EARTH: Education and Research, Testing Hypotheses

08/02/2026

DAY 5 RECAP - FINAL DAY!! 🪼🐋🦭🔭🦑🥼🦀🌊

MBARI EARTH 2026 ended on such a good note!!

Events of the day included:
/// Final MBARI lesson presentations
/// Sweet farewells and departure

Some additional highlights:
/// Viewing the final products of a week of hard work!
/// Supporting fellow teachers and global education!
/// Communicating future plans to reconnect for more workshops, conventions, meetings, etc.!
/// Appreciation of all MBARI speakers and MBARI senior members!

MBARI EARTH 2026 was an amazing and successful teacher workshop to connect real ocean data to classrooms and science all over the world. Thank you to all speakers, teachers, members, etc. that were a part of this workshop!

If you are an educator, check out the website for lessons written by teachers for teachers focusing on real time data and ocean science! Let's work together to educate about the oceans and protect our environment!

https://www.mbari.org/education/education-research-testing-hypotheses-earth/

07/31/2026

DAY 4 RECAP 🪼🐋🦭🔭🦑🥼🦀🌊

Today MBARI EARTH 2026 got locked in!

Events of the day included
/// Discussion and official selection of lesson plans
/// Hard work, collaboration, research all day long
/// MBARI tour of the R/V David Packard research vessel - viewing the ROV machines and crew quarters

Some additional highlights:
/// Another group of MBARI EARTH members went tidepooling this morning!
/// Lots of happy whales seen outside the MBARI windows!
/// MBARI facility tour!
/// Group photo on the beach!
/// Some MBARI EARTH members took a look at Soundscapes data records from MBARI for their lesson plans!

MBARI EARTH 2026 presentations tomorrow!

07/30/2026

DAY 3 RECAP 🪼🐋🦭🔭🦑🥼🦀🌊

Today we took the MBARI EARTH workshop on the road!!

Events of the day included:
/// Our very own MBARI EARTH 2026 Monterey Bay Aquarium behind-the-scenes tour before public hours
/// Free time to roam and embrace the Monterey Bay Aquarium - especially the Deep Ocean exhibit
/// An immersive tour through the Bechtel Family Center for Ocean Education & Leadership - viewing gadgets and materials for teaching ocean literacy

Some additional highlights:
/// Several MBARI EARTH members went tidepooling in the early morning!
/// A massive pod of dolphins spotted out in Monterey Bay before our aquarium tour!
/// Seeing how the aquarium cares for their animals from a new perspective!
/// Delicious group lunch at Dust Bowl Brewing Co. Tap Depot and food truck!
/// Some MBARI EARTH members had the chance to kayak through Monterey Bay in the afternoon!
/// So many cute otters, seals, birds, and sea lions spotted!!

07/29/2026

DAY 2 RECAP 🪼🐋🔭🦑🥼🦀🌊

Our second MBARI EARTH 2026 Workshop day was a success!!

Events of the day included:
/// MBARI EARTH Website tour by Jennifer Magnusson - Showing teachers how to navigate the MBARI EARTH website and access lessons
/// Lesson Evaluation Presentations - Similar to alumni presentations, new-to-MARI EARTH teachers presented MBARI-connected marine lessons
/// Presentation & Dataset Exploration by Kakani Katija - FathomVerse: Discovering all life in the ocean through imagery
/// Presentation & Dataset Exploration by AJ Mallozzi - Voices from the sea: collecting and analyzing stories as qualitative data

Some additional highlights:
/// Even more whale and dolphin sightings this morning!
/// Listening to humpback and blue whale sounds over the subwoofer!
/// Spotting the R/ Rachel Carson MBARI research vessel out at sea!
/// MBARI EARTH 2026 group photo!!
/// Collaborative brainstorming to develop lessons from MBARI workshop presentations!
/// Bonus Talk with Mensun Bound: Finding Shackleton's Endurance!

07/29/2026

07/29/2026

EXPERT HIGHLIGHT #5: AJ MALLOZZI

AJ Mallozzi is an Oregon State University marine educator, researcher in Fisheries Wildlife Conservation Science Human Dimensions Lab, Explore and More program coordinator, and education & outreach coordinator.

Mallozzi developed Explore and More, an educational precollege program to connect Indigenous high school students with Oregon State University student mentors to co-develop personally interactive research projects addressing community needs relating to both Western and Indigenous science.

Mallozi additionally offered a qualitative data website named NOAA Voices Oral History Archives. This website consists of an extensive collection of oral history interviews which educators and students can use to further educational research within the classroom.

07/28/2026

EXPERT HIGHLIGHT #4: KAKANI KATIJA

Kakani Katija is a Principal Engineer, PhD Bioengineering California Institute of Technology graduate, and lead of the Bioinspiration Lab.

Katija shared tools that track marine animal data to enforce the importance of oceanic life. This included FathomVerse, an app developed for ocean life discovery. In order to engage a public audience to interact with oceanic life, importance, exploration, and eventually classification, FathomVerse was created to allow enthusiasts to identify ocean life themselves.

Katija showed MBARI EARTH teachers that within FathomVerse, there is an education library with scientific information of each animal that can be identified. FathomVerse is working to be developed into a web browser in order to reach more audiences, educators, and students.

07/28/2026

DAY 1 RECAP 🪼🐋🦭🔭🦑🥼🦀🌊
This was the very first content day at the MBARI EARTH 2026 Workshop!

Events of the day included:
/// Presentation & Dataset exploration by Anik Grearson - Combing the deep: what ctenophores can reveal about life in the abyss
/// Presentation by George Matsumoto - GO-BGC Floats
/// Alumni presentations - MBARI EARTH alumni attendees used an EARTH lesson within their own classroom and shared it with first-time attendees.
/// Presentation & Dataset Exploration by AnnMarie Thomas - A Playful Approach to Science Education

Some additional highlights:
/// Spotting whales outside of our workshop windows!
/// Teachers learning from other teachers through alumni presentations!
/// MBARI EARTH swag including a "Science Floats my Boat" tee-shirt!
/// REAL data examples that teachers can use in classrooms!

07/27/2026

EXPERT HIGHLIGHT #3: AnnMARIE THOMAS

AnnMarie Thomas is a mechanical engineer, author, professor and advocate for engineering education. Thomas has worked for LEGO, OceanX and started her own consulting company.
Thomas is also a former MBARI intern! MBARI is about both science AND engineering, which is exactly what Thomas specializes in.

Thomas's presentation was centered around a playful approach to education in general.
Education is more than information, education should involve play. "Play" involves educational freedom of choice, sociality and process over outcome. This allowed MBARI teachers to reimagine lessons that they develop to make science joyful, which in turn allows more student engagement.

Thomas highlighted multiple resources including OkGo Sandbox, a project that worked with a band and their scientific music videos to develop at-home science experiments and opportunities for students to create their own projects. Thomas ultimately provided fun and playful education to teachers.

07/27/2026

EXPERT HIGHLIGHT #2: GEORGE MATSUMOTO

George Matsumoto is an MBARI Senior Education and Research Specialist and UCLA PhD
graduate. Matsumoto has countless MBARI publications and external services within the scientific and marine community. Matsumoto's current passion focuses on open ocean and deep sea communities with specific interest in invertebrates.

Matsumoto's presentation covered GO-BGC Floats. Originally, the deployed ARGO floats measured temperature and salinity. In recent years, the floats are used to measure biogeochemical data as the sensors on the floats have been updated.

Matsumoto offered resources on how the GO-BGC floats help track tropical storms, a great resource for teachers to show students real-time weather data.