Erica S. Edwards, Boys and Girls High School, N.Y.
Janice S. Gordon, The David Porter School, N.Y.C.

For two weeks in the brutal heat of July in Stony Brook,  Long Island we have been trudging through salt marshes and trekking across miles of hot sand and rocky beaches.  No, we are not in Marine Corps boot camp.  This is Operation Pathfinder, an intensive Marine Science program for teachers of K-12. Twenty-six of us have participated in a variety of workshops and field trips exploring such topics as wetland discovery, global warming, navigation, fisheries management, coastal processes and plate tectonics.

Janice:  "Our visit to the salt marsh at Flax Pond and the subsequent identification of species we collected there were particularly relevant for me.  I plan to recreate the experience with my second-grade class by taking them on a walking tour of the Alley Pond wetlands near our school."

Erica:  " While visiting the North Shore of Long Island I was delighted to see the extensive evidence of glaciation. Scattered across the beach were glacial erratics, unsorted sediments and boulders with grooves scratched on their surfaces.   These beaches make an excellent sites for field trips pertaining to glacial erosion."

Janice {left) and Erica (right) pointing to the site of their excellent adventures.