Taylor Berard, Community Engagement Coordinator for Mote Marine Laboratories, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on at the lab.
Mote Marine Lab was founded in the 1950s by Dr. Eugenie Clark.
Berard explained, “She was a shark researcher. So that’s why you will see our logo still as a shark to this day, because we keep it to honor her. Here we are, though, in 2026 and we still have our shark research program. We actually do research in all seven continents over the world, which is really cool. We have scientists everywhere, but we have over 30 marine research programs in total now, down here in the Keys. We mainly focus on the coral reef research and restoration of things, because the reef is right there. It is our backyard. So we are based out of Sarasota, though currently, where we have our main 400 acre Aqua Research Park and our new state of the art aquarium.”
Mile Marker 24 is the main Keys Laboratory location.
Berard said, “That is the International Center for coral reef research and restoration, and at this point it is recognized internationally by scientists. We have visiting scientists that come from all over the world to use some of our equipment or to collaborate on experiments. We meet people from all over the world there. We have a bunch of summer camps, so no day is the same there.”
Ocean Fest will be on April 25.
Berard said it will be “11am to 4pm on the 25th, it’s a Saturday at Truman Waterfront Park. It’s free, open to everybody. We have rides for kids and adults. We have a mechanical shark. You can see if you can get the record of who can stay on it the longest. We have water slides, Keys Energy comes out and does bucket rides, live music, tons of food vendors, nonprofit vendors, artisan vendors. We’ll have live animals. The Turtle Hospital always brings their live turtles. It’s always a great time. But a little context about Ocean Fest is since it is in the Truman Waterfront Park, behind it is the Eco Discovery Center that is owned by NOAA, our National Ocean Atmospheric Administration, and we have an exhibit inside of it. And so back in the day, we had live coral in it. Now it is completely interactive, non living, but you will walk inside that exhibit and you will still feel like you’re underwater. But 16 years ago, we started it in the parking lot of the Eco Discovery Center to raise awareness that we had an exhibit now inside of the Eco Discovery Center. But here we are 16 years later, and it’s always such a fun event, such a success. It just keeps growing and growing, and it’s great.”
There will also be a panel in the Eco Discovery Center during Ocean Fest.
Berard said, “We had a great turnout last year, which was our first time doing this. We’re going to continue it this year where we have a couple Mote staff members do like a five minute quick presentation on citizen science, which is essentially ways for locals and non scientist members of the community to collect observations, maybe like out at the beach or when they’re out on the boat and they snorkel past some coral. There’s different programs for people to get involved, and so we do a quick little informational panel like that for people to see which one they might be the most interested in. They can leave the panel collecting information on it, how to sign up. They can talk to the program manager. So we got a lot of great connections that way last year. And we’re also having a huge kid interactive zone, with kids activities all throughout the Eco Discovery Center this year too, on that Saturday. So we’re very excited. Christina is the manager over there, and she’s awesome. I’m so thankful for all of her help. I’m really excited for this year.”
Education is important to Mote Marine Lab.
Berard said, “We have a new program manager down here. Her name is Jade, and she handles all Lower Keys education. And she’s so awesome, and she’s made so many awesome kids activities for when they come in, got new microscopes, made these buckets for turtle hatchings with the sand in them. I love it. If people are interested, they can come to Ocean Fest, and we’ll have tons of Mote scientists and staff members alike there. It’s always great seeing them enjoying their day, talking with the public and communicating all their exciting work that they do to locals that care and want to know.”
Vendor space is still open for Ocen Fest and the information can be found on the website.
Berard said, “If they want to sign up as a food vendor, they can collect select that drop down, non profit artisan, if they’re selling something. We have all the options on there if somebody wants to sign up.”
For more information, click here: https://mote.org/