Community Notes 03-30-2011

1. Speaker: Premier Oceanographer Sylvia Earle. Sylvia Earle will be speaking as part of The Progressive Forum on April 5th at 7:30 at the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater. Dr. Sylvia Earle is widely acclaimed as the most important advocate for research and protection of the world’s seas. Her presentation is titled Program: Sustainable Seas: The Vision and the Reality. To purchase tickets, visit http://www.progressiveforumhouston.org/.
2. New Houston Volunteer Opportunities Website. On March 28, a new New Houston Volunteer Opportunities Website will be launched. Visit http://www.houstonservice.org/#s to post volunteer opportunities before Monday, to be included in the initial site launch. The website is designed to encourage all Houstonians to volunteer and help our city, and one another while enhancing the existing good work being done by Houston’s nonprofit sector.
3. Green Our Lives Volunteer Day. The Great Plains Restoration Council is hosting a volunteer event on Saturday, April 2, 2011, at Esteban Park. Esteban Park is a brand new refuge for urban Houston — part organic farm, part coastal prairie restoration preserve. AIn partnership with Katy Prairie Conservancy and the Harris County Attorney’s Office, Restoration Not Incarceration will restore several thousand acres of native coastal prairie while providing special rehabilitative work opportunities to temporarily incarcerated individuals. More information at www.gprc.org or 832-598-GPRC.
4. Sea Turtles and the Quest to Nest. This online game developed by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Ocean Service, is designed to help students understand how they can help protect turtles and their habitat. The game takes place in the southeastern United States. Students are introduced to all of the people and animals that play a role in the life of loggerhead turtles. More at http://games.noaa.gov/seaturtle/welcome.html.