Taylor Berard, Lower Keys Community Engagement Coordinator for Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, joined Good morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the lab.
On August 22, the lab will hold an Open Lab event intended to give the public a closer look at the work happening inside Mote’s Summerland Key research facility.
“I’ve been working with our education program manager down here and we had a really, really successful junior scientist zone during Ocean Fest,” Berard said.
Hundreds of children participated in activities at the Eco Discovery Center during Ocean Fest.
“We had a couple hundred children in Eco Discovery Center come through our STEM activities for all of the kids there,” Berard said. “It was a bunch of activities that highlight some of our different research programs.”
Mote plans to bring some of that educational experience to the Open Lab event.
“We’ll be kind of doing a smaller scale of that again that Saturday,” Berard said.
The event will also give visitors an opportunity to interact with Mote scientists and see some of the technology used in marine research.
“We’ll be opening it up to the public and having some guided tours and having some of our scientists demonstrate some of our latest technology and cool coral techniques that we’ve pioneered there at the lab,” Berard said.
Sharing that work with the public is an important part of Mote’s mission.
“We’re just always making history there, and it’s cool to share it with the public,” Berard said.
The Saturday event is particularly useful for people who cannot make Mote’s regular public tours.
“I know a lot of people aren’t able to attend on Tuesdays at 10 a.m.,” Berard said. “So we figured open it up on a Saturday after school starts.”
The event will be free to the public, with food and promotional items available.
“We’ll be having some swag bags and some free food, which who doesn’t love that?” Berard said.
There is no admission fee.
“A couple people have asked if it does cost anything. It is absolutely free to the public, free to everyone,” Berard said.
Visitors will have the opportunity to support Mote’s work if they choose, but donations are not required to attend.
“We do have like some QR codes and stuff around the lab if people are interested in donating,” Berard said. “But no, it’s definitely free from 10 to 1.”
Researchers from around the world visit Mote to learn from and collaborate with its scientists.
“I’m super proud of everybody I work with,” Berard said.
The laboratory continues to evolve as research advances.
Berard said. “We’re always expanding.”
The Open Lab event is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mote Marine Laboratory’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration on Summerland Key.
Berard encouraged residents and visitors to take advantage of the opportunity to see the facility and learn more about the work being done to understand and restore coral reefs.
For more information, click here: https://mote.org/