Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program Bug Nights—Learn about river ecology and train to monitor the health of the Upper Merrimack River. Since 1995, hundreds of volunteers have worked with the Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program to monitor water quality through field chemistry, E. coli testing, habitat assessments and biomonitoring with benthic macroinvertebrates. Free training classes will be held Wednesday, 6 p.m., April 6, March 23 and April 20 at Saint Paul’s School in Concord, NH. For information phone Michele Tremblay or Steve Landry at 603.796.2615, or visit www.merrimackriver.org,

Stellwagen Bank Lecture Series—The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary are currently offering a lecture series titled, Ocean Treasure: The Natural and Cultural Resources of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. through May 14 at the museum in Brewster, MA. The course is designed for grade five to 12 educators, nature enthusiasts, scientists and others and will feature specialists presenting cutting-edge research. For more information access www.ccmnh.org/OceanTreasureCCMNH.pdf.

The 16th Global Warming International Conference is scheduled for April 19 to 21 in New York City. Sessions include: global warming science and policy; extreme events and impacts assessment; NAO and El Niño; global warming and the oceans; greenhouse gas and ecosystems; water resources management; sustainable environment and health for the 21st century; remote sensing and global surveillance; clean energy technology; and global change and sustainable development.
Details are at www.globalwarming.net/.

The International Conference on the Governance of High Seas Fisheries and the UN Fish Agreement – Moving from Words to Action will be held May 1 to 5, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Intergovernmental representatives from over 70 nations are expected to attend. The conference will provide an opportunity for the international community to join Canada in determining how management of high seas fisheries can be improved and identify what steps need to be taken to ensure the immediate protection and rebuilding of fish stocks in the years to come. Conference participants will undertake an in-depth examination of modern tools to manage high seas fisheries, in particular those found in the United Nations Fish Agreement of 1995, and determine practical ways of applying these tools to better manage global fisheries. For information go to www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/home-accueil_e.htm.

The 8th International Conference on Remote Sensing for Marine and Coastal Environments is scheduled for 17 to 19 May at the Casino Nova Scotia Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia.. The Conference will focus on integrating remote sensing and in situ data, local and regional models and non-spatial data for marine and freshwater coastal assessments and resource management. It will bring together internationally recognized technologists and users from government, industry and academia to address the gap of “bridging the research to marine and coastal operations.” For information go to: www.waterobserver.org.

 © 2005 The Gulf of Maine Times