Monthly Archives: July 2012

Educational Programs

Second Session of Eleuthera Explorers Camp Comes to a Close

The second batch of Eleuthera Explorer’s Campers are off after a BBQ celebration this past Saturday afternoon. They had an eventful week full of not only good times but learning experiences they will cherish for a lifetime.

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Each day began with a refreshing daily morning exercise and there after they would dive right into some of the various research projects currently going on at Cape Eleuthera Institute. They got a taste of Bahamian geology in a trip to a nearby ooid sand bar, were able to check out the Cobia cage with Island School students, harvest tilapia with Krystal Continue reading →

Alumni

IS Alumni & New York Harbor School Students Complete Governor’s Island Swim!

This past Saturday, a group of New York Harbor School students, including three Island School alumni, Chris Lorient (F’10), Gabe Taliaferrow (SP’12), and Arben Ukperaj (SP’11), completed the Governor’s Island Swim! These brave souls, alongside the 300 race participants, endured the 2.0-mile swim around Governor’s Island in New York City–a bit different than the Super Swim these alumni completed during their Island School semester. Congratulations on such an impressive feat! We hope to get some more Island School folks to join you guys next year!

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Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI

Growing Power!

Last week The Island School orchard received its first dose of steroids from the biodigester. The Island School biodigester uses naturally occurring bacteria to generate renewable energy and sterilize our septic waste. The outcome? Highly nutrient rich, liquid fertilizer that has the potential to increase crop yields substantially. In some cases, certain crops have increased their yields by up to sixty percent with the addition of biodigestion effluent. A resource such as this could work wonders for both CEI and Island School as we are always seeking more local food sources and readily available, healthy snacks. With a bit of sunshine to go with these nutrients, we could eventually put the marina store out of business. Coming into season right now are sour oranges, guava, mango, sugar apples, cherries, coconuts, sapodillas, and passion fruit. Pick your poison. The next questions to ask are how much food can we make and how fast? What does it take to ween ourselves of imported fruits and vegetables? A large part of the answer is our biodigestion system that is already producing for us on a daily basis.

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Uncategorized

The 2012 Island School Photo Contest!

Got some great photos from your semester or visit to The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute? Then submit them to The 2012 Island School Photo Contest! The Photo Contest is going on now and ends August 31st, 2012, 9:00am ET. You can enter your own, original photos on The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute Facebook pages, just as long as they are not defamatory, inflammatory or obscene. We’re looking for photos that best exemplify core values of The Island School:

  • Living better in a place
  • Leadership affecting change
  • Sustainability

and the Cape Eleuthera Institute:

  • Research
  • Field courses
  • Conservation

You can read the full set of rules here: The 2012 Island School Photo Contest Rules

Once the contest has closed on August 31, we will announce the 12 contest finalists for The Island School and 12 finalists for Cape Eleuthera Institute. Then, the general public will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite photos on Facebook from September 1-September 15, 2012. The winner will be announced on September 17th, 2012. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners for both The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute will get a copy of their winning photo in a casaurina frame, made by our very own Ashley Mackey. The 9 runner-ups will receive a calendar that includes all 12 of the finalist photos.

Disclaimer: All submissions become the property of the Island School. We reserve the right to reuse all submissions for Marketing & Publicity.

Educational Programs

South Eleuthera Kids Camp

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Summer fun continues with our own local South Eleuthera Kids Camp. This week we had 13 students from Green Castle and Deep Creek join us for five days of fun and adventure. This group dove right in to the marine ecosystems on their first morning exercise exploring the reef inhabitants of our local wreck. Over the course of the week the group challenged themselves and conquered fears as they jumped off the docks, high rock and ocean hole. A highlight for the group was the day they learned about aquaculture and took a trip out to our off-shore Cobia cage.

Over the course of the week the campers not only lived a sustainable lifestyle, but they also Continue reading →

Educational Programs

GWU Online High School Learns Outside of “The Cloud”

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Students from the George Washington University Online High School arrived this past weekend with the goal of experiencing their education firsthand and coming together as a group of individuals who have never met in person before – much like our semester program. They immediately jumped in with CEI’s flats ecology program on Sunday, studying climate change and its effects on a number of species, running salinity and respirometry tests, and beginning to restore a mangrove habitat. Monday found them seining for mojarra in a nearby creek and dissecting bonefish in the wet lab, before learning how to fly fish early Tuesday morning.

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In addition to the plethora of research being undertaken by these seven young scholars, they have also Continue reading →

Cacique Update

Cacique Update July 23, 2012

by Emily Rand

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Only 12 days left! As we start to near the end of our 6-week experience here at the Island School, we are beginning to realize that sadly this will mean leaving each other and the memories we have made here. Yesterday we said goodbye to half of our group as they embarked on their second kayak trip, though slightly longer—a three day journey instead of two. Unfortunately it rained and thundered nearly all day, pausing only for a couple hours, so the 12 of us who stayed back are hoping our fellow kayakers are alive and well. Yesterday, after bidding farewell to the group, the rest of us stayed back and began work on our Legacy project—a tradition of The Island School; essentially a project that we do towards the end of our experience that Continue reading →

Cacique Update

Cacique Update July 22, 2012

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From Caciques Isaac and Tristan

With the conclusion of the final academic week we have begun preparing for the Monster Run-Swim that will take place in a little over a week. Two days ago we were driven out to High Rock where we jumped into the ocean and swam a half mile to a beach where we climbed out and ran to No-Name harbor. We continued running and swimming all the way back to The Island School for a total of about five miles. On Friday night everyone was invited to a party at the Maxeys’ house. We were Continue reading →

CEI

Water Quality Testing and the Biodigestion Process

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Water is the most important resource available to CEI and Island School. We drink it, we bathe in it, we cook with it, and it all comes from the rain. Although we can never know what the weather may bring us, we can always be ready to take advantage of what does come our way as weather patterns shift. To that end, we use solar panels, and wind turbines, but most importantly, we catch rain water. Of late, one of the most important issues we’ve been tackling is how to make our water last and how to maximize it’s potential. If we catch water once, how many times can we use it before it’s gone? Last week we took a significant step towards increasing the usefulness of our water.

This spring CEI and Island School put biodigestion on the map for The Bahamas. We’ve found a way to treat our waste and generate more renewable energy, in addition to getting added utility from our water. The process of biodigestion  Continue reading →

Aquaponics, Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI

Thousands of Tilapia for Aquaponics Team

The Aquaponics research team at The Cape Eleuthera Institute has successfully hatched nearly two thousand tilapia eggs. Eggs were removed from the mouths of the female brood stock and transferred to a larval rearing device known as a McDonald Jar where they were maintained at a water temperature of 27°C. Tilapia are mouth brooders; upon fertilization of eggs the female scoops all of the eggs into her mouth and incubates them for 3-5 days. After spending four days in the McDonald Jar, the eggs had a near 100% successful hatch rate and transformed into fry. They have officially been introduced into the aquaponics system and are doing FANTASTIC!

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