Are you a teacher or an educator? Project SponGES, project MERCES and project ATLAS are pleased to invite your students to the large exhibition floor at the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity that will take place in Montreal this May 13-16th.

Thanks to the Conference’s organisers, we have been granted six free slots of two hours each, to welcome six classes and their teachers on the whole exhibition floor and, in particular, to the joint stand that SponGES, MERCES and ATLAS are having together. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which will have their own stand, are also actively contributing to two of the above mentioned projects.

Your students will have the chance to visit an exhibition dedicated to the underwater natural world, will observe real specimens under the microscope – including some from the Canadian shelf, will try VR experiences, will see videos taken during deep-sea research operations that have not yet been shown to the public, and will interact with our staff and researchers on site to know more about the deep and the shallow ocean. Besides this, the teachers accompanying each group/class will receive a set of expandable teaching materials to integrate their Ocean Literacy and Education work. These materials have been designed to match the Seven Principles of Ocean Literacy, and will do so by covering a variety topics, including some related to deep-sea ecosystems of the Canadian shelf and slope as well.

If you wish to have your students at the World Conference of Marine Biodiversity, please send an email to info@deepseasponges.org. Depending on requests, we may be unable to accept more than one class or group of students per school. Deadline for registration is May 8th, 2018. Once again, the participation to the activities mentioned above is free of charge.

Looking forward to meeting your students and teachers at the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity!