Under the Sea
Our Mission
To promote awareness of
the aquatic environment, through education, in order to
encourage stewardship and conservation.
Under the Sea has taught in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington DC since 1995, traveling to schools, libraries, parties, festivals, camps, scouting events, and all sorts of interesting places. We pride ourselves in offering the best programs on aquatic life, bring live sea animals for some presentations, and offering presentations by professional marine biologists!
Our programs incorporate curriculum standards such as the VA SOLs, MD MSPAP, and the National Science Standards. All our programs can be tailored to fit your specific needs. Pre-visit and post-visit materials are also included for school programs.
Our programs always include a lesson on conservation. Several of the animals we teach about in our programs are facing difficult times due to habitat loss or over-fishing. We stress the importance of conservation and suggest actions that students can take to reverse the impact of humans on the marine environment. A great example for teaching conservation is the relationship between sea turtles and garbage, as these turtles commonly mistake garbage in our oceans for food. By properly disposing of our litter, especially plastic, we can prevent harm to our ocean’s sea turtles.
Our instructors are more than educated marine biologists - they are experienced teachers, too! Our director, Andrew, used to teach SCUBA and has gone diving in many locations. Sandy is an award winning environmental author.
To keep up with the latest news, we belong to various professional organizations such as NMEA (the National Marine Educators Association) and MAMEA (the Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association). We both attend and speak at these conferences. We also subscribe to many journals, magazines, etc., to keep current with the latest news and discoveries in marine biology. Our instructors travel around the world to learn firsthand about the ocean and the creatures in it.
Meet Our Instructors
Andrew Wilson:
Andrew’s knowledge of the marine
environment goes beyond books - it is often derived from first hand
experience! He grew up along the Atlantic coast, from Rhode
Island to Florida, and even spent several years on the Pacific coast of
Peru. Out of high school, he attended the U.S. Naval
Academy. While there, Andrew's love for the ocean led him to
learn how to SCUBA dive and he later he became a SCUBA
instructor. He has over 300 dives to his name in such far off
locations as Victoria, Canada; Bonaire, Netherland Antilles; and Capri,
Italy; as well as many local areas. Once out of the Navy, Andrew
returned to school to earn a degree in Biology from Old Dominion
University. While continuing his education, he served on the VA Marine Science Museum
(VMSM) stranding team in VA Beach, rescuing whales and other
injured marine animals. This led to a position with the education
department of VMSM, where Andrew worked for several years. Upon
recognizing the need for marine education resources in the DC
Metropolitan area, Andrew founded Under the Sea in 1995.
Sandy Burk - Sandy is an
award winning author. Her book "Let the River Run Silver Again" has
won accolades from Izaak Walton League of America, NSTA, and was
recognized as the 2006 Green Earth book. She is a Marine Biologist (MS, UNC-Wilmington, 1989),
science educator, and conservationist. During the past twenty years, she has
worked with universities, state and local agencies, and private organizations
throughout the middle Atlantic region on aspects of marine biology and the
monitoring, conservation, restoration and interpretation of freshwater and
marine systems. She presently lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where she consults
and writes on environmental matters.
We
are currently looking for another part time or full time
instructor. If you are interested, please send us an e-mail.
Meet Our Staff
Mary Beth Wilson: Mary Beth is our scheduling coordinator, book keeper, illustrator, and all around Admin goddess. She studied Biology and Art at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and has been working in a variety of creative and challenging environments ever since. Mary Beth loves learning about marine life, and she often helps out with animal care. (The seahorses love her.) She enjoys tagging along on collection and exploration trips with Andrew and Jennifer. She is also an avid aquarist. Among her present projects are making cool "fishy" shirts for the instructors and illustrating an Under the Sea coloring book.
We would love to hear from you. You can e-mail us:
Call (703)464-4763 or (800)986-3732 to schedule your journey to the ocean depths!