Jay Funaro, a Marine Education & Conservation Intern at REEF this summer, was drawn to REEF by the chance to work for a nonprofit while gaining experience in the varied marine ecosystems of the Florida Keys, where coral reefs meet seagrass beds, mangroves, and even the flowing grasses of the Everglades. Jay graduated from California State University, Monterey Bay, with a B.S. in marine science, became certified as an American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) scientific diver, and took part in multiple monitoring projects while cultivating a passion for public engagement.
Bring REEF's mission into your classroom with Virtual Discovery Programs! Designed for students of all ages, these one- to two-hour Zoom programs combine an engaging live lesson with hands-on activities and show students that anyone, anywhere, can be a citizen scientist.
Featured programs include:
REEF's Field Survey Trip to Bonaire in July had two special guests: Educator in the Field Fellows Erin Schmidt and Mikayla Neff. REEF Educator in the Field Fellows are dedicated educators who applied to receive a fully funded participant spot on the trip. They spent their week diving, learning fish identification, building relationships with other REEF members, and gathering ideas on how to bring REEF's citizen science programs back to their classrooms.
Join us for a FREE marine life education class at the Trans World Radio (TWR) Bonaire Headquarters on Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 pm AST
We’ll continue our series on odd‑shaped swimmers, focusing on drums and croakers, along with a few other fun and quirky species. Dana and I will be co‑teaching, and we’re really looking forward to seeing as many people as possible join us for the presentation.
What to Expect:
Join us for International Coastal Cleanup Day at the Ocean Forest Restoration site in Dagny Johnson State Park.
We’ll spend the morning working together to remove litter and help keep our local coastal environment clean and healthy. Cleanup supplies and water refill stations will be provided. Participants are encouraged to bring a refillable water bottle and bug spray, if possible. Please wear appropriate protective footwear that can get wet.
The address works best for navigation with Google Maps. Event signs will be posted along the highway.
There are some new faces at the Ocean Exploration Center this season. REEF is delighted to welcome four new Marine Education & Conservation Interns for the fall, along with a new Marine Conservation Fellow who is no stranger to Key Largo.
Our interns spend the season working alongside REEF staff on education programs, citizen science, and community outreach, gaining hands-on experience across every part of the organization. Please join us in giving them all a warm welcome.
Ava Tidball
One of my favorite things about REEF's Campus changes with the seasons, but it has nothing to do with the weather. It's the arrival of new interns.
Every January, May, and August, we welcome a new cohort of young people — usually four — to live and work with us for a semester. They come from all over, most in their final year of college or recently graduated, and arrive through a genuinely competitive application and interview process.
Join REEF for a full day exploring the health and resilience of Florida’s coastal ecosystems and the role each of us can play in understanding and protecting them.
The day begins with a Volunteer Fish Survey Project classroom session, where participants will learn how fish populations and reef communities can serve as indicators of ecosystem health and why long-term monitoring is important. Participants can then put their skills into practice during a guided REEF Fish Survey Project dive or snorkel, collecting observations that contribute to REEF’s citizen science database.