Youth Ocean Explorers

Modeled after the Youth Ocean Explorers experience, our team also coordinates the Junior Ocean Explorers Summer Program which is open to students in Grades 3-6 and focuses on the fundamentals of swimming, snorkeling, and marine flora and fauna identification. This 2 week experience serves as many students' initial introduction to the marine sciences and swimming/snorkeling. JOE helps students develop a strong foundation for their swimming and snorkeling skills so that by the time they are eligible for YOE, they are confident and adept while in the water. YOE students spend most days snorkeling to explore underwater habitats such as coral reefs and seagrass beds; therefore it is important for selected YOE students to already have the basics of swimming and snorkeling. 

Learn More About Junior Ocean Explorers

The YOE Summer Program is built upon collaborations. Each summer, we leverage the knowledge and expertise of our community partners such as the Division of Fish and Wildlife to offer a fishing clinic for our students. At these fishing clinics, students get to learn about fishing practices and regulations of the USVI as well as experience fishing first-hand. But most importantly, they get to connect with diverse STEM professionals who highlight potential career pathways to inspire the next generation of ocean scientists. Featured here is Nicole Greaux, Caribbean Fisheries Management Council (CMFC) Liason and Reef Responsible Training Educator.

Preservation of our natural resources includes those both underwater and on land. Students enrolled in the Youth Ocean Explorers Summer Program learn through hands-on activities, how our actions on land can affect coastal ecosystems and animals. Activities are infused with various elements of STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics); classroom presentations are made interactive through the use of virtual reality, giving students the opportunity to explore these unique habitats, first, in a safe virtual environment. This increases students comfortability and sense of familiarility when we explore these habitats as part of our field-based activities. Here students are using the PlantNet app to identify plants/shrubs/trees found in a USVI watershed. 

Although not a requirement for being a marine scientist, interested YOE students are able to acquire their scuba certification(s) during the four weeks of the program. Students enrolled in the open water scuba course will complete a combination of E-learning and in-person diving practicals; students who are already open water scuba certified and are elligible can be recommended for the advanced open water or other speciality scuba course. We work with various dive shops around the USVI such as the Coki Dive Center and the Cane Bay Dive Center for scuba trainings/certifications and the Red Hook Dive Center for providing fun, refresher dives for students post-program completion.    

YOE students are provided with opportunities to utililize their knowledge and skills obtained during the program in real-world applications. Students that have earned their scuba diving certification are able to participate in the Youth Diving With a Purpose Program (YDWP) based in Fort Lauderdale during the summer months. There, they can network with other diverse scuba divers as well as assist with coral restoration efforts and engage in archaeological diving. Featured here is St. Croix YOE student Maleyah Navarro cleaning acropora coral during YDWP.
Learn More About Youth Diving With A Purpose

The Youth Ocean Explorers Summer Program is part of a much larger National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research effort that aims to increase the participation and representation of underserved minorities within STEM and the geosciences which have historically lacked Diversity. The S.E.A.S. (Supporting Emerging Aquatic Scientists) Islands Alliance program builds a pathway for students at various education levels (grade school, college, and post-graduate) to not only be introduced/engaged with the geosciences but to also see themselves as future scientists. Pictured here is one of the principles of S.E.A.S. in action, Family Engagement. During the program, we invite YOE students and their families to actvities such as a nighttime shoreline walk where parents get to witness first-hand what has captivated their child's interest each day in YOE. Opportunities such as these, are indeed exciting, but serve a larger goal of helping to increase a student's interest and engagement within STEM.