Over the last four years Marine CSI has been operating its business, we have been associated and affiliated with some of the more popular and well-known businesses and institutions in town. Not to mention, there was even that one time we were sent a PO from the school district but it was for the "other" marine science program here.
We understand how there can be some confusion, as our name itself is very similar to others. But we must state facts and promote ourselves as a completely and entirely separate entity than any other marine science education facility. For this reason, we have now included a disclaimer to the bottom of every page of our website.
Marine CSI: Coastal Science Investigations, also doing business as Marine CSI, has absolutely no affiliation or association with the University of North Carolina - Wilmington, their Center for Marine Science facility, or their MarineQuest program. Although our owner and Director of Education, Kimberly, has worked for MarineQuest in the past, she has taken what she has learned from them and created her own privately operated for-profit business in the same town. She focuses our work primarily on in-school field trip options, rather than outdoor field trips (as MarineQuest does), and all materials and program supplies are paid for by the schools, camps, and groups she goes in to teach.
We do not carry a license or permit to house education-related live animals, as the North Carolina Aquariums or Ecological Marine Adventures does. Although we would love to one day have a facility for live animals and/or partner with some great breeders and keepers, at this time, our finances and space is limited to program-related artifacts and photographs of local species. We are working hard this summer to purchase more artifacts and enhance our programs in this way for the next school year.
What we do is a testament to the dedication of one person who has learned so much from the places she has been and the experiences she has had working for such great institutions as UNCW and the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher. All of the activities she brings to local schools and groups, all of the resources she has self-published, and all of the artifacts and materials she chooses to purchase, have all been adapted specifically to meet the needs of teachers, students, the curriculum, and her abilities as a one-woman show.
We hope to continue to grow by adding Onslow County schools to our roster, by adding more enhancements to our programs, by tailoring our programming more specifically to each grade and standards, and by including volunteers and interns in our future. We would like to stand alone and apart from all the other great marine science education programs and facilities we have here in the southeast region and we will keep up all the hard work to do so.
