BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

You saw that right. We've got a big, huge, enormous announcement and we cannot contain our excitement any longer!

Marine CSI has joined a brand new initiative in the southeast NC region to build an eco-center in Pender County! Oasis Watershed Center has officially been approved by the state as a non-profit organization, and will begin the planning stages soon. But first, they need everyone's help to get it off the ground.

What they need right now is a few good people who have the time and knowledge to dedicate to becoming the founding board members of the new organization. They will be in charge of filing any and all paperwork for the IRS and state for non-profit status, creating its bylaws, and setting up all accounting records. They are under no obligation to stay on as board members, but they are needed for this initial stage.

Oasis Watershed Center is the brainchild of our Director of Education, Kimberly Belfer! For years, she grew up in Ocean County, NJ, where each and every county park had their very own nature center. And these centers weren't just a few taxidermy animals, a few panels of information, and a big room with nothing in it. No, they were interactive centers, where the public could enjoy getting up close and personal with wildlife, through exhibits and live species, as well as learn from park rangers and volunteers all about the watershed and ecology of the region. It's where she volunteered and spent a lot of her time. (See article on Cattus Island County Park's Cooper Environmental Center: HERE)

Kimberly moved to Wilmington back in 2007 and immediately set out to receive her Environmental Educator certification, which she completed in 2011. Now, she wants to give back to the community by sharing that love on the same level as she remembered as a child. In searching for true environmental education centers along the coast, there were a few that really stood out, including the NC Aquariums at Fort Fisher and Pine Knoll Shores, UNCW's Center for Marine Science, Cape Fear Museum, Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, and Sturgeon City Environmental Education Center. All of these facilities Kimberly has either worked for or volunteered with in the past.

But something strange stared at her when she looked at a map of all these wonderful places: there's a big hole of environmental education in Pender County. She has since set out to rectify that situation, first by creating a partnership with Pender County Parks, to provide public programs during the summer, as well as homeschool programs throughout the school year, all at parks around the county. Through the partnership, Pender Parks provides the location and registration capabilities, and Marine CSI provides the supplies and expertise in marine science education.

The next step was the formation of a non-profit separate from Marine CSI entirely. With the help of a few volunteers and peers, Oasis Watershed Center has been formed and approved by the state to operate as a 501(c)3 organization. Marine CSI will be a partner business, but we are now putting it in the hands of the local people to build on this initial vision and mission. Let's create something big, huge, enormous for Pender County residents and visitors that will preserve and conserve the Cape Fear River Watershed into the future! For more information and to become a founding board member, please contact Kimberly at education@teachmarinecsi.com