Karen Grady to take part in NOAA Teacher at Sea Program

Pea Ridge alum, Karen (Light) Grady, has been accepted into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Teacher at Sea program. She is the Gifted and Talented facilitator for the Lavaca School district.

Grady is one of the 31 educators selected from 280 applicants for the 2017 season.

Grady, the daughter of Otis and Fayrene (Light) Jones, graduated from PRHS in 1989.

This program provides teachers with handson experience through research projects pertaining to the science of earth systems, working directly with NOAA scientists. Grady has been assigned to the research ship Oregon II where she will spend 15 days working to help maintain the sailing vessel and conduct various projects pertaining to a long line survey of sharks and reef fish. The ship will sail out of Pascagoula, Miss., and spend its time in the Gulf of Mexico.

Since it began in 1990, NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program has placed over 700 educators on research vessels enabling them to gain first-hand experience of research at sea. Grady will be maintaining a personal blog at missionmysharkselfie.com, posting to her facebook page when she can, and posting on the NOAA blog while at sea. To learn more about this program and follow Grady’s adventures, visit http://teacheratsea. noaa.gov/. After the trip Grady plans to put together a presentation to share with schools and organizations that would like to hear about her adventures at sea.