Experiential angler education aboard the Miami Science Barge

My internship with the Miami Science Barge started in August of 2017 and originally focused on systems maintenance for the recirculating aquaculture, hydroponic, aquaponic, and coral/wetland restoration systems. Upon arriving, I immediately asked to become more engaged with the education side of side of Barge operations. This put me on a path to leading school field trips and designing my own curriculum, which we later labeled STEMIS (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics in Society) to ensure that there was an emphasized focus on utilization of learned materials in our communities. After my first foray into curriculum design I became interested in using the Barge’s public programming opportunities as a way to engage the public with hands-on science that they would be excited to take back to their homes and their jobs. This interest birthed my grant writing experience with the Miami Science Barge. Over the course of the next three months I wrote four separate grant applications, one of which can be found in Appendix 1, while also fulfilling my assigned duties as mechanic and educator. The Fish Florida grant, as it came to be called, was my attempt at integrating public outreach, experiential education, and conservation into a solution for Miami’s issues with recreational fishers