DIVE FOR FREE AS A CRF™ VOLUNTEER
Are you SCUBA certified with 30 logged dives? Are you going to be in South Florida for 3 or more weeks? Are you 18 or over? Have you serviced all of your dive gear in the last year? Is your First Aid, CPR, O2, and DAN insurance up to date? Then you are ready to become a CRF™ volunteer and dive for FREE with our team!
CRF™ Volunteers head out for a day of training in one of our Coral Tree™ Nurseries! ©Coral Restoration Foundation™
As a volunteer with Coral Restoration Foundation™, you have the chance to play an active role in the world's largest reef restoration effort. Volunteers are an integral part of what we do, supporting every aspect of our work, on land and at sea.
Our volunteers are a critical part of our team at Coral Restoration Foundation™, so we are always excited to welcome new team members. We offer both land-based and SCUBA diving volunteer opportunities. Our SCUBA diving volunteer opportunities often attract a lot of attention, and we get it! Who wouldn't want to dive for free and help save coral reefs!? As an open water diver (with at least 30 dives under your belt), you could help with nursery work, outplanting corals on the reef, or monitoring the health of previously outplanted corals. We provide structured training for in-water volunteers so that you can develop the skills you need, step by step.
CRF™ Volunteers learn to propagate coral in our open-ocean nurseries and outlplant them on the reef! ©Coral Restoration Foundation™
Our SCUBA diving volunteer program also supports the local diving economy. CRF™ pays locals dive shops for private charters which allow us to train our volunteers and get them into our nurseries and out to the reef at no-cost to them!
CRF™ Volunteers head out with local dive charter, Horizon Divers, for a day of coral conservation! ©Coral Restoration Foundation™
If SCUBA diving is not in the cards for you we also offer land-based volunteer opportunities! As a land based volunteer you would help us out at our warehouse in Tavernier and Exploration Center in Key Largo. This could be anything from helping to build Coral Trees™ to providing educational presentations and tours to the public. Every volunteer adds incredible value to our mission and we can't wait to bring you onboard!
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Head to our website today to become a volunteer today! https://www.coralrestoration.org/volunteering
DIVE PROGRAMS IN FULL SWING FOR SUMMER
When you only have time for a single day on the water but you want to make an impact and give back to our oceans, CRF™ recreational Dive and Snorkel Programs are the best option for you and this summer is PACKED with opportunity!
From May to September we have 26 scheduled recreational Dive and Snorkel Programs thats more than one a week! So head over to our schedule and find the date that works for you, call the dive shop through which the program is being run and get your spot reserved! Remember CRF™ does not book these programs the dive shops do and CRF™ lends our staff to the shop for the day to educate, train, and lead participants!
A NEW DIVE PROGRAM INTERN
Every 4 months our internship programs welcomes new coral conservation and reef restoration interns through our doors. We also see some familiar faces graduate to a new internship level. Program Interns are the third and highest level of our internship. They apply for positions within specific departments at CRF™ after having completed 8 months or more of the CRF™ internship program. This month we are excited to announce our new
Dive Program Intern, Julian!
Julian hails from New York City, but spent time every winter with his grandmother on Sanibel Island, FL observing the devastating effects of the annual "red tide" aka harmful algal bloom—it was here that his interest in ocean conservation began. After two stints at “Whale Camp,” in Canada’s Bay of Fundy and a summer research internship studying oyster genetics in Southern Jersey, Julian has developed a passionate commitment to studying marine fauna and promoting wildlife conservation. A recent graduate of Rutgers University with a BS in Marine Science and a minor in Fisheries Science, Julian has spent a lot of time under water acquiring his PADI Divemaster and AAUS Scientific Diver certifications and 5 specialties. During his semester abroad at the Center for Marine Resource Studies in the Turks and Caicos Islands, he conducted field research on the health of marine fauna relative to nearby MPAs. As he collected data on the abundance and distribution of Nassau Groupers and the bleaching of coral reefs, he saw firsthand the ongoing degradation of coral reefs. Julian is excited to continue with CRF™ as the Dive Program Intern and contribute to ongoing efforts to conserve our reefs!
"Diving In" Editorial Intern
Madeline (she/her) was born in Tucson, Arizona but found her passion for the ocean in the
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia when she discovered an abandoned crab pot inhabited with seahorses. She continued to follow her passion and received her open water certification at age 15. She did not stop there! She is now a recent graduate of Coastal Carolina University with a bachelors in Marine Science and has her Rescue Diver Certification. Madeline is very excited to be a part of the CRF team to help with the coral restoration process and make a difference for the coral reefs everyone knows and loves.
Coral Chronicles Editor
Madalen Howard (she/her) is CRF's Marketing Associate. Madalen comes to CRF™ via a winding road from the Tennessee hills, to the South Carolina low country, ending here in Florida’s Coral Reef. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Marine Biology and a Minor in Environmental Studies from the College of Charleston in 2016. Her experience ranges from field research to education, and communications.
Madalen spent the last 4 years as a Field Instructor and Social Media Strategist for MarineLab Environmental Education Center. Here she was able to study and teach marine ecology, while snorkeling through mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs every day. While at MarineLab she combined her education and research background, entered the world of communications, and developed MarineLab’s social media department from the ground up.
Throughout her life Madalen has had a skill connecting people with nature. With CRF™, she is excited to bring people into the world of coral restoration, creating inclusive pathways to scientific discovery.