Ripples in a pond

Whenever I begin to lose hope about the future of the world SOMETHING always happens to restore it. This Saturday was my most recent moment. I traveled to Clemson's Sandhill REC to a coaches workshop for the SC Envirothon. This is the first year that I've helped out with it, and I am very impressed thus far. The teacher/coaches that showed up gave up a precious Saturday so that they could get their students enthused about the environment. Now THAT is dedication. I promised those teachers that I would have some information for them here to take to their students...so here we go:

They should know what ecosystem services are http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf
They should know where most of our medicine comes from.
http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/ftc_MYarticle.pdf

They should be familiar with some of the major threatened and endangered species in South Carolina (Species of Concern) – Examples: shortnose sturgeon, flatwoods salamander, bog turtle, Schweinitz’s sunflower, Carolina heelsplitter, wood stork, red-cockaded woodpecker, mountain sweet pitcher plant, manatee, longleaf pine
a. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/scwildlifearticle.pdf
b. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/plan/Chapter2.pdf
c. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/index.html


Biodiversity
· ESA Biodiversity Fact Sheet - http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/factsheets.php
· ESA Issues in Ecology, Number 4, 1999. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Maintaining Natural Life Support Processes. http://www.esa.org/science_resources/issues/FileEnglish/issue4.pdf
·

Ecosystem Services
· ESA Ecosystem Services Fact Sheet - http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/factsheets.php
· ESA Issues in Ecology, Number 4, 1999. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Maintaining Natural Life Support Processes. Ecosystem Services: Benetifts Supplied to Human Societies by Natural Ecosystems. http://www.esa.org/science_resources/issues/FileEnglish/issue2.pdf
·

Medicinal Plants
· New Scientist article - http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126903.200-medicinal-plants-on-verge-of-extinction.html
· World Health Organization - http://www.who.int/topics/plants_medicinal/en/index.html
· List of drugs derived from plants from about.com - http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa061403a.htm

Endangered Species Act
· Fish and Wildlife Service- main page- http://www.fws.gov/endangered/whatwedo.html
· Fish and Wildlife Service – brief overview - http://www.fws.gov/endangered/factsheets/ESA_basics.pdf

Biodiversity and Climate Change
· United Nations Environmental Program - http://www.unep-wcmc.org/climate/default.aspx

Well, there's a beginning for you. The camcorder died, so I won't be able to get the actual presentation to you all, but I am working on alternative means. Keep your eyes on this space, and as I gather more information I will get it out to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. Thank you all for being ripples in the pond.