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Education at
the Conservancy
by Nick Penniman PHOTO COURTESY OF DENNIS GOODMAN
“W e always talk about choices, about how to make look at how the mangrove fringe surrounding south Florida’s coast
southwest Florida a better place. And we don’t enhances and protects the environment. Last year, over 22,000
talk about the abstract, but rather what concrete people took the boat rides. No reservations are required (except for
steps can we take together, what tangible things the Sunday boat-and-brunch).
we can do.” The passion is evident as Nicki Dardinger, Director of
Education for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, talks about While water is important to southwest Florida’s environmental
school programs which last year touched the lives of 11,000 kids from health, another piece of the education program is a walk through
pre-K to 12th grade. multiple ecosystems on the Conservancy’s twenty-one acre campus.
South Florida’s elevation change from Lake Okeechobee south is only
The program, in coordination with the Collier County School eleven feet, but within that narrow decline lie three separate major
District, stretched back to the early 1970s when the Conservancy ecosystems – coastal and inshore marine environment, freshwater
merged with the Big Cypress Nature Center with its robust curriculum wetlands, and upland forests – all on display and accessible within
reaching deep into the schools. Much of the emphasis was on wildlife the Conservancy’s grounds.
- snakes and birds, turtles and panthers – some of which could be
brought into the schools. Conservancy leadership at the time realized “Daily trail walks, guided by trained volunteers, are a great way to
how important it was to move beyond its Port Royal base of support, see a small piece of the ecosystem,”says Dardinger.“You move quickly,
and involving young families was the perfect answer. Since then, with only a small change in elevation, from hardwood hammock to
environmental education has remained a mainstay of county schools. slash pine forest. It’s a clear transition – easy to see. And it’s only a
few yards from the mangroves which thrive in the estuary. All our
But the best way for kids to appreciate the natural world is through education programs depend upon the expertise of Conservancy
the Conservancy’s summer programs – one of which is illustrated here. volunteers, carefully trained to provide a captivating experience to
Kids are given a hands-on experience seining for aquatic creatures as visitors. And volunteers are always needed.” More information can
they wade through the Conservancy’s filter marsh (designed to clean be found at https://www.conservancy.org/get-involved/volunteer.
the water before it goes into the Gordon River) as they learn about the
micro-environment beneath their feet. It’s a tactile experience, feeling Finally, Dardinger, whose background is in animal biology,
the marsh beneath their feet, a way of understanding how delicate the expresses her vision. “We need to keep being fresh. As we look at
balance is between man and nature. More information is available at the visitor experience for adults and families, we always have our eye
https://www. conservancy.org/our-work/education/camps. on the next step. And for the school and summer programs, we want
to make it more relevant, because the bottom line is maybe some of
But education doesn’t stop with kids. It goes on with programs these kids will look at environmental science not as a dull subject to
like guided electric boat trips down the Gordon River toward Naples be avoided, but as a dynamic opportunity for a future career.”
Bay, shown in this photograph. With five boats and over 100 captains
and dock masters, all trained naturalists, visitors are given a first-hand
PHOTO COURTESY OF CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
8 Life in Naples | January 2016
