We're excited to announce the REEF Educator in the Field Fellowship, a new professional development opportunity for formal and informal educators to gain hands-on experience with ocean citizen science! The Fellowship will enable a qualified educator to participate in a REEF Field Survey Trip. They will join other citizen scientist volunteers to learn about marine life and conduct fish surveys while scuba diving or snorkeling as part of the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project.
A new year is here, and that means new Conservation Challenges! The Conservation Challenge is a fun way to earn collectible stickers while participating in marine conservation and citizen science. There are plenty of stickers to collect, and this month, we're highlighting the Survey Regions Challenge! You can earn a sticker for each region where you conduct a REEF survey. There are ten REEF survey regions, so that means there are ten different stickers!
We're gearing up for another great year of marine conservation, and we hope you can join us to celebrate at a REEF event this year.
REEF by the Sea - March 3-4, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida: REEF Sustainers receive an invitation to this exclusive event, held each spring in either California or Florida. The weekend features guest speakers including noted scientists and photographers, plus socials and REEF updates. For more information about donor recognition levels, visit this page.
REEF online programs are free and open to everyone! Here's what's coming up this month:
Into the Blue Book Club Meeting
Thursday, January 19, 8pm EST
Click here to register.
At our first Into the Blue Book Club meeting of 2023, we'll discuss our latest book selection, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans by Cynthia Barnett. Cynthia will be joining the meeting for a Q&A! All are invited to join, whether you have read the book or not.
We're excited to announce our speaker lineup for 2023 REEF Fish & Friends! Each month features an engaging ocean-themed presentations from a guest speaker. Presentations are free to attend, and are hosted at the REEF Campus in Key Largo. If you're not able to join us in person, the seminars are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube. Upcoming Fish & Friends presentations include:
We're starting off 2023 with our January Fish of the Month, the Sargassum Triggerfish, Xanthichthys ringens!
Survey Regions: Sargassum Triggerfish are found throughout the Tropical Western Atlantic survey region. Click here to see a sightings report for this species in the REEF database.
Size: They grow to about 10 inches.
Size matters – especially when it comes to fisheries management. REEF is excited to be part of a new, collaborative project called SMILE (Size Matters: Innovative Length Estimate), which is now underway in the Florida Keys to help collect information about fish lengths. These data are critical for fisheries stock assessments, which are used to manage ecologically and economically important marine species.
Size matters – especially when it comes to fisheries management. A new collaborative project SMILE (Size Matters: Innovative Length Estimate) is now underway in the Florida Keys to help collect information about fish lengths. These data are critical for fisheries stock assessments, which are used to manage ecologically and economically important marine species.
We are excited to welcome our Spring 2023 Marine Conservation Interns to REEF! They will assist with education, outreach, events, and daily operations around the REEF Campus. Joining us this semester are: