Youth Ocean Conservation Summit Empowers Young Conservationists

On Friday November 2^nd and Saturday November 3^rd, over two hundred participants, and presenters, representing Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC, came together, at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida for two special events aimed at increasing public awareness of pressing ocean conservation issues and the implementation of youth led ocean conservation projects to combat these challenges.                     

Friday night’s Community Ocean Conservation Film Festival highlighted the film work of young people in the field of ocean conservation and featured the premier showing of the Boca Grande Area Chamber of Commerce’s new educational short film, Rich History… Priceless Future: The Tarpon of Boca Grand Pass. The event also featured a screening of the award winning film This is Your Ocean Sharks introduced by the film’s two time Emmy award director, George Schellenger, and shark conservationist/film star Jim Abernethy.    

The second annual Youth Ocean Conservation Summit, a day long educational outreach effort organized by the Stow It-Don’t Throw It Marine Debris Prevention Project and Mote Marine Laboratory, took place at Mote on Saturday November 3^rd. The over one hundred fifty participants in attendance this year were inspired by the work and message of this year’s keynote speaker, Jim Abernethy, who captivated them while sharing his life’s work in ocean conservation. Youth, who were in attendance at last year’s summit, also inspired participants by sharing their work on ocean conservation projects that emerged from last year’s summit.  Their projects included beach clean ups, mangrove planting projects, educational community events, school recycling projects and art projects..  

This year’s workshop presenters represented contributions from environmental and youth organizations and schools which included Earth Echo International, Greening Forward, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, the Canterbury School of Florida, One More Generation, Conservation Enterprises Unlimited, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, 4-H, Mote education staff and research scientists, as well as youth from the Stow It-Don’t Throw It Project’s Management Team.

Additionally, a special contribution to this year’s summit workshop line up was the Wyland Foundation’s Clean Water Mobile Learning Experience, which was made available to youth attending the summit as well as visitors to Mote Aquarium on Friday and Saturday. 

Projects which emerged from this year’s summit include the expansion of the work of the Stow It-Don’t Throw It Project, protection of marine mammals, litter awareness educational programs and clean ups, educational film projects, and restoration of coral reefs, mangrove habitat and oyster beds. Financial support for these projects will come from revenue generated at this year’s Community Ocean Conservation Film Festival as well as funds provided by the International Ocean Institute-USA.

Work at the 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Summit culminated with a call to action video message featuring National Geographic Explorer in Residence, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Columbus Zoo Director Emeritus, Jack Hanna, Artist of the Sea, Wyland, and Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors, Bindi and Robert Irwin.    

A special thanks to our partners at Mote Marine Laboratory and the 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Summit sponsors: the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, Mote Scientific Foundation, the Wyland Foundation, the International Ocean Institute-USA, EarthEcho International, Sarasota Bay Watch, Teen Research Underwater Explorers, Manatee-Sarasota Sierra Club, FLOW Kayak and Paddle Tours, and Suncoast Print Solutions Inc, as well as to all of our volunteers and presenters. And a big thanks to all of our incredible participants for their commitment to protecting our planet's marine ecosystems!

Congratulations to our 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Film Competition Winners!

We're excited to announce the winners of our first annual Youth Ocean Conservation Film Festival! This competition, which was held in conjunction with our 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Summit engaged students in grades K-12 in the creation of short films highlighting ocean conservation issues they're passionate about.

We received some outstanding entries, and would like to recognize the following contest winners:

Elementary School Category:
Ryan Moralevitz - My Wishes for the Fishes

Middle School Category:
Willy Jones - Together We Can Keep Litter Out of Their Homes

High School Category:
Casey Sokolovic - Help Them L.A.S.T. - Love A Sea Turtle

Lauren Baillie & Sabrina Angelides - Blue Rage: The Fight To Save The Sea's Bounty

Our 2012 competition winners will be recognized out our Community Ocean Conservation Film Festival at Mote Marine Laboratory on Friday, November 2nd at 7PM. If you'd like to attend this special event, which will also feature a screening of the award-winning film This Is Your Ocean: Sharks and the premier of the educational short film Rich History...Priceless Future: The Tarpon of Boca Grande Pass you can purchase tickets  at http://www.stowitdontthrowitproject.org/pb/wp_a9baf081/wp_a9baf081.html

We would like to congratulate all of our 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Film Competition participants! We greatly appreciate your entries and work to protect our planet's marine ecosystems and encourage others to do the same. We'll be highlighting films submitted by all of our participants online over the next few months!

We'd also like to extend a special thanks to our 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Film Competition partners, EarthEcho International and Mote Marine Laboratory for their support in making this competition possible! 

Manatee County Natural Resources partners with the Stow It-Don't Throw It Project!

An exciting partnership with Manatee County Natural Resources Department is empowering youth and adult volunteers to carry out a large scale implementation of the “Stow It-Don’t Throw It” project in Manatee County, Florida! Thanks to funding from the West Coast Inland Navigational District, and support from the Manatee County Natural Resources Department staff and volunteers, participants will be engaged in the assembly and distribution of 1,000
personal-sized fishing line recycling bins this year!

Participants from groups including students from Johnson Middle School, the Sarasota Bay Guardians, and members of the local Boys and Girls Club have already learned about the importance of fishing line recycling and marine debris prevention through this effort, and have assembled personal-sized fishing line recycling bins, which will be distributed to anglers and boaters in Manatee County.

A special thanks to Manatee County Natural Resources and the West Coast Inland Navigational District for their support of this project! We’d also like to thank our partners at Mote Marine Laboratory, University Park Country Club, and Artistree Landscape and Design for working with us to collect the tennis ball containers that participants in this program are repurposing into personal-sized fishing line recycling bins so far. Check back soon for more updates!

We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for the second annual YouthOcean Conservation Summit which will be held on Saturday, November 3rd, 2012 at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, FL! This event will provide youth participants with the opportunity to learn from marine scientists and conservationists about current threats facing marine ecosystems, work with mentors to develop action plans for their own ocean conservation projects, and take part in workshops designed to give them skills necessary to successfully implement their projects. Participants will also get the chance to network with conservation organizations, and other young people who are passionate about ocean conservation! New workshops and sessions will be offered for returning participants to further develop their ongoing ocean conservation work!

To register for the summit, visit the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit website and complete the online registration form. The registration fee for the event is $13 per participant, and includes lunch, snacks, and program materials.

New this year:
Community Ocean Conservation Film Festival: To broaden our reach to the community, on the evening of Friday, November 2nd, we will be hosting a screening of the award-winning film, This is Your Ocean: Sharks as well as showcasing youth-driven environmental initiatives to members of the community. Tickets for this special event are available now at $12 for adults and $6 for youth. These tickets can be purchased from the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit website. All proceeds from tickets sold for this event will benefit youth-driven ocean
conservation projects!

Youth Ocean Conservation Film Competition: In an effort to engage young people, across the country, in our ocean conservation work, we’re excited to host this competition in partnership with EarthEcho International! Through this competition, students will highlight ocean conservation issues by creating short films to raise awareness about these topics. Winning films will be shown to the public at our film festival on November 2nd! The complete rules and film
competition details, along with the online entry form can be found on the summit website!

Additionally, on our website you can also find the 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Summit flyer, schedule, full descriptions of the workshops/sessions that will be offered at this year’s summit,
and the summit sponsorship form. Our full summit program will be available online shortly!

We’re looking forward to seeing you in November at these exciting events!

Save the Date - 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Summit!

Mark your calendars – the second annual Youth Ocean Conservation Summit
will be held on Saturday, November 3rd, 2012 at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, FL! This event will provide youth participants with the opportunity to learn from marine scientists and conservationists about current threats facing marine ecosystems. Participants will also have the chance to learn about the ways youth are currently working to protect marine ecosystems, and develop action plans for their own ocean conservation projects. Workshops offered at the summit will allow participants to gain the skills necessary to successfully implement their ocean conservation projects, teach participants about career opportunities in marine conservation,
and expose them to opportunities they can take part in to help protect our planet's oceans and their inhabitants. New workshops and sessions will be offered for returning participants to further develop their ongoing ocean conservation work!

New this year:
- Community Ocean Conservation Film Festival: To broaden our reach to the community, on the evening of Friday, November 2nd, we will be hosting a screening of the award-winning film, This is Your Ocean: Sharks as well as showcasing youth-driven environmental initiatives to members of the community.
- Youth Ocean Conservation Film Competition: To engage young people across the country in our ocean summit programming, we will be hosting a film competition from June-September for students in grades K-12. Students will highlight ocean conservation issues through these films, and winning films will be shown to the public at our film screening on November 2nd!

Online registration, the event schedule, workshop descriptions, summit program, and sponsorship information will be available online at: http://www.stowitdontthrowitproject.org/pb/wp_a9baf081/wp_a9baf081.html the first week of June!

We hope you’ll join us for this exciting event! Please also spread the word about this opportunity to your friends, colleagues, and fellow ocean enthusiasts!

The "Stow It-Don't Throw It" Project celebrates Global Youth Service Day

To celebrate Earth Day and Global Youth Service Day, the world's largest youth service event, the
"Stow It-Don’t Throw It” Project partnered with the University of Florida/IFAS’s Fishing for Success Kids Family Fishing Day on April 21st, to teach young anglers about environmentally sustainable fishing practices and the importance of protecting aquatic wildlife from fishing line entanglement!

Youth participants at this event were able to join their friends and family for a fun day of fishing at the University of Florida aquatic sciences center. During this event, volunteers from the "Stow It-Don't Throw It" project taught participants about the importance of preventing marine debris and protecting wildlife from fishing line entanglement. Participants were also given their own personal-sized fishing line recycling bins to help them properly dispose of their used fishing line and gear.

Through this event, we were excited to have the opportunity to join the efforts of millions of young people bettering their communities around the world as part of Global Youth Service
Day, while spreading a message of conservation in honor of Earth Day!

A special thanks to Youth Service America for their support of our Global Youth Service Day work, and the University of Florida/IFAS Extension's Fishing for Success program for their
allowing us to partner with them during their event!

For more information on Global Youth Service Day visit: http://www.gysd.org/.
For more information on the Fishing for Success program visit: http://lakewatch.ifas.ufl.edu/FishSUCCESS/index.htm.

Artistree Landscape Partners with the "Stow It-Don't Throw It" Project!

When ArtisTree LandscapeMaintenance & Design agreed to be the title sponsor for the UPCC Grand Prix tennis tournament, they wanted to do something different that would help the
environment. When they came across the “Stow It - Don't Throw It” program that recycles empty tennis ball cans to help save marine wildlife, they knew they found the right partner.

From January 30th-February 5th, ArtisTree teamed up with Mote Marine Laboratory, University Park Country Club’s Tennis Pros, and the "Stow It-Don't Throw It" project to encourage tennis tournament participants to recycle their empty tennis ball cans to be turned into personal-sized fishing line recycling bins. Thanks to ArtisTree and University Park Country Club's support, nearly 700 empty tennis ball conatiners were collected and will be used by new groups becoming involved in the project during the upcoming year! A special thanks to all of those involved who helped make this partnership possible!

Check out the pictures below with "Stow It-Don't Throw It" Project volunteers, University
Park Country Club staff, and representatives from Manatee County Natural Resources
who will be using some of the tennis ball containers collected to assemble fishing line recycling bins in their area!

10 Year Old Jett Neeley Brings the “Stow It-Don’t Throw It” Project to Pinellas County!

As part of his school community service work, 10 year old Jett Neeley helped bring the “Stow It-Don’t Throw It” Project to anglers and boaters in Pinellas County by assembling and distributing 50 personal-sized fishing line recycling bins during the months of November and December. After working with his family to collect empty tennis containers from local tennis clubs, Jett assembled the recycling bins and worked to distribute them at six local fishing piers/tackle shops, the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, and to individual anglers and boaters. He reported that the bins were well received by those who he passed them out to. A special thanks to Jett and his mother Jen for their work on this project!

2011 Youth Ocean Conservation Summit Empowers Young Conservationists!

Over 100 youth participants took part in our first Youth Ocean Conservation Summit hosted at Mote Marine Laboratory on November 12th 2011. Through the workshops and presentations at this event, youth participants were able to learn about current threats facing marine ecosystems, and gain the skills needed to launch their own ocean conservation projects. They were also
able to connect with other youth and adults who are passionate about ocean conservation.

After inspirational words by keynote speaker, SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Ambassador, Julie Scardina, participants worked with mentors from local environmental organizations to identify ocean conservation issues they wished to work on and developed action plans to help tackle these problems.

Representatives from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, One More Generation, the Florida Aquarium, Brevard Zoo, Florida 4-H, Mote Marine Laboratory’s SeaTrek Program and Mote’s Marine Policy Institute, as well mentors from Mote’s Research and Education departments, worked together with local teachers and volunteers, to teach participants the steps needed to start, fund, publicize, and
communicate the message of their respective projects.

Projects which emerged from the work of the summit include planting projects to restore estuary areas in Sarasota Bay, school projects aimed at educating peers about important environmental issues, recycling projects, media presentations to raise awareness about ocean conservation
issues, as well as work to expand the efforts of the Stow It – Don’t Throw It project.

Work at the summit ended with a call to action video message featuring Dr. Eugenie Clark, Founder and Director Emeritus of Mote Marine Laboratory, Dr. Kumar Mahadevan, Mote’s
President and CEO, Dr. David Vaughan, Director of Mote’s Center for Coral Reef Research, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Ocean Futures Society President, Wyland, Artist of the Sea, Steve Culbertson, President and CEO of Youth Service America, Philippe Cousteau, CEO of EarthEcho International and Jordan Howard, youth environmental activist.

A special thanks to our sponsors, volunteers, presenters, and all of those who attended for helping make this event a success!

Check back soon for updates on the ocean conservation work of the students who attended this event!

Check out the following articles on this event:

Bradenton Herald - Mote Marine Hosts 100 Students at Youth Ocean Conservation Summit

Natural Awakenings - Students Tackle Threats to Marine Ecosystems

Youth Service America - Youth Summit Empowers Young Ocean Conservationists

Maddux News Wire Report - FL Youth Attend Ocean Conservation Summit

See the photos of the event below or visit the following link to see more pictures from the summit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/70005667@N02/

Summer Camp Participants assist with the “Stow it-Don’t Throw It” Project!

This past summer, more than 200 youth participating in summer camp programs at the Brevard Zoo, Lion Country Safari, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and Cedar Point Environmental
Center assembled over 400 personal-sized fishing line recycling bins as a conservation project during their time at camp. Through their camping programs, these youth had the opportunity to learn about marine wildlife conservation and the importance of protecting marine wildlife from improperly disposed of monofilament fishing line. Participants were then able to keep a personal-sized fishing line recycling bin for their own use and/or distribute one to a friend or family
member and teach them the importance of fishing line recycling.

Summer camp staff reported that their campers increased their awareness of the importance of marine debris prevention after their involvement in this project, and also said that these campers were excited about the opportunity to take action to protect marine wildlife from fishing line entanglement through their participation in this project! A special thanks to the Brevard Zoo, Lion Country Safari, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and Cedar Point Environmental Center for their support of this project!

Cedar Point Environmental Center summer campers with their completed personal-sized fishing line recycling bins.

Lion Country Safari summer campers assembling personal-sized fishing line recycling bins.

Lion Country Safari summer campers show off their completed personal-sized fishing line recycling bins.