The program - Watershed Investigations - was developed and is being led by The Florida Aquarium and is funded through grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Program partners include Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Tampa Electric Company (TECO), Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Gulf of Mexico Alliance and the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association (GCOOS-RA), which will host the data that the students gather.

Through the program, fifth graders take two field trips each school year to the Florida Conservation and Technology Center in Apollo Beach, where they explore and gather data about fresh and saltwater habitats and animals and learn how they change over time, said Debbi Stone, Vice President of Education at The Florida Aquarium. "Ages 9, 10 and 11 are the perfect time for students to begin learning how to analyze data and predict changes - they're starting to think critically and this program is designed to show them how to put those skills to work in a real-world setting."

The 480-acre Center features mangroves, oyster beds, sea grasses and other key coastal watershed ecosystems with native flora and fauna, as well as freshwater systems and upland characteristics - giving the kids an opportunity to explore all these systems, said Ashley Sutherland, Program Instructor. "Having all these elements together will allow us to explore many aspects of environmental health with the students. We'll be looking at air and watershed pollution and weather and talk about their impacts on the environment. We'll also have the opportunity to explore different climate zones and discuss the impacts that climate change will have."

The students will also be gathering data on things like water pH, salinity, turbidity and look for pollutants. In the process, they'll be learning what scientists test for and why, Sutherland said. And because Watershed Investigations is a multi-year program, students will also be able to see what changes from year-to-year.

One of the most important aspects of the program will be collecting the data that the students gather over time, said Dr. Chris Simoniello, Director of Outreach and Education for the GCOOS-RA. GCOOS provides a one-stop-shop online portal for environmental data gathered by scientists and citizen scientists from all Gulf of Mexico states so that it is broadly available for anyone who needs it. "We hope this will be a model for citizen science initiatives throughout the Gulf of Mexico," Simoniello said. "Gulf-wide, citizens' groups are gathering data about their regions and that's great. But if the data isn't widely available, it can't help when the unexpected happens. For instance, after an oil spill, resource managers must restore habitats that were damaged. But without good baseline information about what a particular habitat looked like before a disaster, it's impossible to do good, science-based restoration. Citizen science initiatives like The Florida Aquarium's Watershed Investigations program can go a long way to remedying that situation."

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