The Bridge is a growing collection of the best marine education resources available on-line. It provides educators with a convenient source of accurate and useful information on global, national, and regional marine science topics, and gives researchers a contact point for educational outreach. Resources are organized as indicated on the sidebar on the left side of the screen.

Partners
The Bridge is supported by the National Sea Grant Office, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), and the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA).

The Bridge began in 1997 as one of five projects funded by NOPP. The other four are: COAST: Consortium for Oceanographic Activities for Students and Teachers; Enhancing K-12 Science Education Via Satellite-Televised InteractiveTechnologies; JASON Project - Expanding Student and Teacher Access to Ocean Science Research; Bringing the Ocean into the Precollege Classroom Through Field Investigations at a National Underwater Laboratory.

NMEA members and Sea Grant's network of educators are actively involved in project administration, serving on the Bridge's Clearinghouse Coordinating Committee (CCC), and assisting with national information dissemination and site reviews. A Scientific and Technical Advisory and Review (STARS) group advises on scientific content. Project administration and staff are at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary.

Bridge Staff
Webkeeper ... Lisa Ayers Lawrence
Technical Advisor... Gary Anderson
Data Manager... Chris Petrone
Eastern Region... Terri Hathaway
Great Lakes Region... Rosanne Fortner
Pacific Region... Vicki Osis
Gulf Region... Sharon Walker
Project Co PI... Vicki Clark
Project Co PI... Lee Larkin

Bridge Committees
TROLLs - Teacher Reviewers of On-line Learning This committee reviews Bridge websites for educational value and usefulness. It is made up of educators and scientists. Individuals interested in being TROLLs should apply through the Bridge Talk-2-Us page.

CCC - Clearinghouse Coordinating Committee
The CCC oversees the development of the project and coordinates regional componenets of the project. Membership represents Sea Grant and NMEA, and is by invitation.

STARs - Scientific and Technical Advisory Reviewers
STARS are experts in various ocean science topic areas who assist the Bridge staff in selecting sites that contain current and accurate scientific information. Membership in the STARs committee is by appointment.

Goals
Provide educators with content-correct & content-current marine information and data.
Support researchers in outreach efforts.
Improve communications among educators and between the education and research communities.

Site Selection and Review
Educators and scientists review sites selected for the Bridge. For more information on the review process, see:
Educational usefulness review guidelines
Science content review guidelines
Becoming a Bridge reviewer
Recommending a site for the Bridge

Bridge Project Plan
Overview of the Bridge project, containing information about objectives, partners, and management. This information was excerpted from a paper presented at Oceans '97 MTS/IEEE, Halifax NS. It is presented for informational purposes only; please do not quote or cite from this webpage. The paper is available in its entirety in the '97 MTS/IEE Proceedings.

Images
This publication includes images from CorelDRAW 8 and Microsoft Design Gallery which are protected by the copyright laws of the U.S., Canada and elsewhere. Used under license. These images may not be saved or downloaded and are only to be used for viewing purposes.

Images also come from the NOAA Photo Collection

Bridge webpages are partially or completely a result of research sponsored by NOAA Office of Sea Grant, U.S. Department of Commerce, under federal Grant No. NA 90AA-D-SG045 to the Virginia Graduate Marine Science Consortium and the Virginia Sea Grant College Program, and the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research. The U.S. Government is authorized to produce and distribute reprints for governmental purposes not withstanding any copyright notation that may appear within. VIMS/Sea Grant makes no warranty, express or implied as to the accuracy, completeness, or utility of this information, nor does the fact of distribution constitute a warranty. Unless otherwise noted, the pages offered at this site do not represent official statements, views, policy, or position of the Government or of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science, The College of William & Mary, its faculty or staff. No official endorsements should be inferred.

Unless otherwise noted, Bridge webpages may be reproduced for non-profit educational use provided Virginia Sea Grant , the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the National Marine Educators Association are credited.