South Florida | Coral Reef Week

South Florida: Broward College

Organizers:

Dr. Pamela Fletcher, Assistant Professor, AS Program Manager Environmental Science and Scientific Diving courses

Elena Lasovskaia-Hall, STEM Librarian at University/College Library

Kristin Kroger, Outreach Coordinator at University/College Library

Dates:

July 1- 14th 2020 online events linked to the Global Coral Reef Week program

TBD in-person events based on Covid restrictions (stay tuned for updates)

Conference Hosts:

Thank you for your interest in Global Coral Reef Week! Broward College staff and faculty has been working from home since mid-March and at this time, the College has confirmed this format will continue until further notice. The Global Coral Reef Week events originally planned for in-person activities at Broward College’s University/College Library in July 2020 have been cancelled. The University/College Library and Environmental Science Programs hope that activities can resume in-person in some manner in the future. Broward College will share student research and promote the Global Coral Reef Week virtual plenary program. Details about the plenary program can be found at: https://coralreefweek.wixsite.com/coralreefweek/plenary-speakers. Please continue to monitor this site for future in-person activities (update June 17th 2020).

The Global Coral Reef Week theme is to share information about the health of coral reefs globally, regionally and locally and to build awareness of actions that can be taken to address the overall decline in coral reef ecosystem health. The University/College Library and Environmental Sciences Program are helping share information about coral reefs to promote both student learning and community engagement through a Student Research Symposium and library’s annual Literary Festival. The library is also a venue for coral bleaching and stony coral tissue loss workshops. Workshops are designed to enhance college-level coursework to prepare career-ready graduates, and to engage the community in building awareness of the marine environment.

Location:

University/College Library in Building 17

Broward College

3501 SW Davie Road

Davie, FL 33314

PC: E. Lazovskaia-Hall

University/College Library is located in the heart of Broward County. The University/College Library is a joint-use facility located on the A. Hugh Adams Central Campus serving the educational communities at both Broward College and Florida Atlantic University. Library and campus resources are shared by Florida Atlantic University and Broward College as part of the South Florida Education Center.

More information about University/College Library can be found at https://ucl.broward.edu. Information about Broward College’s Environmental Science Technology Program can be found at https://www.broward.edu/academics/stem/environmental-science/technology.html.

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Marine Conservation and Restoration Ecology students clean and monitor coral reef nursery raceways at the Brinton Environmental Center on Summerland Key, Florida. Students learn about the importance of water quality and coral reef growth and development. The coral fragments are grown in the raceways before being transplanted to specific reef areas in the Florida Keys as part of larger restoration program in southeast Florida. PC P. Fletcher

Benthic Marine Ecology students fragment corals for reef restoration in the Florida Keys. Brinton Environmental Center collaborates with organizations in the Keys to monitor and restore reefs impacted by disease and other impacts. Students assisted in cutting corals for replanting on the reef. PC J. Groover

Broward College’s University College Library and the Environmental Science Programs hosted Florida Department of Environmental Protection seminar on coral bleaching. Participants learned about the causes of coral bleaching and how to identify bleached corals as part of the Southeast Florida Action Network (SEAFAN) monitoring network in Florida. The program is a citizen science reporting and response effort to identify changes to reef health. More about the program can be found at: https://floridadep.gov/rcp/coral/content/seafan-southeast-florida-action-network PC UCL

Interested in learning more about coral reefs? Learn to snorkel, dive and study corals at Broward College.

The SCUBA program at Broward College began in the mid-1980s and has evolved with a centralized program offered at the Tigertail Lake Recreation Center. In 2019, the program expanded to include scientific diving with academic courses in benthic marine ecology and scientific diving. The Center is equipped with a classroom, compressor tank, SCUBA gear, lockers, showers and submerged platforms within the lake that are ideal for year-round teaching. The Center hosts numerous diving training programs including federal, academic, and private industry. The facility is well poised to continue SCUBA training and be the center for the scientific diving program. More information about diving, visit:

https://www.tigertaillake.com/training-classes/scuba/ and for more information about the scientific diving program visit: https://www.broward.edu/academics/stem/environmental-science/index.html

PC J. Groover

Dr. Franziska Elmer was a guest speaker for the Scientific Diving program at Broward College. She visited University/College Library and presented Monitoring of Coral Bleaching and Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease in February 2020. Dr. Elmer shared background information and had participants complete a hands-on activity to practice in-water monitoring protocols. Participants from Nova Southeastern University, University of Miami, Broward College staff, students, and faculty and community members learned about diseases affecting corals in South Florida and the Caribbean and gained knowledge in how to monitoring and report when they see disease on reefs. PC P. Fletcher

Students enrolled in Global Environmental Change learn about impacts to the environment, including coral reef and marine ecosystems. Several students visited the NOAA National Hurricane Center to learn about local and regional data collection that informs decision making related to weather and climate. PC M. Morris