CARTHE teamed up with Project Give Kids (PGkids) to expose a bright group of foster kids, ranging in age from 1st grade to high school, to the amazing world of marine science.

The students started the day with CARTHE outreach manager, Laura Bracken, who taught them about ocean currents and enlisted their help in painting drift cards for our upcoming Biscayne Bay study: Bay Drift.  These cards will be released into Biscayne Bay and aerial photos will be taken as they spread so we can learn about the movement inside the bay.  In order to see the movement of individual cards/plates, they all need to be painted different colors.  Thanks for the help!

Next the students saw the impressive SUSTAIN facility in the new Glassell building at RSMAS.  Here scientists are studying air-sea interactions, hurricane intensity and the ability for structures to withstand hurricanes, and testing equipment like the custom-made CARTHE drifters.

The second half of the tour visited the Rescue-a-Reef coral restoration lab, the National Resource for Aplysia, and the RSMAS Toadfish lab.  The young scientists got the chance to touch everything!

A great day was had by all.  Thank you to everyone who made this tour possible, especially the great group of students who were excited to participate and asked great questions.  We look forward to having you on campus again soon!