Wish you could get educational material on exotic species as easily as ordering a hamburger at a drive-through window? Great Lakes coastal resource managers say a CD-ROM they produced on aquatic nuisance species is the information equivalent of fast food.
"This is a great new CD that serves up on a platter a number of PowerPoint presentations that anyone can use," says Doug Jensen, coordinator of the University of Minnesota Sea Grant College Program's Exotic Species Information Center.
In addition to the seven ready-to-serve presentations on harmful exotic species impacts and controls, the "Exotics To Go!" menu dishes up 22 publications in Portable Document Format, or PDF, and offers lists of national and regional experts to contact for more information on exotic species across the country.
Jensen points out that the scripts, images, slides, and talking points on the CD, created by the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network, can easily be adapted for a variety of exotic species in other regions. "The beauty of it is that you can keep images that you want to talk about and insert images of species or topics that are a concern in your area."
In other words, Jensen says, "you can order off the regular menu and serve it up as it is, or order off the special menu and create something to suit your taste."
To ensure consistency between the presentations, exotic species experts from around the region followed a single set of guidelines, or recipe. All the materials on the CD, which took about a year to develop, were peer reviewed to ensure quality, Jensen says. The group also developed the "fast food" marketing strategy and is keeping track of where the CDs have been distributed.
Patrons of the CD include coastal managers, aquatic nuisance species specialists, teachers, lake associations, and staff of natural resource agencies, cooperative extensions, and soil conservation districts, who are using the presentations to reach recreational water users, says Pat Charlebois, biological resources specialist with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant.
"Recreational water users...have been implicated as a pathway for the introduction and spread of exotic species," explains Charlebois. "We wanted to get down to the end user of this and make it as understandable to the general populace as possible."
The number of cooks working on the CD, Jensen says, improved the final product. "Everybody can benefit by working together on such a resource. You avoid duplication of effort, and it saves everyone time and resources."
"I think this is a good model," says Charlebois. "While it's not a new idea, it's giving managers the tools they need to educate other people. Public education is the key to preventing aquatic nuisance species."
The "Exotics To Go!" CD can be ordered from Minnesota Sea Grant for $2.50 plus tax by pointing your browser to www.seagrant.umn.edu/exotics/exoticstogo.html, calling (218) 726-6191, or e-mailing seagr@d.umn.edu. It may also be ordered from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant by going to www.iisgcp.org/pubs/br/cd.htm or calling (847) 872-8677. For more information on the creation of the CD, contact Pat Charlebois at (847) 872-0140, or charlebo@uiuc.edu, or Doug Jensen at (218) 726-8712, or djensen1@d.umn.edu.
