meganwilliams

Hello all! It has been awhile since we have posted, but it has been a busy and successful period here at our organization. This past weekend we had our 5th Annual Gala, Raise the Reef. The night was a huge success! We had over 270 guests attend where they mingled, bid on our Silent and Live Auction items, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner, during which our guest speaker, Bob Talbot, gave a wonderful and inspiring speech. The event brought in over $100K for our organization, which is the most we have ever raised through one of our Galas! Following the Gala on Saturday evening, we also hosted a series of Conservation Seminars on Sunday. A variety of speakers gave presentations throughout the day on a variety of marine conservation topics. These included speakers such as Margaret Miller from NOAA, who discussed the restoration of coral in the upper keys, Tracy Nolan from Debris Free Oceans discussing marine debris, and Mike Terrell and Scott Graves from the Florida Aquarium, who spoke about the collaboration between them and the Aquario Nacional de Cuba concerning coral restoration. I think it is safe to say that it was a busy, but very fun and rewarding weekend! In addition to our gala, Emma and I have continued to gear up and prepare for CRF's NOAA restoration project. This week, we are training the other staff members and dive trip leaders on the new protocol, and, if the weather cooperates, will begin the actual harvesting and outplanting of these corals next week. We are very excited to see our work over these past few months begin to come together and be carried out. Some big changes in our outplanting methods have come from this grant, but with such a well organized method, it will make it easier for collaborators to conduct their own studies on our outplants and outplanting method due to the more scientific nature of this shift in outplanting. Thanks for sticking with us through this busy season! More updates to follow on how our outplanting is coming along! As always, feel free to ask any questions, we appreciate them! Best, Megan

Hello! We had a busy week last week in making preparations for Hurricane Matthew. Last Tuesday, we took boats out into the nursery for storm prep, which included fixing floats on trees that were heavy with corals, pulling trees down further into the water column, and changing out ropes that were fraying or damaged. Fortunately, the Florida Keys were not hit, and were in fact barely affected by Hurricane Matthew! We were able to get back on the boats and out to the nursery this weekend, and noted little to no damage for any of our trees or corals. The days here continue to be busy and exciting! We are collaborating with a number of scientists in their research, and each have been coming down throughout these past few weeks to perform some of their research in both the nurseries and on some of our outplanted reef sites. This has included working with the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, laying transect lines across a variety of reef sections that have our corals, and setting up an experiment to determine the best transport conditions for our corals from the nursery to our outplanting sites. We are also busy at work in our Education Center as we prepare for its makeover. We are excited to revamp the center to have more up-to-date and interactive information available to visitors who stop in. Hopefully, the construction for this will begin during my internship, and I will be able to send along pictures on its progress! Again, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. Emma and I check this forum thread frequently and will be happy to respond! Thanks to all that are reading!

Hello! My name is Megan Williams, and I am one of the new Fall interns at the Coral Restoration Foundation. Let me first start off by saying thank you all for your support. You are helping make a lifelong dream of mine come true, and I am very excited to share the experience with you! Throughout this internship, my fellow intern, Emma, and I will be posting updates and information about our internship and the work we are doing at CRF. I would like to first start out by just saying a little bit about myself and what led me to CRF. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, I fell in love with the ocean at a young age through my family trips to the coast. When I was 14, I traveled to Australia, and got to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. I was taken aback by the beauty and wonder of coral reefs. After becoming scuba certified in the Caribbean in my Junior year of High School, I knew that studying, restoring, and working with coral reefs was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I attended the University of Miami, where I graduated this past May with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science and Biology. I am beyond excited to be working with the Coral Restoration Foundation to put my dreams and passion to work, and hope to be able to share this experience with all of you! It has been a busy first couple of weeks, with a lot of orientation and training taking place to get us comfortable in the new roles that we will be taking on as interns here. We met with all of the staff, learned what they do, and will get the chance to work with them more one-on-one on a semester long project of our choosing. While not in the office, we have been busy at the warehouse and out on the water, learning the various tasks and jobs that can be done when off the water, as well as how to tag and plant corals, clean trees, and monitor while diving. It has been a phenomenal first two weeks here at CRF, and I am looking forward for all that is to come! Please post any questions you have for me or responses, and I would be happy to answer and respond!