Cabrillo High School Aquarium Collaboration
With Vandenberg Air Force Base
Studying the marine life that's intertwined with tide pools will teach
Cabrillo High School students science while it adds to the data collected
at the base on environmentally sensitive areas. In May, 1996, an agreement
was signed by Cabrillo Principal John Lemon and Vandenberg Air Force Base
that finalized the creation of an environmental monitoring program, the
first of its kind between the Air Force and a high school. Students will
be monitoring the tide pools formed by the ocean in rocky areas along the
shore, which becomes a habitat for crabs, sea urchins, starfish and other
marine life. The document will be reevaluated every three years.
Colonel Judd Blaisdell, the base commander, stated, "By monitoring
the pools, noting the movement of marine animals, the students will be helping
the Air Force protect that resource." *
An annual report of the students' findings will be given to the base's Office
of Environmental Management. The information may be used by the office,
which already maps systems of plants, animals, and wetlands. Vandenberg
is a natural site for the pools, with its 35 miles of coastline.
*(Karen Williams, Santa Maria Times, 5-16-96)
Text of Agreement
Educational
Outreach
Partnerships
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