Northeast District DEP Day at GTM

On Oct. 29, 2025, GTMNERR (GTM Research Reserve) and Guana River Marsh Aquatic Preserve hosted about 70 staff from the DEP Northeast District as part of their team building event. In the morning, GTM staff led activities and tours representing the work being done at the reserve — a water quality demonstration at Guana Dam, a turbid vision game (explaining how water clarity impacts animals in the ecosystem) and an animal “meet and greet.” In addition, a tour was given of the 21,000 square-foot Visitor Center’s research lab, a reptile room with exhibits of snakes and alligators, an exhibit hall filled with an overhead life-size North Atlantic right whale and other sea creatures, a diorama of life-size estuarine species, and freshwater and saltwater aquariums that include a tank of diamondback terrapin turtles (Malaclemys terrapin). In the afternoon, the Northeast District conducted their own team building session.