A Sense of Place
Black Contributions to Miami:
Virginia Key Beach Park
Saturday, February 7, 2009
9 a.m. - 12 Noon
Course ID - CTD0488-6 Reference # 517921
(3 hours of Professional Development Credit for Faculty)

Facilitated by Mark Walters
The goal of this Immersion is to give MDC faculty and staff an overview of Historic Virginia Key Beach Park. Participants in this Immersion will tour this important ecologically rich site and gain an understanding of its importance to Miami as a barrier island with unique and valuable ecosystems and as a gathering place with a priceless cultural and historical legacy. Attendees will view restored historic structures – carousel, pavilions, concession stand, parking lot and mini train tunnel (mini train). We will look at the shoreline to appreciate the significance of the reinstallation of the wooden groins and the debate on their utility.  Attendees will hear about some of the wildlife that makes the island and the park home and will be made aware of the significant deterioration of the site that has occurred due to invasion from exotic species.

For more information and to register on line
http://www.mdc.edu/ctd/catalog/workshops/ctd0488-6.htm

Montenay Power Plant
Offered Friday, February 13, 2009
2 - 4 p.m.
Course ID - CTD0488-1 Reference # 520199
(2 hours of Professional Development Credit for Faculty)

Facilitated by Joyce DiBenedetto-Colton
This two hour experiential learning activity takes participants on a tour of the Miami-Dade Resources Recovery Facility operated by Montenay Power Corporation.  It will focus on the waste to energy processes that are utilized at this site.  The Montenay facility processes more than 4,000 tons of garbage and trash each day and is reportedly the largest waste-to-energy facility in the world.  The social, environmental, financial and health issues relating to waste disposal will be examined.  An on-site, twelve acre wetland restoration project will also be inspected.  Participants will be asked to share in writing how they will incorporate into their classes their awareness of the link between waste disposal, levels of consumption, and environmental health issues. 

For more information and to register on line
http://www.mdc.edu/ctd/catalog/workshops/ctd0488-1.htm

Biomass Fuel                Turbine Room

Garbage Pit                  Control Room

Miami-Dade Resources Recovery Facility http://www.montenaypower.com/md/md_01.html

Oleta River State Park
Saturday, March 14, 2009
8 a.m. – 12 Noon
Course ID - CTD0488-2     Reference # 519013
(4 hours of Professional Development Credit for Faculty)
Fall 2008 - CTD Reference # 503124

Facilitated by Kiki Mutis
The course will cover the natural and cultural history of the largest urban park in the Florida State Park System.  Oleta River State Park is a 1,043 acre natural and recreational area surrounded largely by high density residential and commercial developmental.  Park administrators have developed alliances with a range of compatible user groups.  It is wrongly assumed that the northern portion of Biscayne is virtually dead biologically.  The Oleta River area supports abundant marine life, diverse bird populations and some of the most impressively large mangrove trees in South Florida. Upland and shoreline habitats will be explored on foot and by kayak and the ecological role of the mangrove forests will be highlighted.  Particular attention will be directed towards the challenge of achieving a sustainable balance between urban human needs and natural systems needs.  Economic strategies for preserving and maintaining natural areas will be examined.  Participants will be expected to relate the workshop experience to their academic disciplines and to draft a written proposal on ways to incorporate concepts of ecological sustainability into their current work or course objectives.

For more information and to register on line
http://www.mdc.edu/ctd/catalog/workshops/ctd0488-2.htm

Everglades National Park
Saturday, February 21, 2009
8 am – 4 pm
Course ID - CTD0488      Reference # 518836
(8 hours of Professional Development Credit for Faculty)

Facilitated by Kiki Mutis
The goal of the course is to give faculty an overview of basic South Florida ecology and hydrology by providing direct field experiences in this unique ecosystem. Participants will then be able to teach their students to understand their water use and environmental responsibilities as citizens of South Florida. After a session in the Park's Visitor Center with a Park Naturalist, participants will walk paved, boardwalk, or dirt trails and visit an alligator hole, a cypress dome, the critically endangered pine rocklands, a tropical hardwood hammock, a mangrove forest, the coastal prairie, and the sawgrass Everglades plant communities. During the entire workshop, participants will learn how to tune their senses to improve their innate observational skills. Participants will be expected to relate this workshop experience to their discipline and develop ways to incorporate basic concepts of ecology, conservation and environmental economics into their current course objectives. Requirement: Hours will be awarded upon completion of a required assignment.

For more information and to register on line-- http://www.mdc.edu/ctd/catalog/workshops/ctd0488.htm

Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve
Offered Friday, March 27, 2009
1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Course ID - CTD0488-7       Reference - North Campus Only 
 

Facilitated by Marsha Colbert
Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve Manager
The course will cover the natural and cultural heritage of Biscayne Bay with an emphasis on the northern part of the bay that lies within the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve.  Participants in this workshop will learn interactive strategies for engaging students in the study of the natural and cultural heritage of Biscayne Bay.  The Aquatic Preserve system in the bay provides a rich environment for learning about humans’ impact on natural systems.  People have altered the shoreline from midden-building by the Tequesta to dredging for channels to filling for islands to our current high rise, bay-view boom.  Now there can be an awareness that the bay’s waters are important to more than humans, as over 100 bottle-nosed dolphin, dozens of West Indian manatees, brown and white pelicans, osprey, and diverse other species find food, shelter, and places to reproduce in the bay.  This workshop will provide participants with opportunities to consider the ethical implications of further development of bay shorelines, and the personal and civic responsibilities inherent in inhabiting a beautiful, but delicate, natural area.

For more information and to register on line
http://www.mdc.edu/ctd/catalog/workshops/ctd0488-7.htm

Biscayne National Park
TBA
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Course ID - CTD0486
(4 hours of Professional Development Credit for Faculty)

Facilitator TBA
The course covers history of the Biscayne National Park and surrounding areas, and gives an overview of local ecosystems including shoreline to reef line, upland habitats of off-shore islands, as well as inshore seagrass and mangrove forest communities. Canoes will be used to explore mangrove areas and observe their micro-communities, and visits to a flood control structure and a water quality laboratory will be made. Resource management case studies will be presented related to the nearby landfill (Mount Trashmore), Turkey Point Power Plant, Homestead Airforce Base, Stiltsville, a lobster sanctuary, natural and artificial reefs, the North American Crocodile, and the Schaus Swallowtail.

For more information and to register on line-- http://www.mdc.edu/ctd/catalog/workshops/ctd0486.htm