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Aquaponics Research Field Day

[slideshow]

by Apon Research Students

Slimy fish squirmed between our fingers as we tried to avoid their spikes while getting accurate data for our Aquaponics research project. Today was our first four and a half hour official research block. We started the session with a harkness discussion ranging from the positives and negatives of tilapia to our goals for the future of Aquaponics. We followed this discussion by doing hands on work with the tilapia. It was a new experience for all of us because we had to learn the basics for capturing a sample population of fish from the tanks. In order to do so, we plunged half our bodies into the dirty fish water with big rusty nets in our hands. Continue reading →

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The New Cacique Update Blog Editor

As the new chores were being announced to all the students yesterday morning, I was particularly excited to hear that I had the chore of editing and reading the blogs written by the caciques. My name is Bronte McGarrah and writing has always been an interest of mine so having the opportunity to read the work of my peers every morning seems more like a privilege rather then a chore. Nonetheless, if reading and editing a blog is considered a chore, I am happy to put myself to work. So I just wanted to introduce myself to all you eager-blog-reading parents and let you know that all your children have done an excellent job writing about their personal experiences on their cacique day, which is not as easy as it seems.

-Bronte

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Foundation Wisdom

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Everyday we tell ourselves things: words to live by, bits of wisdom we’ve heard before, the things our parents told us—still tell us today.  We tell ourselves what we need to hear to persevere, to lead, to succeed, and to sometime just simply be okay.  Bits of wisdom circle our heads like bat moths gathering around a ceiling fan.  We pluck a wing and remind ourselves of a truth we already know.  We tell other people things too: like breathe, or this is supposed to happen, or we make each other laugh, which is another kind of wisdom.

Last week I got to thinking about these things.  As the orientation drew to a close for the spring 2011 semester (the 25th group of students who have embarked on this wild journey), I was thinking about what words I wanted to share with them to inspire them to preserver, to lead, to succeed and to just simply be okay, in the months to come.  And I realized the words they needed were not my own, or at least not only my own.  So, I embarked on another wild journey: I attempted to collect one single piece of advice for the S11 semester, from each member of the Cape Eleuthera Foundation.  Continue reading →

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Lin-Wood School Visits and Learns with Cape Eleuthera Institute

Ten students and three chaperones from Lin-wood High in New Hampshire recently visited the Cape Eleuthera Institute for one week of exploration and education with the Educational Program’s team. The “Lin-Wood crew” were happy to escape their wintery weather for some time learning about our local ecosystems, sustainability initiatives and research.

The group, led by Rebecca Steeves, a teacher who worked at DCMS for 5 years, got the opportunity to learn about our vital mangrove swamps, the threat of invasive lionfish on local reef ecosystems and some of our local developmental issues and challenges. We also managed to spend time helping a team of locals from Bannerman town who are converting the old abandoned school building into a public library for the area. Continue reading →

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Educational Programs update

The Educational Programs team has been at it again with back to back courses over the past two weeks. First up, eighteen students from Branson High School in the Bay area of California visited us for a week long stay.  Branson’s stay here was, as usual, a whirlwind event, with both the students and instructors dropping gratefully into bed after each full day of research, exploration and adventure.  One memorable moment we were fortunate enough to experience was camping on the beautiful Jack’s Bay beach under a perfect starry night sky. Sadly, due to the development of a new golf course in the area, we were unofficially the last group ever able to camp at that beautiful location. Continue reading →

Cacique Update, Uncategorized

Cacique Update March 9, 2011

by Caciques Evan and Emma

[slideshow]By just the 9th day at The Island School, “home” has taken on a new meaning. K1 and K2 made a triumphant return from our 3-day kayak expeditions feeling as though we had arrived home. It seemed as though the buggy beaches and the strenuous kayaking had accomplished something other than giving us itchy and tired arms—it created a family-like bond where everyone knew that together, the impossible could in fact be possible and any challenge could be overcome. Everyone had returned tanner, physically and stronger, mentally; and more excited than when they had left about the prospects of attending The Island School. Continue reading →

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1,500 cobia

one of the juvenile cobia in the lab

The aquaculture team is gearing up for this semesters research and that means setting up a new study design.  The 1,500 cobia that we have in the lab were randomly separated into 6 different tanks.  The 3-phase plan took an entire day but all the fish were divided safe and soundly.  We made a last minute change in our plans for the Island School research class and are now looking at how the cobia will perform on 3 different feeds. Continue reading →

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Students Step In and Step Up

With people coming in and out of The Island School and CEI so frequently, the sharing and transferring of responsibilities is an integral part of ensuring that the good work being done continues beyond one individual’s journey. I have worked as the permaculture intern for the past two months and though I’m sad to say goodbye, I know that the 2011 spring semester will bring positive change, new research, and creative energy to The Island School campus. As I prepared for my departure over this past week, I began transferring my most well known, and perhaps most important, duty to the students. Pictured above are students Aldis and Sarah bottle-feeding Shadow, who at 7 weeks of age is almost all grown-up and ready to be off his milk diet. Until then, he will be well looked after by the students, who after less than one week on Cape Eleuthera have already stepped in and stepped up to the plate on their journey as leaders.

Wishing the whole Island School community a fantastic spring semester,

Kelly McGlinchey

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Fly Fishing with the Flats Team

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This semester the Island School students on the Flats Ecology research team will be learning different techniques for catching, measuring, and tagging bonefish.  This valuable information will be a great resource on growth rates, survivorship and movement patterns of bonefish.  Recently, tagged bonefish from Florida have been found here in The Bahamas! This fact brings up interesting questions on migration patterns and physical differences between bonefish in Florida and The Bahamas.  Students will be getting an opportunity to seine and fly fish with the flats ecology researchers, helping gather information that will then be  a resource in conserving and protecting bonefish fisheries.