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The Florida Aquarium Receives over $161,000 to Expand Environmental Literacy

Release Date: 09/16/2014
Contact Information: Danielle Jackson, (404) 562-9182 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main), [email protected]

Stennis Space Center, MS – The Gulf of Mexico Program recently announced that the Florida Aquarium will receive over $161,000 cooperative agreement for the project “Watershed Investigations: Engaging Underserved Youth in Exploring Climate Change in Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.” Debbi Stone, Vice President of Education of Florida Aquarium, will provide the leadership for this project.

Ben Scaggs, Director of the U.S. EPA Gulf of Mexico Program said “The Gulf of Mexico Program is committed to supporting our partners in addressing our mutual goals of improving, protecting and restoring the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico. We look forward to the sustainable environmental results that will be accomplished through this cooperative agreement with the Florida Aquarium.”

“The Florida Aquarium’s Watershed Investigations program enables underserved fifth grade students to immerse themselves in the natural environment. Many of these students, all from Title 1 schools, have never experienced a program like this that allows them to explore the flora, fauna, and physical characteristics of coastal Florida in the living laboratory of nature. Students will also be challenged to think critically about how impacts to the environment, such as climate change, affect the natural world and how humans can make a positive difference, said Stone.”

Watershed Investigations will introduce students to the local watershed, water quality, coastal habitats, climate change and the role students can play in protecting our water resources by providing hands-on and minds-on exploration of coastal ecosystems of Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The students will explore impacts climate change has on the Gulf region now and investigate its effects on water supply and coastal habitats in the future.

This cooperative agreement will further the strategic goals and objectives of Gulf of Mexico Program and lead to a healthy and prosperous ecosystem for generations to come.

Information about the Gulf of Mexico Program: https://www.epa.gov/gmpo.

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