Maurizio also visited The Florida Aquarium’s Coral Conservation & Research Center in Apollo Beach, FL where the DEP CPR Program has made significant investments. Although the Aquarium team was hard at work on coral spawning, they took the time to show Maurizio around their facilities, in which they are propagating and rearing thousands of priority corals for reef restoration.

The Garden Club of Verona Walk (a very large Naples community) recently visited the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center, where they were welcomed by Verona Walk resident and longtime Rookery Bay volunteer Jeanne. A dedicated member of the Reserve’s volunteer team, Jeanne has contributed more than 2,000 hours of service. She has led countless groups through the center and helped visitors of all ages connect with the coastal environment.

This month Rosie Joy, a very cute BARK Ranger, came to the IRLAP office to pick up her swag! She enjoys traveling the country collecting BARK Ranger tags. To date, IRLAP has recruited 57 new Rangers to help spread the word: Bag your pet’s waste, Always leash your pet, Respect wildlife and Know where you can go.

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.

The new “fall” instead of “spring” cleaning trend sweeping the nation has caught on at Rookery Bay this month. The Environmental Learning Center is closed while staff undertake many maintenance and cleaning projects. This includes organizing closets of outreach materials, buffing floors, power washing, weeding, steam cleaning and dusting the 20 ft. tall mangrove.

On Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, GTM Research Reserve attended the Cub Scout Pack 277 “Back to Pack” event, held at Christ Church in Ponte Vedra Beach. The purpose of the event was to get Cub Scouts excited about scouting in the upcoming year. Outreach Specialist Kristine Seager introduced the group to Princess Diana, a diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) turtle, one of the reserve’s animal ambassadors.

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Beach Debris! Fishy Fashions and the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve is pleased to announce a special installation in our nature center. Fishy Fashions are marvelously inventive costumes made from flotsam and jetsam and assorted beach debris. This exhibition will begin with a kick-off event, “Fishy Fashion Show,” on Tuesday September 30th at 5:30PM.

We here at the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve (SJBSBP) always enjoy it when researchers come to visit and share their expertise with us on a variety of incredibly interesting subjects. This past week we had the honor of hosting a USGS team that was researching alligator snapping turtles near SJBSBP property.

The GTM Research Reserve (GTMNERR) has launched a new volunteer program. GTM’s Margaret A. Davidson Fellow Meredith Pratt is training volunteers for a new long-term fisheries monitoring program and leading them through their first sampling protocol. The first training session began with a brief presentation about the importance of fisheries monitoring and information on how to sample monthly.

Rookery Bay Research Reserve recently hosted a Wildlife Interaction Workshop, organized by the Coastal Training and Engagement sector, as part of an ongoing series designed to educate environmental professionals who work outdoors in the field and interested community members about Florida’s native and nonnative wildlife.