The Bureau of Land Management's Coos Bay District in Oregon uses the New River Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) located south of Bandon, Oregon, as an outdoor classroom for local schools. To support that on-the-ground program, the District recently announced completion of its New River ACEC web page (http://www.or.blm.gov/coosbay/newriver ), which can be used by teachers and students both before and after an ACEC field trip to enhance and build on the experience. For instance, many student field trips involve identification of birds by their calls; through the web page, students can listen to recordings of the actual calls of New River birds prior to their trip to the site.

Amazingly, production of the website was accomplished not by a contracted web development company, but by a local high school student. Amanda Larsen, a junior at North Bend High School in North Bend, Oregon, worked on the project for eight weeks in the summer of 1999 under the "Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering (ASE)" Program, part of the "Saturday Academy" hosted by the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology in Beaverton, Oregon.

The ASE program was initiated in 1990 to address growing public concern over the projected size, quality, and cultural/gender diversity of our nation's future technical workforce. The program has grown from 30 student apprentices in its first year to 202 students in the summer 1998 program. Over this same period, the number of mentoring companies and agencies has grown to 77. In its ten-year history, the program has provided each of more than 1,500 students with a hands-on, eight-week apprenticeship with practicing professionals in science and/or engineering disciplines. These 1,500+ students were drawn from a pool of over 6,600 applicants from Oregon and southwestern Washington.

As part of the ASE Program, 1999 participants, including Amanda, gathered for a Mid-Summer Conference at Portland State University; the conference featured seminars led by scientists and engineers who described their work, answered student questions, and engaged the students in hands-on workshops. A workshop format was also used to teach students how to give poster and oral presentations. The conference concluded with a college "fair" for students and parents.

At the end of the summer, Amanda also attended the ASE Symposium at Portland State, which featured student poster and oral presentations, bringing students together from around the state. Mentors, friends of the program, parents, and teachers were invited to attend the symposium, where Amanda presented her New River website work through a poster demonstration and a 12-minute oral presentation at an all-day public forum.

Poster presentations were part of the ASE Mid-Summer Conference college fair held at Portland State University.

At the end-of-summer ASE Symposium, Amanda presented the New River ACEC Web page she created for BLM during her eight-week apprenticeship.

For further information, please contact Alan Hoffmeister at BLM-Coos Bay District, 1300 Airport Lane, North Bend, Oregon 97459, Telephone (541) 751-4249, e-mail Alan_Hoffmeister@blm.gov .

Please also visit the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology ASE Program website at http://www.ogi.edu/satacad/ase .

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