Consortium of Aquarium Researchers & Educators
Florida Tech has partnered with the East Coast Zoological Foundation to lead a new university consortium for lagoon research at the foundation’s planned aquarium and conservation center at Port Canaveral.
The Consortium of Aquarium Researchers and Educators (CARE) will focus on raising awareness of estuarine environments and the threats they face, and creating improvements in the Indian River Lagoon and similar ecosystems.
To be based at the future aquarium’s Dr. Duane De Freese Coastal Conservation Hub, CARE will bring together multiple disciplines and diverse perspectives to work collaboratively to address critical ecosystem threats and to pursue solutions to help restore the Indian River Lagoon (IRL).
Austin Fox, assistant professor in ocean engineering and marine science and Florida Tech’s principal investigator in the research collaborations with the Foundation's Brevard Zoo campus, is helping to lead the CARE program.