• Chemeketa Community College

Salem, OR

NCSR enhances the workforce by

• Creating ecosystem management instructional materials.
• Emphasizing economic benefits and sustainability of resources.
• Focusing technical programs on managing complex ecosystems.
• Identifying best practices for restoring damaged ecosystems.
• Providing faculty professional development opportunities.
• Providing teachers approaches to increase science literacy.

Educators Recognize Quality of NCSR Materials

NCSR holds a unique position within the natural resource education community thanks to its rigorous curriculum development process. NCSR bases its materials on scientific knowledge of ecosystem structure, function, and interrelationships to encourage students’ thinking about natural resources on a sustainable basis. The scientific accuracy and pedagogical effectiveness of its modules on forestry, wildlife, and other environmental science topics have led to NCSR’s recognition as a reliable source of excellent classroom-ready materials. The center’s emphasis on sustainable management of complex ecosystems is another key to its success.

The center’s outreach to K-12 educators spurred requests for materials in 2008. More recently, the addition of the NCSR Marine Fisheries Series has accelerated interest in the center’s materials. In the first 8 months of 2010, the 3,584 requests NCSR received for its free instructional materials nearly doubled the center’s 2009 dissemination activities. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and other news events continue to drive interest in the marine fisheries series and the center’s new wetland mitigation series.

NCSR Prepares Technicians for Natural Resources Frontline

Faculty teaching in more than 700 associate and bachelor’s degree natural resource programs use NCSR materials. These programs supply the technicians who manage forests, watersheds, wetlands, marine resources, and wildlife for the government and other organizations. The natural resources workforce will play a critical role in America’s socioeconomic well-being during the next 40 years when the world population is expected to grow from 6.8 to 9.3 billion people.

The use of the NCSR Marine Fisheries Series to instruct the monitors who began working in 2010 on the new at-sea fisheries monitoring program along the Northeast coast exemplifies the relevance of NCSR materials. Bristol Community College, which developed the 10-day instructional program for the National Marine Fisheries Service, incorporated NCSR’s materials to teach the monitors about fisheries management, safety, species identification, conflict resolution, and computer reporting requirements. In addition to gathering data about commercial fishermen’s catches, the monitors document interactions with protected species such as marine mammals and sea turtles.

Oregon’s Ocean Policy Advisory Council also uses NCSR materials to educate citizen advisory groups it has formed to oversee the establishment of marine reserves off the Oregon coast.