Grant: 21-035E
Project Title: Sea Turtle Threats Educational Display
Project Manager: Derek Burkholder
Organization: Marine Environmental Education Center at the Carpenter House (Non-Profit Organization)
Grant Amount: $7,700.00
Completion Date: 2022-10-10
Summary: The Marine Environmental Education Center at the Carpenter House (MEEC) is a public education facility located in Hollywood, Florida. The MEEC is currently working to expand upon its exhibits and educational opportunities. The center is based at the historic Carpenter House and contains exhibits highlighting the local coastal environment, the dangers of invasive species, shark and sea turtle research, and sea turtle nesting and threats with a focus on the resident green sea turtle. As part of our continued expansion, we will create a feature exhibit highlighting the threats that sea turtles face that have resulted in their threatened/endangered status, and various ways that the general public can help. This interactive exhibit will feature three sliding panels that will discuss threats, big-picture solutions, and ways that everyone can help. These threats will include plastics/pollution, fisheries interactions/bycatch, lighting, climate change and nesting beach protection. The goal is to give visitors a take-away message that encourages small changes in their daily lives to help protect sea turtles. This exhibit will be placed near the resident sea turtle pool in the courtyard and will be used in formal education programs.
Results: This exhibit is installed in an area that we had plan to expand on the MEEC campus. Upon seeing the new display, Broward County Parks decided to move forward with a plan to install a paver walkway in front of the exhibit that will lead to a native plant and butterfly garden. This display has been a great inspiration and will lead to future expansion.