Future Oceans2: 

The conference deadline has been extended for abstract submissions to the 2nd IMBeR Open Science Conference to be held Brest, France, 17-21 June 2019. http://www.imber.info/en/events/osc/2019 

DEADLINE is now 15 JANUARY 2019. http://www.imber.info/en/events/osc/2019/abstract-submission 

— Upcoming: Many of our mailing list members are communicators using video, social media, and/or equipping policy makers with ‘story’ mechanisms to advance ocean management and the inclusion of indigenous communities and women therein. So this communication conference may be of interest:

The International Environmental Communication Association (IECA) 2019 Conference on Communication and Environment takes the theme:

Waterlines: Confluence and Hope through Environmental Communication

The 15th biennial conference will be held June 17-21, 2019, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada…  https://theieca.org/conference/coce-2019-vancouver

And it is possible to attend via distance connections! “Presenters may choose to save money and/or carbon emissions by not traveling to Vancouver. In those cases, presenters may participate via Google Hangouts/Meet or other suitable virtual method to be determined. Virtual presenters will have a reduced registration fee.”

— Open access e-lectures on Primary Productivity, Carbon Cycle, and Ocean Acidification available from IMOS/UTAS – Australia

The Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) has developed in collaboration with the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies a series of Marine Data and Science e-lectures that are openly available. The lectures are designed to help marine scientists/students learn how to use IMOS ocean observations data in their research. The opic-specific lectures include: ocean primary productivity, the carbon cycle, and ocean acidification, with associated hands-on exercises using real observations to gain experience on how to analyse and interpret the data. The series has been released through the Open2U system https://open2u.utas.edu.au/Course/4261

You can find the news here: 

— *Conservation Education, Communication and Evaluation* is a 13-week training course, starting in February 2019, organized by the non-profit education and research charity The Institute for Methods Innovation and Parque das Aves (a bird conservation centre and aviary based in Brazil). The course features some of the world’s top experts in conservation education and evaluation. The course is available either with a residential stay in the Atlantic Rainforest (Brazil) or completely online. Course information page:

methodsforchange.org/event/conservation-education-communication-evaluation-residential

Note that this one is not a free course (Pacific islanders, remember to check out NZ’s PICTicipate programme for potential funding).

 New OpenExplorer expedition: Pacific Coral Reefs

Read more information here

Ms. Akiko Hamada-Ano (visibly cc’d on this message) successfully applied for a Trident ROV (maybe you can too! https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/19/nat-geo-and-openrov-are-giving-away-1000-robot-submarines/) and will be using this awesome tool to help connect Pasifika communities with ocean technology and their reef ecosystems. Akiko has been developing the Pacific Years of the Reef (2018 & 2019) and the Pacific part of last year’s International Year of the Reef, and you’ll begin to see the fruits of her labour in public arenas this year (including, we hope, funding for in-country researchers). You can follow her expedition at the link above, or get in touch with her for more!