Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Over the past three years, 507 aquaculture students and 350 marine biology students participated at some level in our NIFA project. During this same time period, over 700 middle school students from our feeder pattern have taken field trips to our school and they were all informed about our HSHS program. Changes/Problems:As stated earlier, the only live oysters found in the vicinity of the project were growing at the base of Spartina alterniflora plants along the marshy fringes of the shoreline. We think that rainfall runoff and groundwater seepage kept the water fresh enough to deter the drills. Therefore all of our restoration efforts are focusing on this area. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This past June, we initiated our training class (Fundamentals of Off-Bottom Oyster Mariculture). We had a total of 25participants that consisted of community members and high school students. The 5-week program included sections on the ecological importance of oysters and oyster reefs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The State of Mississippi recently initiated an off-bottom oyster aquaculture program and we have shared our curriculum developments with several of their high schools. We have continued bringing in students from our feeder school pattern and introduced them to our aquaculture program. Several magazine articles about our program have been released recently and two more are currently being written. We are also currently preparing summary articles for Sea Briefs and the Alabama Farming Cooperative news. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1.Student retention from 9th grade to graduation will increase. Students that were 9th graders at the beginning of this project (9/14) are now seniors and should graduate this coming spring. As stated in our original proposal, this project represents a permanent addition to our overall program and we will continue to monitor the graduation success of our incoming freshmen. Students will acquire the skills to successfully transition into post secondary education opportunities. Both PD/PIs have made every effort to conduct their classes in such a way as to parallel what their students will experience inpost secondary classes with regard to content, activities and rigor. Post -graduate follow-up information gathered on students in the Coastal Studies pathway indicates a slight increase in the numbers of students entering post secondary education activities. As stated in our original proposal, this program represents a permanent addition to our overall program and we will continue to track this goal. 3.More students will be placed into agrisciencecareers. Thus far, we have been able to place six (6) students into jobs at area oyster farms and we plan to add several more this year. The number of commercial oyster farms in coastal Alabama has increased from 10 to 15 and this number, and the number of student jobs is expected to increase. Curriculum components will be developed, expanded, and enhanced. As stated in previous progress reports, a full suite of new curriculum components was created that included six PowerPoint presentations as well as pre- and post-tests. These components were updated last year to include spawning and setting activities and these updates will continue as needed. Oyster (keystone species) recovery and restoration in coastal Alabama will be accelerated. Over the past three years, we have produced and deployed a total of approximately 650,000 sub-adult restoration oysters into the nearshore waters of coastal Mobile County. Most of the oysters deployed the first two years have experienced very poor survival as a result of heavy predation by oyster drills. However, during our initial survey of existing oyster resources at the project site, the only live oysters found were growing at the base of Spartina alterniflora along the fringes of shoreline. It is believed that rainfall runoff and groundwater seepage lowered the salinity enough to deter the drills. Therefore, the 400,000 oysters we deployed this past summer were placed in this same area. We will monitor the survival of these oysters to see if this survival trend holds. Coastal resident's awareness of ways to protect aquatic resources will increase. This past June, we initiated our training class (Fundamentals of Off-Bottom Oyster Mariculture). We had a total of 25participants that consisted of community members and high school students. The 5-week program included sections on the ecological importance of oysters and oyster reefs. We will conduct the class again next summer (2018).
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Last school year, 164 aquaculture students and 100 marine biology students participated in our NIFA project. An additional 175 elementary and middle school students from our feeder pattern had field trips to ABHS where our NIFA program was presented to them. The field trip programs were aimed at increasing the number of students participating in our program in the future. So far this school year, 71 aquaculture students and 69 marine biology students have participated in our program and another 139 students will participate next semester. Including this year's field trip participants, over 700 students have been exposed to our program. Changes/Problems:The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did indeed add an archaeological survey to our list of permit requirements. It added an additional $15,000 to the costs of securing an oyster mariculture permit. We did not have the funds to do so but fortunately our partner, Auburn University Shellfish Lab, helped fund this task for us. Additionally, the Corps added a new requirement to the list and that was approval from the Alabama Marine Police. The marine police had concerns with the location of a different oyster farm and decided to have their lawyers come up with new site selection guidelines so we were delayed again. They recently signed off on our site and we are starting to install pilings and growing gear at the PAP site. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This year is the first year of our training class (Fundamentals of Off-Bottom Oyster Mariculture) that will be offered to interested students, teachers, and community residents in late May/early June. Participants will receive approximately 15 hours of classroom instructional time as well as the opportunity to manage their own oyster growing system at the school oyster farm. The program will also provide a certification in off-bottom oyster mariculture that will be beneficial for those who go on to seek employment in the field. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We are preparing all of the newly developed curriculum materials for distribution to our various information outlets. Last year, we brought in over 200 elementary and middle school students from four of our feeder pattern schools to tour our facilities and inform them about our programs with emphasis on half-shell high school. This past year, we have given presentations and tours to over 175 more visitors. Most of the tour presentations have been given by ABHS students. The "Half-Shell High School" program has also been featured in several magazines. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue all of the activities next year that we carried out during this reporting period. We plan to have our farm site at Sandy Bay fully developed over the next reporting period. We plan to produce seed oysters for the half-shell industry, produce more restoration oysters, conduct our oyster farming classes, place more students in internships, provide more job opportunities, and initiate additional research projects
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Student retention from 9th grade to graduation will increase. We are actively carrying out the activities that promote this goal however, we will not be able to begin quantifying it until after next year. 2. Students will acquire the skills to successfully transition into post-secondary education opportunities. Both the aquaculture and marine biology classes are actively providing activities, such as research projects and supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs) that are developing skills the students will need to be successful in post-secondary education opportunities. For example, students are in the second year of conducting scientific studies to examine methods of controlling and/or eradicating oyster drills which are a major predator preventing the recovery of area oyster reefs. The results of the first year of study have been implemented at our oyster farm and restoration sites as well as presented in scientific journals and science fair projects. We are quantifying and documenting the acquisition of knowledge and skills by continuing to administer pre-tests and post-tests. All marine biology students are taking a pre-test that covers oyster biology, restoration, and ecosystem functioning while all of the aquaculture students are taking a pre-test that covers all aspects of oyster mariculture and related farm operations. All students will continue to take these same tests from now on 3. More students will be placed into agriscience careers. Several aquaculture students who graduated last past year now have full-time positions at one of the area's fastest growing oyster farms. This year we placed two more students with internships at oyster farms. We expect this number to steadily grow as the program continues to expand. 4. Curriculum components will be developed, expanded, and enhanced. Last year, the marine biology and aquaculture teachers developed a new instructional unit on oyster biology, culture and restoration that included a series of five PowerPoint presentations that are being used to present information about all phases of oyster aquaculture and restoration activities. They have also developed a series of pre-and post-tests that are being used to document and quantify gains in student knowledge. This past year, an updated and more comprehensive unit has been put together that includes our efforts to spawn and set oysters ourselves. 5. Oyster (keystone species) recovery and restoration in coastal Alabama will be accelerated. Two years ago, we deployed approximately 50,000 restoration oysters into the coastal waters of Alabama. This past year, the number grew to approximately 200,000 restoration oysters. At our farm site at Point aux Pins, we currently have approximately 400,000 restoration oysters growing. Next year we hope to remote set our own restoration oysters which will provide us with a means of greatly increasing our future numbers. 6. Coastal resident's awareness of ways to protect aquatic resources will increase. Our experience has been that one of the best ways to reach out to the residents of our community is through their children. We teach our students to be good environmental stewards and encourage them to share what they have learned with their family and friends. Last year, the marine biology and aquaculture teachers and their students actively participated in the Bayou La Batre watershed study that demonstrated how the BLB watershed and the adjacent oyster habitats are interconnected. This year we initiated an oyster aquaculture training program that is open to students as well as interested community members. Program completers will be offered the option of operating their own farm site at PAP.
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Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Last school year, 159 aquaculture students and 124 marine biology students participated in our NIFA project. An additional 165 elementary and middle school students from our feeder pattern had field trips to ABHS where our NIFA program was presented to them. The field trip programs were aimed at increasing the number of students participating in our program in the future. So far this school year, 84 aquaculture students and 56 marine biology students have participated in our program and another 140 students will participate next semester. Including this year's field trip participants, over 800 students have been exposed to our program. We have also presented our program to approximately 50 college students and almost 40 other adult members of our community. Later this year, we are expanding our presentations and tours to include students from schools outside of our district as our signature academy is open to all students within the Mobile County Public School System. Changes/Problems:We recently learned that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to add archaeological surveys to the list of permit requirements. If this indeed turns out to be the case, this will add an additional $15,000 to the costs of securing an oyster mariculture permit. We plan to have a pre-application meeting with representatives from the USACE in the next few weeks to find out if this will be one of our requirements. We will then determine the best course of action to secure the additional funds needed for this unforeseen task. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We are currently developing a training class (Fundamentals of Off-Bottom Oyster Mariculture) that will be offered to interested students, teachers, and community residents in late May/early June. Participants will receive approximately 15 hours of classroom instructional time as well as the opportunity to manage their own oyster growing system at the school oyster farm. The program will also provide a certification in off-bottom oyster mariculture that will be beneficial for those who go on to seek employment in the field. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We are preparing all of the newly developed curriculum materials for distribution to our various information outlets. Over the past 30 days, we have brought in over 200 elementary and middle school students from four of our feeder pattern schools to tour our facilities and inform them about our programs with emphasis on half-shell high school. We have also given presentations and tours to other groups such as Gamma Nu Sorority (teachers, retired teachers, university professors, and retired administrators). Most of the tour presentations have been given by ABHS students. These same students have also given presentations at several meetings and symposia, such as Bays & Bayous sponsored by the Mobile Bay NEP. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue all of the activities next year that we carried out during this reporting period. We plan to have our farm site at Sandy Bay completely operational over the next reporting period. We plan to produce seed oysters for the half-shell industry, produce more restoration oysters, conduct our oyster farming classes, place more students in internships, provide more job opportunities, and initiate additional research projects.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Student retention from 9th grade to graduation will increase. We are actively carrying out the activities that promote this goal however, we will not be able to begin quantifying it until several years have passed. 2. Students will acquire the skills to successfully transition into post-secondary education opportunities. Both the aquaculture and marine biology classes are actively providing activities, such as research projects and supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs) that are developing skills the students will need to be successful in post-secondary education opportunities. For example, students are presently conducting a series of scientific studies to examine methods of controlling and/or eradicating oyster drills which are a major predator preventing the recovery of area oyster reefs. The results of these studies will be implemented at our oyster farm and restoration sites as well as presented in scientific journals and science fair projects. We are quantifying and documenting the acquisition of knowledge and skills by administering pre-tests and post-tests. All marine biology students have taken a pre-test that covers oyster biology, restoration, and ecosystem functioning while all of the aquaculture students have taken a pre-test that covers all aspects of oyster mariculture and related farm operations. All students will take the post-test in mid-December. 3. More students will be placed into agriscience careers. Several aquaculture students who graduated this past year now have full-time positions at one of the area's fastest growing oyster farms. Two other farm owners have asked for full-time applicants who have or will soon go through the half-shell high school program. We expect this number to steadily grow as the program progresses. 4. Curriculum components will be developed, expanded, and enhanced. The marine biology and aquaculture teachers have developed a whole new instructional unit on oyster biology, culture and restoration that includes a series of five PowerPoint presentations that are being used to present information about all phases of oyster aquaculture and restoration activities. They have also developed a series of pre-and post-tests that are being used to document and quantify gains in student knowledge. The materials will be expanded and enhanced as the program develops and progresses. 5. Oyster (keystone species) recovery and restoration in coastal Alabama will be accelerated. Last year approximately 50,000 restoration oysters were produced and deployed into the coastal waters of Alabama. This year the number has grown to approximately 200,000 restoration oysters. Once our farm site at Point aux Pins is completely operational, we expect that number to substantially grow. 6. Coastal resident's awareness of ways to protect aquatic resources will increase. Our experience has been that one of the best ways to reach out to the residents of our community is through their children. We teach our students to be good environmental stewards and encourage them to share what they have learned with their family and friends. The marine biology and aquaculture teachers and their students are also actively participating in the Bayou La Batre watershed study that is currently underway and are making every effort to demonstrate how the BLB watershed and the adjacent oyster habitats are interconnected.
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