BECOMING ENCHANTED (WITH CORALS)!
Coral Restoration Foundation had the pleasure of participating in the 4Ocean Village at Enchanted Forest this month in North Miami! Thanks to 4Ocean, fellow nonprofits and organizations from south Florida were able to educate and inspire people about conservation and the importance of the environment. CRFâ„¢ interns were able to discuss the history of corals and their unfortunate decline throughout the Florida Keys Reef Tract and how CRFâ„¢ is helping to restore the reefs in our backyard. Attendees were invited to write intentions of how they can increase their positive impact on the environment and coral reef habitats on a coral cut out and hang it on one of our Coral Trees!
After these educational and hands-on activities, lead intern, Samantha Simpson, joined the "So You Want to be a Marine Biologist" panel organized by 4Ocean. She described how seeing the reefs increasingly bleach every year while growing up in Florida has inspired her to become a marine scientist and enthusiastically answered more questions about what it takes to become a marine biologist!
We hope that with outreach efforts like these and collaborating with fellow non-profit conservation organizations, communities will better understand their impacts on the environment, how they can change their actions, and further educate and inspire others on the wonders of the natural world of South Florida!
SCOUTING THE REEFS!
Our last excursion with The Girl Scouts of South Florida was an incredible day filled with exploring mangrove forests and discussing the importance of healthy coastal ecosystems to those living in coastal areas and even those in landlocked environments. This month, we had the pleasure of welcoming the Girl Scouts of South Florida to get in the water and snorkel the reefs off of Key Largo at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park!
Interns Olivia and Sabine were joined by twenty Girl Scouts and their parents from around South Florida. Thankfully, the weather cooperated with us and we had the opportunity to snorkel at the Christ of Abyss and explored the corals and creatures residing there. During this snorkel program, the scouts learned more about the issues facing the Florida Keys Reef Tract, as well as observed some older and natural staghorn and elkhorn colonies! These bright young students were very enthusiastic to get their feet wet and their passion and interest shined through the snorkel. We cannot wait to see what these young conservationists do in the future!
WELCOME FALL INTERNS!
The CRFâ„¢ Education department has just begun the Fall 2019 semester this week and with that we're welcoming our new interns! We have nine incoming interns, each of them hailing from a different state from California to New Jersey with various educational backgrounds including environmental sustainability, psychology, and english majors. We are all extremely excited for them to join the CRFâ„¢ team and to support their ambitions and goals to save our reefs! With our new fellows, we are proud to announce that CRFâ„¢ now hosts a total of 16 interns! They have just begun training, below you can see them getting familiar with some of the restoration tasks we do everyday!
Take a moment to learn about some of the returning and new talents on the block by checking out our internship discovery page!
"Heads Up" Editorial Intern
Melissa was raised on a farm in the countryside of Germany and grew to love all animals from an early age. She became SCUBA certified at 16 years old and took a field course in coral reef biology based in the British Virgin Islands during college. After these experiences, she soon became fascinated with a less conventionally yet loveable animal- corals. She became a CRFâ„¢ intern in the summer of 2018, and is back as the Broward County Intern after a break to finish her BS. in Marine Biology at the College of Charleston. Melissa hopes to not only make an impact on coral reefs via hands on restoration, but also by educating the public about the stressors facing corals and our planet.