Registration has just opened for Rookery Bay Research Reserve’s popular Student Institute for Marine Science Camp (SIMS). Now in its 20th year, SIMS gives students entering grades 7–10 the chance to explore Southwest Florida’s coastal habitats alongside real biologists from Rookery Bay.  

Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve's (GTMNERR) education team is gearing up for Adventures in the Estuary summer camp with early registration open to Friends of GTM Research Reserve members. This hands-on camp runs June 1–June 26, 2026, for ages 6 to 12 and offers sessions from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. (8 a.m.–2 p.m. on Friday), Monday-Friday. On July 13–July 17, 2026, STEAM Camp will be held for children ages 12 to 15.

Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve hosted a seining event with the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) in St. Augustine. Education Coordinator Josephine Spearman led a group of visiting summer campers from FSDB to pull a seine net through Guana Lake collecting species of fish, crabs and other organisms. The visiting campers finished the day with a tour of the reserve’s Visitor Center.

Staff at the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve had the opportunity to welcome a summer camp this past Wednesday! The art camp, hosted by the nonprofit Joe Center for the Arts, visited the Buffer Preserve to work on creating masterpieces that combined nature with printmaking and sketching. Students arrived early in the morning and began a drawing assignment to get them thinking about what they might discover at the Buffer Preserve.