Statement of Purpose: I teach an introductory-level oceanography class and associated lab. Since American River College is close to the sea, I see fit to teach most of the lab as a field exercise(s) instead of in-class. A major point of emphasis in both lecture and lab is stewardship, and the impact human activities have on the oceans (and the rest of the world), and that many of the activities we do well away from the oceans still have a significant, negative impact on the state of the oceans. As such, we will be comparing as many of the individual coastal environments as we can: rocky shore, estuarine, sandy beach, tidal flats, as well as the terrestrial environments that are dependent of the oceans, such as the redwood groves. We are just getting back to in-person classes, and also hope to collect a few shoreline sediment samples (~250 ml each) to analyze for micro plastics. In previous years I've contacted the National Seashore scientist for permissions.

Approved