Gloucester Rotary Club
The Gloucester Rotary Club, formed in 1962 as part of Rotary International District 7610, sponsors the annual conference. Begun in 1991 by several Rotarians who grew up on the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay, the Conference strives to help new generations of young people appreciate the issues facing the Chesapeake. For fifteen years students have studied crabs, oysters, fisheries, sea grasses, underwater geology, wetlands, pollution and reclamation efforts. The Gloucester Rotary Club remains deeply concerned about the health of the Bay. It is our hope that this conference will raise the awareness of the future generations of leaders who will be called on to address the continuing Bay preservation issues.



Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
in Virginia (CBNERRVA)
The Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia is a cooperative program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which is the School of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary.



Instructors
Sarah McGuire, CBNERRVA Marine Education and Outreach Coordinator
My goal, as the education coordinator with CBNERRVA, is to engage students (K-12 and college), formal educators and the public with marine science topics and increase understanding and appreciation of the estuary. We work towards this goal through a variety of programs. CBNERRVA is committed to providing meaningful field experiences for students and our field marine science programs are very popular. We also work to provide various workshops for teachers and support local classroom teachers in any way that we can. Various other programs including Discovery Labs, Marine Science Day, Estuaries Day, and the Tour of the Reserves program are ways to highlight the four Virginia reserve sites and introduce interesting aspects of the Chesapeake Bay to the public.

Jes Russo , CBNERRVA Marine Education Specialist
I work on the Chesapeake Studies for Gloucester and Mathews County Middle Schools project, where we link field trips on the Chesapeake Bay with the classroom.  I enjoy working with 7th graders in the area, and especially engaging them in their local environment by providing them with meaningful Bay experiences.  I also work with the 7th grade science teachers to help them integrate correlating concepts into their classrooms. 



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