A Franklin/Gulf County affiliation of home school students recently joined us to study oysters and other animals in the estuarine habitat. Even the youngest students are able to draw, and so it was easy to see evidence that they could understand why oysters are a keystone species.

This month was the first time that third graders from Franklin County Schools created vertical oyster gardens (VOGs) as part of their annual field trip that focuses on oysters as a keystone species in our bay. These oyster gardens were created with the help of Oyster Corps and their representatives.

Indian River Lagoon Aquatic Preserve (IRLAP) staff, under the direction of Emily Surmont, conducted biobox monitoring in the Indian River Lagoon as part of an on-going collaborative research project with the University of Florida, Florida Oceanographic Society and Smithsonian Marine Institute.