![\"Outreach](\"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/curacao1.png\")
<\/p>\nIn May 2019, our biological technician, Abby Vivlamore, worked as a teaching assistant for USF\u2019s study abroad course \u2018Tropical Marine Ecology and Conservation\u2019 in Cura\u00e7ao with Dr. Chantale Begin. Abby previously completed the same course as an undergraduate student in 2015 and had the opportunity to return and share our C-SCAMP project with Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s teachers and students. USF students and staff stayed at Carmabi Research Station, known for their coral research and conservation.<\/p>\n
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During the course, Abby assisted students with Caribbean fish, invertebrate and coral identification, and completion of their scientific diving certification. She also was put in charge of outreach with the local middle and high school students, who don\u2019t typically have opportunities to learn about marine biology. Students of Cura\u00e7ao can take biology as a major in school, but are not given the option of a marine biology focus, only a focus on medicine. Abby, alongside USF\u2019s students, engaged in teaching the Cura\u00e7ao students about American university options and what it can mean to pursue a marine biology major.<\/p>\n
![\"Outreach](\"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/curacao2-1024x430.png\")
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Over a 3-day outreach effort, USF\u2019s students picked various marine science topics such as scuba diving, marine pollution and coral reefs, while Abby shared our C-SCAMP project. Abby had a lot of fun explaining how crucial benthic mapping, habitat identification and fish density are for fisheries management, conservation and protecting our marine environments.<\/p>\n
![\"Outreach](\"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/curacao3-1024x525.png\")
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It was so much fun to see their eyes light up and their voices full of so much excitement with questions they had about our project. They never even knew this kind of work existed. I felt like I just gave them their favorite ice cream or something because they all were so thankful and curious about learning more,\u201d Abby reflected.<\/p>\n
![\"Outreach](\"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/curacao5-1024x328.png\")
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Further, Abby felt that \u201cwhat\u2019s crazy is most of the students didn\u2019t even know what kind of fish there are in the ocean, so it was really fun showing them the species we have in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Outreach](\"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/curacao6-1024x393.png\")
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Much of Cura\u00e7ao and surrounding Caribbean waters face significant issues with pollution and fecal\/sewage waste, due to poor waste management and marine conservation capabilities. By effectively presenting these issues to the teachers and students, it can help them better understand the negative effects occurring within their marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n
![\"Outreach](\"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/curacao7.png\")
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Abby\u2019s final sentiment was one of stewardship; \u201cTo educate a younger generation is super important in setting up future conservation and passionate scientists. Especially outside the U.S. in areas of the world where these topics may not be as widely taught.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In May 2019, our biological technician, Abby Vivlamore, worked as a teaching assistant for USF\u2019s study abroad course \u2018Tropical Marine Ecology and Conservation\u2019 in Cura\u00e7ao with Dr. Chantale Begin. Abby previously completed the same course as an undergraduate student in 2015 and had the opportunity to return and share our C-SCAMP project with Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s teachers and students. USF students and staff stayed at Carmabi Research Station, known for their coral research and conservation. During the course, Abby assisted students with Caribbean fish, invertebrate and coral identification, and completion of their scientific diving certification. She also was put in charge of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":386,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-394","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":889,"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/394\/revisions\/889"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marine.usf.edu\/scamp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}