abstract

The Florida Aquarium recently celebrated its 13th year of operation, having opened in the spring of 1995. It is a relative newcomer in the zoo and aquarium industry. Not emerging from an existing facility, all of the programs at the Aquarium needed to be developed "from scratch", including conservation and research.

The mission statement of The Florida Aquarium is "The Florida Aquarium Strives to Entertain, Educate and Inspire Stewardship About Our Natural Environment." To facilitate reaching institutional goals, a separate committee was formed and is known as The Conservation and Research Committee (CRC). The goals of this committee are to 1) act as a resource advisory body for projects identified as institutional research priorities, 2) recommend projects that support the research and conservation objectives of The Florida Aquarium, 3) facilitate partnerships and funding opportunities with appropriate organizations and individuals, and 4) provide technical support and guidance to ensure the scientific credibility of the research and conservation programs at The Florida Aquarium. Committee members consist of scientists, administrators, and educators with expertise in aquatic ecosystems, some with backgrounds that are directly applicable to the projects chosen.

Specific criteria to identify projects include those that 1) emphasize Florida ecosystems, flora and fauna or lend themselves to utilizing the expertise of the Aquarium staff on local, regional, national and/or international concerns, 2) stress husbandry and health of captive populations with the prospect of involvement in field studies, 3) lend themselves to being incorporated into exhibits and tie into educational objectives, 4) are reasonable given the staff and resources that are currently available or for which appropriate funding sources can be identified and obtained, and 5) facilitate cooperative efforts with other local research and educational facilities as well as national and foreign organizations.

Projects developed quickly and it became important to consolidate them into distinct categories to help with defining the direction of the conservation program and also for more effective marketing, promotions and fund raising. We enlisted the help of one of our aboard members who owned a public relations firm and after several workshops focusing on how to highlight this aspect of our mission statement, established The Center for Conservation at The Florida Aquarium. The Center has a separate logo and consists of three subdivisions: the Division of Aquatic Health, the Division of Aquatic Ecosystems, and the Division of Scientific Diving. Each subdivision then has four to six projects which reflect the focus of the grouping. Having established this format, we then have been able to produce brochures, web-pages, handouts, etc. that promote the programs much more effectively than randomly listing all of the individual projects. In fact, the coral propagation and restoration project has become so successful that we have begun the process of establishing a separate entity, The Global Coral Reef Institute at The Florida Aquarium, again with the aim of highlighting partnerships, and providing a focal point for a key program.

The establishment of methods to evaluate the progress of these programs and to implement the emergence of new projects and partnerships was also important to develop. Tools and tactics have included quarterly summary statements, annual conservation and research progress reports, establishing MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with our research partners that help outline the contributions to be made by all parties, offering to speak about our programs throughout the state, visiting other facilities to learn more about their successes in conservation, applying (and receiving) awards for projects, and designating a yearly board meeting to focus on our progress.