Contacts: Tony Peck
Company Name: Peck Media
Telephone Number: 818-342-2449
Email Address: PeckMedia@socal.rr.com
Web site address: www.missionscience.comDOCTOR OF SCIENCE PEDALS HOMEMADE RAFT FROM MINNESOTA
TO THE GULF OF MEXICO
MISSISSIPPI RIVER– Pedaling a homemade paddle boat that he built completely from recycled materials, Dr. Marcus Eriksen will float down the entire 2,500 miles of the Mississippi River in the name of environmental science. This watery expedition will begin on August 17, 2003 and be completed by the end of the year.
Eriksen’s boat, the "Recycled River Rover," is fashioned from old bicycles, lawnmower tires and 232 two-liter soda bottles lashed into pontoons. Eriksen will perch on top of the whole shebang on a junkyard car seat that actually still reclines!
This former marine and Gulf war veteran will live, eat and sleep on his experimental raft. But most of the time, he will be pedaling furiously to avoid tow wakes, thunderstorms and hostile mosquitoes.
With his doctorate in science education from the University of Southern California, Eriksen hopes to study the environmental effect of wetland erosion, toxic pollution and illegal trash dumping along the "Big Muddy." As a veteran enrichment educator who has taught over 150 thousand school-age children, Eriksen also hopes to inspire kids to learn more about our nation's geography and national resources.
Eriksen, 36, says that this undertaking "is an amazing opportunity to explore environmental problems and management issues involved with this great American resource."
In addition, Eriksen has chosen 2003 as the year to make his historic trip in order to coincide with the Bicentennial Celebration of what is arguably the greatest real estate deal in U.S. history: the Louisiana Purchase.
" My hometown is New Orleans," Eriksen said. "The Louisiana Purchase is an important part of my heritage, and my trip will give me a feel for what it was like to explore the Mississippi as it was done 200 years ago."
Eriksen will be filmed during his trip as part of an exciting new video series called "Mission: Science." The "River Rover" video is the second in a series of science education videos made with Eriksen by Peck Media.
Eriksen's interest in scientific discovery has been a lifelong pursuit. He has spent the last 10 summers working as a paleontologist in the badlands of Wyoming. Each year educators and students make the sojourn to Wyoming to help Dr. Eriksen dig up dinosaurs.
