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CORVALLIS - Oceanographers from Oregon State University are partnering with several other organizations on a year-long project to boost adult education in Oregon and introduce marine sciences into the curriculum offered in adult basic education programs held at community colleges and elsewhere.

The OSU College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences will launch the project this Sept. 8-11 with the first of three professional development workshops that will be held on campus and at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.

The initiative is called "The Ocean Science and Math Collaborative Project."

"This is a collaborative project designed to integrate ocean sciences into the science, math and critical thinking curriculum of Oregon adult education," said OSU professor Marta Torres, a co-director of the project. "We hope to expand it on a regional basis next year taking advantage of Oregon's involvement in an adult education consortium that includes several other states."

OSU will initially work with 15 adult basic education instructors from Oregon community colleges. They represent diverse instructional programs, including workplace training, workplace education, adult education, GED preparation, English to speakers of other languages, family literacy and tribal education. The instructors will work with the OSU scientists and partners to develop new tools for incorporating ocean sciences into their curriculum - and making it relevant to adult learners.

"Ultimately, the instructors will be the ones delivering the message to the adult learners," said Robert Collier, an OSU professor and co-director of the project. "These learners may be people who left school early and are seeking GEDs, they may be working adults looking for more education as an avenue to change careers, or they may be recent retirees or other adults who are simply looking for a challenge.

"Adult learners have different needs than K-12," Collier added. "The information has to be age-neutral, yet interesting in a real-world sort of way."

OSU has one of the top oceanography programs in the country and elements of the university's marine science research will provide some of those "real world" examples, he said.

Partnering with OSU's College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences are the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development; the OSU-based Oregon Sea Grant program; the Western Center for Community College Development; OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center; and the National Institute for Literacy.