MERS Marine Education and Research Society

### Context Profile for MERS Marine Education and Research Society

1. **Organization Mission & Cause**:
   - **Mission**: The MERS Marine Education and Research Society is dedicated to marine conservation through education, research, and response efforts. Their primary focus is on the study and protection of marine wildlife, particularly whales, and their habitats.
   - **Cause**: MERS aims to foster a deeper understanding of marine ecosystems and promote sustainable practices to protect these vital resources.

2. **Type of Activities**:
   - **Wildlife Watching Trips**: MERS organizes excursions, such as the "MERS Fundraising Trip 2025 - Port McNeill," where participants can observe marine wildlife, particularly Humpback Whales, while learning about ongoing research efforts.
   - **Educational Programs**: They provide educational resources and experiences aimed at increasing public awareness and understanding of marine life.
   - **Research Initiatives**: MERS conducts scientific research to monitor and protect marine species and their habitats.

3. **Tone of Voice**:
   - The tone of the website and communications is **friendly**, **informative**, and **inspiring**. It aims to engage the audience with a sense of excitement about marine life and conservation efforts. The language is accessible, aiming to connect with a broad audience, from casual participants to serious supporters.

4. **Emoji Usage**:
   - The website and communications do not prominently feature emojis. The tone remains professional and straightforward, focusing on clear communication about events and initiatives without the use of informal symbols.

5. **Key Facts**:
   - **Founding Info**: Specific founding details are not provided on the website, but MERS has established itself as a key player in marine education and research.
   - **Scale**: MERS has a total of 13 forms and 13 email campaigns, indicating an active engagement with their community.
   - **Impact Metrics**: While specific metrics are not detailed, the organization highlights the importance of funds raised for their education and research work.
   - **Volunteer Info**: Information on volunteer opportunities is not explicitly stated, but the organization likely engages volunteers in their events and research activities.

6. **Writing Guidelines**:
   - **Style**: Use a friendly and engaging tone that invites participation and conveys enthusiasm for marine conservation.
   - **Structure**: Keep content clear and organized, using headings and bullet points where appropriate to enhance readability.
   - **Call to Action**: Include strong calls to action that encourage readers to participate in events, donate, or learn more about marine conservation.
   - **Personalization**: Use personalized greetings in communications (e.g., addressing recipients by name) to foster a connection with the audience.

This context profile serves as a foundational guide for creating tailored content that aligns with MERS Marine Education and Research Society's mission, activities, and communication style.

LXCL:This event is free; if you would like to provide a donation to help the work of the Marine Education and Research Society, the support would be deeply valued. Donations can be added below.

Webinar Registration - The Plight of Grey Whales

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1778726397/wysiwyg/mto1g7uqilj9pin4hjl9.jpg" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 100%; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.25px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" id="isPasted" fr-original-style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 100%; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.25px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"> Thank you so much for your interest in the well-being of Grey Whales, and the concerns about the number found dead and emaciated, and the increased risk of collision.&nbsp; Hosts will be Caitlin Birdsall and Jackie Hildering from the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), and we are very grateful that the following speakers will share their expertise:&nbsp; John Calambokidis is the senior Research Biologist and founder of the <a fr-original-style="" href="https://cascadiaresearch.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">Cascadia Research Collective</a>. Cascadia&#39;s work includes conducting necropsies on the Grey Whales found dead in Washington State. Please see below for more details about John&#39;s background. He will share an overview of Cascadia&#39;s Grey Whale research and findings from the necropsies.&nbsp; Wendy Szaniszlo conducts Grey Whale research with Fisheries and Oceans Canada&#39;s (DFO) Cetacean Research Program. She has been involved in Grey Whale studies for 20 years in collaboration with other government agencies, universities, and research groups. Wendy will provide an overview of the work DFO is conducting on Grey Whale conservation in British Columbia. Mark Sawyer and Ashley Hoyland are based on southwest Vancouver Island, B.C., and work with the community there to catalogue Humpbacks and Grey Whales as &quot;<a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.whalescb.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">Whales of Clayoquot and Barkley</a>&quot;. They are MERS Research Associates and will speak about their photogrammetry research to assess the body condition of Grey Whales.&nbsp; <span fr-original-style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;;color:rgb(5,5,5);font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-style:normal;" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; display: inline !important; box-sizing: inherit;"><span fr-original-style="color:rgb(5,5,5);font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-style:normal;" style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; box-sizing: inherit;"> <span fr-original-style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important; box-sizing: inherit;">The webinar will be ~1.25 hours, followed by ~15 minutes for questions. <span fr-original-style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; font-size: 24px;" style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; font-size: 24px; box-sizing: inherit;">Please be sure to register.&nbsp; <span fr-original-style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;;color:rgb(5,5,5);font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-style:normal;" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; display: inline !important; box-sizing: inherit;"><span fr-original-style="color:rgb(5,5,5);font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-style:normal;" style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; box-sizing: inherit;"><span fr-original-style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important; box-sizing: inherit;">______________________________ <span fr-original-style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;;color:rgb(5,5,5);font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-style:normal;" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; display: inline !important; box-sizing: inherit;"><span fr-original-style="color:rgb(5,5,5);font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-style:normal;" style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; box-sizing: inherit;"><span fr-original-style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important; box-sizing: inherit;"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1778782790/wysiwyg/iicc92z3g8sbs8zw1a6g.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"> <span fr-original-style="color:rgb(5,5,5);font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-style:normal;" style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-variant-ligatures: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; box-sizing: inherit;"> John Calambokidis is a Senior Research Biologist and founder in 1979 of Cascadia Research Collective, a non-profit organization based in Olympia, Washington. His primary work focuses on abundance, trends, and movements of blue, humpback, and gray whales and the impacts of human activities including ship strikes, entanglement, and underwater sound. He authored two books as well more than 200 publications in journals. He served as a Director or PI for hundreds of projects such as the SPLASH Pacific-wide study of humpback whales and studies on the impact of sonar. His work has been covered on shows by National Geographic, Discovery Channel, BBC, and others. He has received awards from the American Cetacean Society (Lifetime Achievement in Marine Mammal Science in 2012), the Wildlife Society Washington Chapter (Lifetime Leadership in Conservation 2019), Evergreen State College (Distinguished Alumni of 2025) and the Olympia Rotary Club (Environmental Protection 2018).&nbsp;

Hello <span contenteditable="false" data-custom-variable="{{firstname}}" fr-original-class="fr-deletable styled-tag-chip " fr-original-style="" style="color: rgb(42, 42, 196); overflow-wrap: anywhere; user-select: none; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(191, 191, 255); border-radius: 4px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 8px; font-size: 11px; display: inline-block; box-sizing: inherit;">First name , Thank you very much for registering for&nbsp;The Plight of Grey Whales - a wake-up call.&nbsp; The webinar is on May 27th at 7 pm PDT.&nbsp; Please access the webinar via this link <a fr-original-style="" href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86406250312" rel="noopener noreferrer noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86406250312</a> With best wishes,&nbsp; The hosts and presenters of the event&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1740606966/iis4hwtsuptivhj0rhib.jpg" style="width: 151px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto 5px 0px; text-align: left; position: relative; max-width: 100%; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 151px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto 5px 0px; text-align: left; position: relative; max-width: 100%; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"> -

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1778726397/wysiwyg/mto1g7uqilj9pin4hjl9.jpg" style="box-sizing:inherit;cursor:pointer;padding:0px 1px;user-select:none;position:relative;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0.25px;orphans:2;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;width:600px;display:block;vertical-align:top;margin:5px auto;text-align:center;max-width:100%" /> Thank you so much for your interest in the well-being of Grey Whales, and the concerns about the number found dead and emaciated, and the increased risk of collision.  Hosts will be Caitlin Birdsall and Jackie Hildering from the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), and we are very grateful that the following speakers will share their expertise:  John Calambokidis is the senior Research Biologist and founder of the <a href="https://cascadiaresearch.org/" target="_blank">Cascadia Research Collective</a>. Cascadia's work includes conducting necropsies on the Grey Whales found dead in Washington State. Please see below for more details about John's background. He will share an overview of Cascadia's Grey Whale research and findings from the necropsies.  Wendy Szaniszlo conducts Grey Whale research with Fisheries and Oceans Canada's (DFO) Cetacean Research Program. She has been involved in Grey Whale studies for 20 years in collaboration with other government agencies, universities, and research groups. Wendy will provide an overview of the work DFO is conducting on Grey Whale conservation in British Columbia. Mark Sawyer and Ashley Hoyland are based on southwest Vancouver Island, B.C., and work with the community there to catalogue Humpbacks and Grey Whales as "<a href="https://www.whalescb.com/" target="_blank">Whales of Clayoquot and Barkley</a>". They are MERS Research Associates and will speak about their photogrammetry research to assess the body condition of Grey Whales.  The webinar will be ~1.25 hours, followed by ~15 minutes for questions. Please be sure to register.  ______________________________ <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1778782790/wysiwyg/iicc92z3g8sbs8zw1a6g.jpg" style="width:600px;display:block;vertical-align:top;margin:5px auto;text-align:center;max-width:100%" /> John Calambokidis is a Senior Research Biologist and founder in 1979 of Cascadia Research Collective, a non-profit organization based in Olympia, Washington. His primary work focuses on abundance, trends, and movements of blue, humpback, and gray whales and the impacts of human activities including ship strikes, entanglement, and underwater sound. He authored two books as well more than 200 publications in journals. He served as a Director or PI for hundreds of projects such as the SPLASH Pacific-wide study of humpback whales and studies on the impact of sonar. His work has been covered on shows by National Geographic, Discovery Channel, BBC, and others. He has received awards from the American Cetacean Society (Lifetime Achievement in Marine Mammal Science in 2012), the Wildlife Society Washington Chapter (Lifetime Leadership in Conservation 2019), Evergreen State College (Distinguished Alumni of 2025) and the Olympia Rotary Club (Environmental Protection 2018).

MERS Marine Education and Research Society

Webinar: The Plight of Grey Whales - a wake-up call

Online - Zoom

Webinar Registration - The Plight of Grey Whales

Free

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