FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – While the Pentagon is allocating $83 million to aide the United States Military with the development of underwater, unmanned, submersible drones, the AIMS funded marine science magnet students at South Broward High School are designing similar technological robotics with the development of sub-aquatic remotely-operated vehicles (ROV).  Although, few equate marine science with robotics, these maritime students have been creating technological robots that could impress the US government and secure their future employment. Innovative marine programs, such as this and many others are “dreams that come true” for youths funded by an exciting non-profit organization called AIMS, the American Institute of Marine Studies.

The American Institute of Marine Studies, Inc. (http://www.aimsamerica.org/) was charged in 1974 with the primary purpose of developing educational programs in oceanography, tropical agriculture, and interrelated fields. From the millennium year their primary focus has been to assist marine education and the research needed to study replenishment of the world's marine resources. This organization is concerned about the direction our students choose in careers and so they fund marine educational institutions such as the Marine Science Magnet Program at South Broward High School (#). AIMS’s innovation at-sea experiences for young people in Broward County Public Schools are virtually impossible to encounter in traditional settings. They include field trips to State Park beaches and to many of our marina facilities. In addition to the local field trips, the students attend a summer marine science camp called B.E.A.C.H. In the past, these students have traveled to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State to study Killer Whales and the ecology of Puget Sound. All their meals and transportation were paid for by a generous grant from the American Institute of Marine Studies. AIMS have piloted programs like “College for Kids” which provides students with dual University/High School credit. The program emphasizes on Paleoecology, which provides a scientific understanding of what marine ecosystems were like in the past through fossil evidence. Twenty-eight students spent two weeks in the Wyoming outback country digging for dinosaur bones and marine fossils of the Sundance Sea that once covered the Great Plains of America during the Mesozoic Era.

The entrepreneuring tradition of unique educational funding created another AIMS funded summer program called “Students at Sea.” In that curriculum, six boys went to sea for 16 days in the North Pacific. They went with NOAA scientists to study hydrothermal vents that are 300 miles off the Oregon coast. Seven girls also went to sea for 10 days studying Florida Bay and the Florida Reef Track on a 90’ research vessel (R/V). The University of Miami’s R/V F.G. Walton Smith was their home and classroom for the summer and the experience was priceless.  This summer, AIMS donated the full time use of a 50-Ft. yacht for marine research. Each day, the summer BEACH students ventured out to the coral reefs to study manatees, sea turtles, and water quality in Port Everglades and the near shore coral reefs. Marine science graduate students (that have received scholarships from AIMS) accompanied the participants daily to mentor their scientific methods. The summer students also conducted Marine Fisheries research with the Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection (DPEP). Fish traps were set daily by foot or in canoes within Dania Beach’s West Lake Park and John U. Lloyd Beach State Recreation Center. Together they worked with scientists to assess reef and game fish populations in our mangroves. Marine fisheries research is crucial to the fishing industry and impacts the economy of South Florida. Juvenile species such as red fish, snook, grouper and snapper were identified, measured and released unharmed. They also studied sea turtle nesting along the coast and will continue to collect data for science and the community. The students earned volunteer hours for their community services and their efforts were well appreciated.

Juniors and seniors in the AIMS funded marine science magnet program that have GPAs of 3.0 and above are eligible for the new GIS satellite program. The students earn 8 university credits and take their English and History classes on-line with the new Broward Virtual Education (BVED) #. The first semester satellite students will take a course in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) on the new South Broward High School campus in their “state-of-the-art” GIS computer lab. The students will learn technology skills while inputting marine data onto software programs (e.g. ArcView 8.2) that generate hi-tech maps of the ocean bottom and surface features (#). Broward Community College (BCC) will teach this course cooperatively with another one of AIMS’s “Partners in Education” (The University of Miami (RSMAS)). This Satellite Program also features marine fish studies at the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) and focuses on the vertebrates of Florida reefs and Everglade’s animals. The Vertebrate Zoology course (at the IGFA) features college level laboratory experiences. Since the students will be off campus for three hours, they will earn their English and Social Studies credit with BVED on the South Broward campus or at home. The teachers for these new on-line virtual education classes are housed at BECON (#).