Post by CIMAGE Teacher- Mary St. Denis

C-IMAGE Teacher, Mary St. Denis at Rosette of Niskin Bottles prepaing for a test run of the CTD system

 My name is Mary St. Denis and I am happy to be the next C-IMAGE Gulf of Mexico Teacher @ Sea. I strongly feel that we as a society need to learn to respect and treasure water as the invaluable resource that it is, as well as a thing of beauty. This experience is very exciting for me in a variety of ways because I have always loved the water. As a very small child I would walk out into the water until it was over my head any time my mother looked away at the beach. I still spend as much time as I can around water; I kayak, scuba dive, and swim laps, in fact, last year I swam 88 miles overall.

CIMAGE scientist, Leslie Schweirzke-Wade and teacher at sea Mary St. Denis retrieving rosette of Niskin bottles. The Niskin bottles collect water samples at discrete depths from the surface of the ocean to the seafloor

 Both my students and I are very concerned about the effects of the Gulf Oil Spill on wildlife and the environment so I am really happy to be a part of finding out more about what is happening in the Gulf in the aftermath of the oil spill. I have taught science at Winter Haven High School for 8 years, and have a Master’s degree in Science Education and Bachelor’s in Biology: Microbiology. I currently teach Chemistry and AP Environmental Science and will be teaching Agricultural Biotechnology next year with WHHS’s Agribusiness Academy. 

C-IMAGE's Mary St. Denis and Teresa Greely in long lab filtering water for CHN readings

Prior to teaching I worked in a variety of science positions but had gradually found that I was doing more paperwork and little of the hands on work that I love. I decided to go into teaching to do two of my favorite things, working with people and working in the lab.

Science message board start of expedition