ZOOM

Seventy percent of the Earth's surface is ocean. This planet could be re-named "Ocean"; we are citizens of an ocean planet with islands the size of continents. The ocean is the most important resource on Earth because it controls weather, provides food, and creates 50% of the world's oxygen.  Awesome life forms are constantly being discovered at all depths of the ocean. Remarkable life forms inhabit the deepest ocean where there is no light!  As scientists pursue all types of marine research, they consistently advocate for caution because exploration and exploitation of the ocean's resources have a history of positive and negative consequences. One might say that the romantic ship-narrative has sailed, replaced with a heightened appreciation for the human impact on marine health and the human pressure on beings who live in or depend on the sea. Education is the key to understanding the ocean of the past, present, and future. The ocean is a complex and ambitious topic of study; however, a short course is a place to start. This quest to learn more will highlight the following: 

1. Maps: What You See and What You Don't See
2. Marine Specimens
3. Ocean Voyagers: Seafarers and Refugees 
4. Innovative Marine Museums
5. Stories Told by Artists and Scientists 

Catherine Hunter was museum curator, educator, and consultant for over twenty years. She received her Bachelor of Arts in History of Art from Cornell University and began her career as a curator in the Department of Textiles at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Hunter has been developing and teaching zoom courses for adults learners since 2019. Her courses reflect a lifelong interest in the intersection of art, art history, science, and culture. Hunter is a sailor with a broad interest in all things nautical. She is is a member of the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the International Congress of Maritime Museum (ICMM).

ZOOM

Monarch butterflies are, perhaps, the most well-known butterfly species in the world with the most highly evolved migration pattern of any known insect. With their parchment-thin wings, they fly 3,000 miles to, and from, Canada and the United States to their overwintering sites in the oyamel fir forests in Mexico's central highlands. Join Eve Fralick on her visually stunning travelogue as she shares the spellbinding sight of millions of fluttering wings as they fill the forest skies. Learn why the monarch population has been so seriously compromised in recent years and what you can do to help sustain monarch butterflies here at home. While in Mexico, you'll also experience a sunrise hot-air balloon flight over, and tour of, Teotihuacan, a United Nations World Heritage Site with the third largest pyramid in the world...as well as the Comovitral, a huge botanical garden encircled by ceiling-to-floor stained glass murals.

Eve Fralick is a resident of Greenland, New Hampshire. She began her career as a United States Air Force officer traveling internationally to develop and implement multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art, telecommunications programs. After leaving the military, she worked in healthcare technology and as an adjunct faculty member at Southern New Hampshire University's Graduate School of Business. She holds Master degrees in Public Health and Systems Management. Eve's passion is hiking far off the beaten path around the world. She develops travelogues of her adventures and presents them at libraries, assisted living facilities, senior colleges, and other organizations.  

IN PERSON AT SCHOONER ESTATES

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupted. It was the latest of eruptions in the Cascade Range, which is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is known for many active volcanoes especically in Asia. We'll take a look at the devastation that resulted. 

Alan has taught at Seniors Plus for over 20 years and originated the Winter Sessions.