Youth and Adults Take Action against Marine Debris during Global Youth Service Day

Around the world, marine debris poses a serious threat to our planet’s ocean environments. This weekend, in honor of Global Youth Service Day, the world’s largest service event, youth and adults, across the country and around the world, are teaming up to raise awareness about this important issue. By sharing a new educational outreach presentation created by the Stow It-Don’t Throw It Project, they’re working to teach community members about marine debris – its sources, its impacts, and strategies for its prevention. In addition to sharing this important message in school classes, with youth organizations, and at community events, many students will lead a community cleanup activity to help address the problem of marine debris.

Participants sharing our educational outreach presentation on marine debris prevention will be joining forces with thousands of other youth and adults around the world, who are giving back to their communities during April 26-28, as part of Global Youth Service Day.

For more information on the Stow It-Don’t Throw It Project’s marine debris prevention presentation, and to receive materials to share this message in your community visit: http://ow.ly/km38C

Check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/stowitdonthrowit to see photos and updates from the youth and adults helping spread this message during Global Youth Service Day weekend!

Students in North Carolina learn about marine debris prevention through the Stow It-Don't Throw It Project's educational presentation, shared by Casey Sokolovic, founder of Love A Sea Turtle. 

Congratulations to our 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Team mini-grant recipients!

Thanks to support from the International Ocean Institute-USA, and funds raised from our first Community Ocean Conservation Film Festival we were able to carry out our first Youth Ocean Conservation Team mini-grant program, which provided funding to help support ocean conservation projects planned by some of our 2012 Youth Ocean Conservation Summit participants. Congratulations to our first grant recipients, who are mentioned below with a brief description of their projects!

Lauren Baillie and Sabrina Angelides are creating awareness and inspiring others to take action to protect marine ecosystems through the production of short films and public service announcements.

Robbie Breininger and Brevard Zoo are developing an educational brochure focused on the Florida East Coast Terrapin, a species vulnerable to extinction.

Sara Brenes is running educational outreach programs and paddle board eco-tours focused on teaching community members about shark conservation.

Students at the National Aquarium are creating a play, video, and educational materials to teach students in Baltimore City, MD about the importance of protecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Casey Sokolovic is leading educational summer camp programs involving Boys and Girls Clubs members focused on water and ocean conservation.

The Trailblazer's 4-H Club is raising and planting mangroves to support ecosystem restoration efforts in the Pine Island Sound.

The TRUE Dive Team is planting nursery raised coral in the Florida Keys and carrying out an artificial reef cleanup off Florida's Gulf coast. 

Stay tuned for more updates on these projects, as well as other ocean conservation initiatives being carried out by our Youth Ocean Conservation Summit participants!

Want to get involved, check out the Youth Ocean Conservation Team and sign-up for our monthly e-newsletter! 

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!