Contest hosted by North American Marine Environment Protection Association and Immersion Learning™

MYSTIC, Conn. (July 20, 2010) – Immersion Learning™ – a division of Sea Research Foundation – and the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) are pleased to announce the winner of a national art contest focused on the marine environment. The contest challenged students across North America to create a poster around the theme “Mariners help save our seas”. The winning poster, created by Bailey K. McNamara, a fifth grader at Bowling Green Elementary School in Westbury, N.Y., during the 2009-2010 school year, will be distributed to global maritime industry outlets, including the International Maritime Organization, an agency of the United Nations and the regulatory body for the industry. Two teams of students at the Bridgeport Child Development Center in Chicago won second and third place.

”Creating linkages between children and marine environment protection is critical to healthy seas in the future,” said NAMEPA Founding Chairman Clay Maitland. “Bailey McNamara produced an excellent representation of what this means to her, which will inspire others to ‘Save our Seas’.”

The art contest was open to students ages 5 to 13 in schools and at Immersion sites in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, including Boys & Girls Clubs and other after-school settings. Immersion Learning is a dynamic, hands-on science education program that provides schools and informal learning organizations with the opportunity to host interactive science experiences for students in grades 4 through 8.

“Sea Research is always happy to collaborate with our partner NAMEPA on this contest,” said Dr. Stephen M. Coan, president and CEO of Sea Research Foundation. “This year’s contest inspired students across the nation to learn more about the important work mariners do in carrying more than 90 percent of the world’s materials while protecting our oceans, and then – more importantly – share that message.”

McNamara’s poster focused on the special nets mariners use to ensure that large marine animals don’t become entangled. A happy dolphin and sea turtle are shown, with information on these nets framing the animals.
McNamara will receive a Mystic Aquarium Animal Adoption Kit, 16-inch plush beluga whale and a signed book and photograph from famed oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard.

The second-place team, consisting of Joanna Xie, grade 3, Jocy Cai, grade 4, Mendy Kong, grade 3, and Sydney Li, grade 4, from the Bridgeport Child Development Center in Chicago, created a poster that depicts a marine environment and urges people to “Help save sea life.”

Megan Bui and Song Yan Li, fourth graders with the Bridgeport Child Development Center in Chicago during the 2009-2010 school year, won third place for their poster, which features an octopus in clear blue water. A message above reads: “Thank you for making our waters clean, because we have to make the world stay green!

Both teams will receive a signed photo of Dr. Ballard and letter of appreciation.

To see the winners’ posters, visit Immersion's online art gallery.

About NAMEPA

The North American Marine Environment Protection Association was officially launched in 2007.  In keeping with the mission of MEPAs worldwide, its aim is to increase environmental awareness and motivation of the human element within shipping and land-based industries that have a vested interest in preservation of the marine environment. Specifically, NAMEPA has the goal of educating the wider public and school communities about the critical importance of the world’s oceans to mankind and the maritime industry’s role and actions to preserve it. NAMEPA is a maritime industry led initiative to “Save the Seas”, and welcomes members who share this mission.  For more information, go to www.namepa.net.

About Immersion Learning™

Immersion Learning™ was founded by Dr. Robert Ballard and Dr. Stephen Coan in 2002. Through live webcasts from scientific expeditions, hands-on activities and an engaging Web site, this non-profit science education organization brings ocean adventures and discoveries from Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, the University of Rhode Island and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to more than 50,000 kids in classrooms, after-school settings such as Boys & Girls Clubs, and other informal learning arenas each year.

About Sea Research Foundation, Inc.

Mystic Aquarium, Institute for Exploration and Immersion Learning™ are divisions of Sea Research Foundation, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)3 organization in Connecticut. The mission of Sea Research is to inspire people to care for and protect our ocean planet through education, research and exploration.