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Conservancy of Southwest Florida resumes field trip program for area seventh graders with Rookery Bay Research Reserve

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has resumed its partnership with Rookery Bay Natural Estuarine Research Center for the SURVIVORS program, a science field-trip program for seventh-grade students in Collier County that was paused due to the pandemic. The program will start again in October for students from Golden Gate and Manatee middle schools.

“We had to cancel a few field trips when the schools shut down and we couldn’t do them at all last year,” said Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s Education Programs Coordinator Tonya Zadrozny. “We are excited to be back on the water.”

Rookery Bay started the program in 2015, holding sessions at Rookery Bay’s educational learning center and then at the field station at the edge of the estuary. The Conservancy partnered in 2019 to double the number of students who could participate in the program, bringing its Good Fortune II, a 35-passenger pontoon boat, to take participants out on the water for hands-on observation and data collection.

Now, visiting classes of up to 60 students and teachers are split into two groups. One performs lab work on marine invertebrate adaptations and shark movements at Rookery Bay’s field station. Another group goes out on the Good Fortune II with Conservancy educators and uses real scientific tools to collect plankton samples and measure water quality parameters to assess the health of the estuary. Students compare the ecosystem health of two locations before switching experiences with the other group.

“We wanted to be able to bring more students out,” said Jeannine Windsor, education specialist and outreach coordinator for Rookery Bay Research Reserve. “We have a strong history with the Conservancy, and they already had a dock and boat, so we decided to work together to make it a more immersive experience. Studying water quality becomes more exciting when they are surrounded by it.”

The work of the Conservancy was started in 1964 to block plans to build a road through Rookery Bay across Gordon Pass into the Ten Thousand Islands.

“It’s really rewarding working with an agency we have a long history with,” Windsor said. “We get more done working together to create better stewards in this community with an interest in science and sense of place.”

The field trips are funded through field trip specialty programs for Title 1 schools in the Collier County School District.

About the Conservancy of Southwest Florida:
 The Conservancy of Southwest Florida is a not-for-profit environmental protection organization with a 55-year history focused on the issues impacting the water, land, wildlife and future of Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Conservancy accomplishes this mission through the combined efforts of its experts in the areas of environmental science, policy, education and wildlife rehabilitation. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, world-class Nature Center and von Arx Wildlife Hospital are headquartered in Naples, Florida, 1495 Smith Preserve Way, south of the Naples Zoo off Goodlette-Frank Road. Learn more about the Conservancy’s work and how to support the quality of life in Southwest Florida www.conservancy.org.

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