3/5/17: Florida Chapter in Key West
Education/Training Day at the Eco-Discovery Center
Author: Katie Groves/Thursday, March 16, 2017/Categories: , Chapter Development, Florida
The day after the brothers’ arrival in Key West was spent the day at the Eco-Discovery center in Key West being educated by a team of employees from NOAA. The educational session included hearing lectures from FKNMS employees, Florida Public Archaeology Network employees, and National Park Services employees representing Biscayne National Park. During this educational session, the brothers learned about the objectives and goals of the various programs and their volunteer services, what their role would be in volunteering for the week in addition to receiving training in safety for beach clean ups. This year, the brothers took on a new additional role in their week of volunteering; this included participating in a pilot training session in documenting migrant vessels (also known as chugs). During this training and overview, the brothers learned how to accurately identify migrant vessels and how to document the characteristics of these vessels on paper and on the official document provided to the public. The brothers, after receiving the training, were able to practice documenting migrant vessels by taking a field trip with the employees and lecturers to the Key West Botanical Garden where they have about 9 migrant vessels on display.