Fawn Custer, (541) 270-0027, fawn@oregonshores.org.  CoastWatch is a program of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, a 43-year-old organization which works on a wide range of conservation concerns. CoastWatch volunteers adopt one-mile segments of the coast and monitor for both natural changes and human impacts, sharing their observations with resource agencies, coastal governments, local residents and public interest groups, including Oregon Shores.  For more information about CoastWatch and adopting a mile of the shoreline, or about Oregon Shores, contact Fawn Custer or Phillip Johnson, the organization’s executive director, (503) 754-9303, phillip@oregonshores.org.