science that we’re approaching a critical
time for the health of our oceans.”
The Seattle-based Pacific Science
Center, a nationally recognized leader
in informal science and environment
education, will provide direct access
to the project’s progress through
educational feeds to classrooms,
after-school programs and homes.
Media events at key ports of call will
feature scientific experts discussing the
relationship between larger patterns of
global climate change and the impact
on local ocean environments. Leaders
at the Pacific Science Center were
instrumental in getting the University
of Washington’s Applied Physics Lab,
and the Joint Institute for the Study of
the Atmosphere and Ocean involved in
the project.
Dr. Kris Ludwig is an oceanographer
and the project manager of Around the
Americas for the Pacific Science Center.
She is passionate about sharing ocean
“Ocean Watch,” with its former name “Danzante III” still visible on the bow, is going
science with the public. It’s something
through a major refit inside the shed at Seaview East, in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.
that’s not often taught in the classroom,
The 64-foot Bruce Roberts-designed steel cutter, is scheduled to leave Seattle in late
something she hopes the Around the
May 2009 for a 25,000-mile circumnavigation of North and South America.
Americas project can help remedy.
“We’re developing a formal K-8
curriculum for the classroom with
a grant we received from Tiffany &
Co.,” Ludwig said. “We’ll have a full-
time educator on the boat during its
changing in large part as a result of entire voyage, and we’ll be providing
human activity,” Rockefeller said. “The constant updates along the way. The
goal of this expedition is to build broad research being done underway will
awareness among everyday citizens help drive the educational themes in
of the precipitous changes occurring the classroom.
throughout the world’s oceans and the “We’ll also have an informal
impact these changes have on various educator’s toolkit for use in museums
ecosystems and human life.” and after school enrichment programs,”
The Around the Americas project she added. “We want to avoid the
gave Sailors for the Sea a larger focus doom-and-gloom tone that is so
across a great expanse of the planet than prevalent today, but we also want to
the nonprofit organization had ever had show with good science that the oceans
before. Rockefeller recognized the need are in trouble.”
to expand the network of partners for For now, Schrader is consumed
it to be a successful venture. He said, with a myriad of details in getting the
“We realized right away we needed project underway. The boat sits in the
a scientific partner, and the project shed at Seaview East, where crews are
had to be paired with an advocacy for busy dismantling most of its systems
The interior of Ocean
education.” and putting in new ones. The project
Watch has been almost
“We found the perfect partner in hasn’t reached its financial goals
completely gutted so it can
the Pacific Science Center,” Schrader yet, so he and Rockefeller are busy
be refit to accommodate
said. “Its mission is to make science – fundraising. Schrader’s involved with
the crew and scientific
its language, its ideas, its complexity – everything from web site development
equipment needed for the
accessible to the general public – you to educational curriculum, from
13-month voyage.
and me. We hope the adventure of the recruiting partners in the project to
trip will get people’s attention, but then being the primary spokesperson to
we need to demonstrate with good the press. He flips easily between
48° No r t h , Ma r c h 2009 Pa g e 36
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