By Sami J. Grimes
Data, numbers, biology, Latin—the deep blue unknown world—to many, marine science seems difficult to understand. Yet, most of us drink water, eat fish and vacation at beaches. How can this gap be bridged? COSEE may be the answer.

COSEE stands for Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence and refers to centers around the country in which scientists who explore the ocean world can work collaboratively with educators who will bring these discoveries to the classroom.

In conjunction with the National Science Foundation, Sea Grant has assisted in developing five of the seven COSEE centers across the nation. Broadly, the COSEE network aims to facilitate the integration of research into high-quality educational activities, programs and materials in order to engage students and their teachers, and develop their interest into a mature understanding of the relevance of the oceans to their lives. These centers are quite literally where educators meet scientists face to face in order to increase and enhance collaboration and communication.

“ COSEE is paradigm shift: it’s changing the way things have been. Traditionally, scientists have come up with answers that eventually end up in a textbook ten years later. Now, we can actually bring scientists and educators together in a way that benefits both professionally,” said Elizabeth Day, Program Director of Education at NOAA’s National Sea Grant Office. Day was part of the initial COSEE conversation in mid-1999 at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and has been integral in involving the Sea Grant network with COSEE.

The Inception
From the initial COSEE discussion in 1999, the NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE) created an internal white paper that expressed the need for a coordinated national effort to “make the best use of available resources for ocean education.” The paper also addressed the number of missed opportunities to “use the exciting discoveries of oceanographic research to catch the imagination of young minds and involve them in a lifetime of science learning.”

In a collaboration of efforts among many in the marine science education community, white papers, proposals and conversations gave rise to the first COSEE workshop, which took place May 2000. The goal of the workshop was “to create a document that recommends strategies for the National Science Foundation and other Federal agencies to use in a nationally coordinated effort to improve and promote ocean sciences education in response to the opportunities identified by this workshop.” The main objective that came from the workshop was that COSEE needed to be a network; there needed to be more than one center in order for the initiative to work.

By November 2001, NSF issued requests for proposals to those interested in managing COSEE centers. In January 2002, twenty-seven proposals were submitted with twenty-four Sea Grant Programs involved. NSF announced that there would be seven COSEE centers, along with one COSEE central coordinating office in July 2002. Five of the seven funded regional sites include Sea Grant partners. They are: the New England Region COSEE (WHOI Sea Grant), California COSEE (California Sea Grant), COSEE-West (USC Sea Grant), the Central Gulf of Mexico COSEE (Mississippi/Alabama Sea Grant and Florida Sea Grant), and the Southeast COSEE (South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, North Carolina Sea Grant and Georgia Sea Grant). Virginia Sea Grant, along with the National Sea Grant Office, also work closely with CORE, which houses the central coordinating office, to help administer the program and host both the COSEE web site (www.cosee.org) and the award-winning Bridge web site (www.marine-ed.org).

Making a Difference
Although COSEE is at its very beginning, the centers do seem to be bridging the gap. “It’s important that the teachers have a good understanding of the science in order to be able to teach it,” said Phyllis Grifman, the associate director of the USC Sea Grant Program. “Our experience has been that the teachers really like it when they can talk directly to the scientists. It allows them to go into the classroom with a degree of knowledge and enthusiasm that is then passed on to the kids.”

Not only does Sea Grant provide learning tools, but through COSEE, Sea Grant aims to allow educators and students to have hands-on experience and interaction with scientists so that others may begin to understand the deep blue unknown world.

The first COSEE network meeting in Washington, D.C. was held March 3-4, 2003. Each COSEE center leader discussed goals and current projects. To see each presentation, visit www.cosee.org.

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