[Coral-List] FW: Coral Reef: Magic Porthole's First Environment Achievement Contest Launched July 1.

John McManus jmcmanus at rsmas.miami.edu
Tue Jul 15 13:07:44 EDT 2008


            Magic Porthole's First Environment Achievement Contest Launched
July 1.


(July 1,2008- New Haven, CT)-  Horizon International today announced the
launching of its Magic Porthole's First
<http://www.magicporthole.org/contests.html>  Environment Achievement
Contest to be held in honor of the International Year of the Reef (IYOR)
2008 <http://www.iyor.org/> .  People of all ages and from every corner of
the world are invited to participate. Prize winners will be chosen for best
efforts and the impact of their actions.  There are three categories based
on age.


            Aquariums, museums and coral reef organizations are offering
prizes for this contest and collaborating with the Magic Porthole Web site
<http://www.magicporthole.org/> www.magicporthole.org and other features
such as the Magic Porthole Coral Reef Playing Cards which they are using in
their own programs.  


            The First prize for the winner of Magic Porthole's First
Environment Achievement Contest is a trip to a coral reef on board Research
Vessel Tiburon. Captain Tim Taylor, President and CEO of Research Vessel
Tiburon Inc. at http://www.rvtiburon.com <http://www.rvtiburon.com/> , and
founder of Ocean Outreach Inc. <http://www.oceanoutreach.org/> , a
non-profit ocean education and outreach organization is contributing the
first prize: accommodation for of a week vacation to a coral reef with their
family. They will live on board his 63 foot research vessel from which they
will explore coral reefs. Other prizes include Tuition at Sanibel Sea Schoo
<http://www.sanibelseaschool.org/> l, Art work by Sasha Meret
<http://www.sashameret.com/> , Family passes to Birch Aquarium at Scripps
<http://www.aquarium.ucsd.edu/> , Books from the Wild Dolphin Foundation,
Wild <http://www.wilddolphin.org/>  Dolphin.org, decks of two versions of
the First Collectors' Edition Magic Porthole Coral Reef Playing Cards, one
version of which can be seen and played with online. Magic
<http://www.magicporthole.org/cards.html>  Porthole  Ecoknowledge card game,
and other prizes.  The Entry form and more details are posted on the Magic
Porthole Web page. 


             Magic Porthole provides engaging experiences for discoveries
about the lives of frogfish, cleaning gobies, turtles, seahorses, sharks,
and many of the myriad other reef creatures while encouraging reef
preservation with online and offline videos, games, and resources.  In the
online resources, one can learn, for example, that coral reefs are home to
an estimated 25 % of all marine species and that the impairment of the reefs
causes fish, that are a part of people's everyday diet, to be lost.
Seahorse games from the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, contests and resources
are provided by Reef
<file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\JanineS\Application%20Data\Microsoft\
Word\Reef%20Check%20is%20running%20an%20International%20%E2%80%9CWhat%20do%2
0reefs%20mean%20to%20you%3f%E2%80%9D%20Photo%20Contest>  Check and IYOR, a
flash page about water is from UNEP, TUNZA, and CEE (Center for
Environmental Education, India), and many resources on the site are from
NOAA/National Ocean Science among others.


            The International <http://www.icriforum.org/>  Coral Reef
Initiative (ICRI) International Year of the Reef 2008, http://www.iyor.org/,
is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of
coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to
take action to protect them. IYOR welcomes and actively encourages
individuals, corporations, schools, governments, and organizations to
participate in IYOR 2008.  


        Magic Porthole and the Horizon Solutions site at
<http://www.solutions-site.org/> www.solutions-site.org are Friends of IYOR
2008 <http://www.iyor.org/resources/friends.asp> .


            From July 7 to 11, the 11th the International Coral Reef
Symposium (ICRS) <http://www.nova.edu/ncri/11icrs/index.html> , the world's
largest conference devoted to coral reef science will be at the Broward
County Convention Center in Florida.  Held every four years, this scientific
meeting is sanctioned by the International Society of Reef
<http://www.fit.edu/isrs/>  Studies (ICRS).  Co-hosted in 2008 by the United
States and State of Florida, this will be the first time this science
meeting has been held on the US mainland in more than 30 years. (
<http://www.nova.edu/ncri/11icrs/index.html>
http://www.nova.edu/ncri/11icrs/index.html)


                "Magic Porthole: Discoveries in Coral Reefs, TV Series
Preview of Footage Filmed in Bonaire", an eight minute DVD, and Magic
Porthole First Edition Coral Reef Playing Cards will be featured at the 11th
the International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS)
<http://www.nova.edu/ncri/11icrs/index.html>  and at the ICRI General
Meeting, <http://www.icriforum.org/ICRSGM/gmICRS.html>  Greater Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, USA 12-13 July 2008. The Symposium anticipates more
than 2,000 participants. 


-30-


Notes:


Horizon International's Magic Porthole program, an informal science
education program, is made possible by an award of a National Science
Foundation Planning Grant, funding from many supporters for filming in
Bonaire, individuals and foundations, and substantial contributions of
talent and services and the help of many partners.


Advisory Board for Magic Porthole:


Walter H. Adey, Ph.D., Director, Marine Systems Laboratory, Smithsonian
Institution; Alexandra Cousteau, Co-Founder, EarthEcho, Gordon Cragg, Ph.D.,
former Chief, Natural Products Branch, National Cancer Institute; Sylvia A.
Earle, Ph.D., founder of Deep Ocean Engineering; David Ellis, Ph.D., former
Director, Boston Museum of Science; William Fenical, Ph.D., Director, Center
for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of
Oceanography; David Gelernter, Professor, Computer Science, Yale U.; Peter
R. Haje, former General Counsel and Executive Vice President Time-Warner;
Carl-Gustaf Lundin, Head, IUCN Global Marine Programme; Gus Speth, Dean,
Yale Forestry and Environmental Studies. Numerous youth are advisors.



-- 
************************************************
From: Janine M. H. Selendy, Chairman and President, Horizon International 
Yale University
Dept. of Biology, New Haven, CT 06520-8103 USA 
Yale Tel: 203-432-6266; Cell: 914-329-1323; Direct Fax: 914-669-5298 
http://www.yale.edu/horizon
http://www.solutions-site.org, a collaborative program with UNDP, UNEP,
UNFPA, Unicef, the IDRC, Yale and Horizon's colleagues at Harvard .
http://www.solutions-site.org/kids, 
www.magicporthole.org coral reefs 




More information about the Coral-List mailing list