Starting more than a year ago, I was invited to speak at the ATA Science Teacher's Conference and at a series of ATA Teacher's Conventions. I knew then that a topic that may be of intense interest in the coming year would be the Pine Beetle Epidemic. I wrote a blog some time ago called "Studying the Mountain Pine Beetle: An Idea for a Cross Curricular Project". Through the feedback that I received, I decided a useful presentation for teachers would include some information to allow the teachers to have a sort of 'primer' on all aspects of the Pine Beetle. Furthermore, I suggested this was a good topic for teachers wanting to use a real world problem and an inquiry approach to learning.

As it turns out, Genome Alberta in conjunction with Genome British Columbia plus other partners, a major research initiative has now been undertaken. This is the subject of my colleague Mike's recent blog posting. February and March are the months for teacher's conventions, and I will be at a number of the conventions as indicated in the table below.

Convention	Date	Location
CATCA	Feb 7	Red Deer
CCTCA	Feb 14	Calgary
SWATCA	Feb 21	Lethbridge
GETCA	Feb 29	Edmonton
CETCA	March 7	Edmonton

The presentation is already available for download.  Take a look in advance if you wish, then come to my session at your local ATA Teacher's convention with lots of comments and questions so that we can make this an important part of student learning. If I am not presenting in your area, feel free to contact me at  gward@genomealberta.ca It may be possible to book me for a presentation in your area.