Weekly News Digest from Mote
| Friday's News@Mote: 3-1-13 | | |
| Published Friday, March 1, 2013 |
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• New: Mote Mascot Giving Challenge Videos Part 1 and Part 2 •
• Giving Girls the Keys to Science • |
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| Mote Mascots Highlight the Giving Challenge |
Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium is once again participating in the 36-Hour Giving Challenge beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday, March 5, and ending at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6.
To get you as excited as we are, we’ve created a special series of videos that highlight the power of giving featuring none other than our own Mote Mascots, Gilly the Shark and Shelley the Sea Turtle. The first two videos are now posted at our YouTube Channel. The final video will be posted on Monday.
Enjoy!
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| Part 1 |
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| Part 2 |
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| STAY TUNED FOR PART 3: COMING MONDAY! |
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| The Keys to Science Education: A Field Trip like No Other
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When a group of elementary students from Girls Incorporated visited The Aquarium at Mote Marine Laboratory in February, they thought seeing the 135,000-gallon shark habitat was the highlight of their trip, until the real surprise swam into view.
“There was a man underwater holding up signs,” said 9-year-old Shaniya Lane. “One sign said ‘Girls Inc. is…’ and the other said ‘going to the Keys!’”
The news was out: Mote and Girls Inc. will send a group of girls to the Florida Keys in March as a (really cool) part of their partnership program for marine science education.
The joint program, launched in fall 2012, allows Mote’s marine science educators to present programs at the Girls, Inc. headquarters and host participating girls at Mote for field trips focused on ocean animals, research and conservation. The partnership program was made possible through support from Mote Trustee Mary Lou Johnson, and it is being supported for a year or more through a generous donation by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, which will fully fund the girls’ trip to the Keys.
How did the girls react to this big surprise?
“At first they were kind of quiet — I think it hadn’t sunk in what this would mean for them — and then the staff member from Girls Inc. explained what they were going to be doing, and the girls were saying ‘Oh my gosh,’ and they had a million questions,” said Gina Santoianni, a marine science educator from Mote who will lead the Keys trip along with a science instructor from Girls Inc. “Many of these girls have never gotten to take a long-distance field trip, let alone do things like snorkeling in the Keys.”
One group of 10 girls will visit the Keys on March 9-11 and a second group of 10 will make the trip on March 12-14. The girls will get to visit a mangrove island, try their hand at catch-and-release fishing, meet sea turtles at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, discover dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key, where they will stay overnight, and of course, snorkel on coral reefs — a major focus of Mote’s world-class research in the Florida Keys.
Evening education programs during the trip will highlight coral biology and Mote science, conservation and restoration of coral reefs — subjects the girls had already been exploring before their big surprise.
“Miss Gina and Miss Kelly (from Mote) have been teaching us about coral,” Shaniya said. “I think coral is beautiful.”
“The collaboration between Mote and Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County is not only a win for the girls engaging in the marine sciences, but it is also a win for both agencies to combine our own unique strengths for a program that will encourage our girls to possibly work in the marine sciences job market,” said Susan Jones, Girls Inc. Board Chair. “We are thrilled at the girls’ ability to learn and explore the research being done right here in Sarasota County at Mote.”
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Founded in 1955, Mote Marine Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)3 research organization based in Sarasota, Fla., with field stations in eastern Sarasota County, Charlotte Harbor and the Florida Keys. Donations to Mote are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. 
Mote is dedicated to today’s research for tomorrow’s oceans with an emphasis on world-class research relevant to conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity, healthy habitats and natural resources. Research programs include studies of human cancer using marine models, the effects of man-made and natural toxins on humans and on the environment, the health of wild fisheries, developing sustainable and successful fish restocking techniques and food production technologies and the development of ocean technology to help us better understand the health of the environment. Mote research programs also focus on understanding the population dynamics of manatees, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks and coral reefs and on conservation and restoration efforts related to these species and ecosystems.   Mote’s vision includes positively impacting public policy through science-based outreach and education. Showcasing this research is The Aquarium at Mote, open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 365 days a year. Learn more at www.mote.org.
Contact: Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236. (941) 388-4441 or info@mote.org. |
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