Virtual Education Programs
MDC Virtual Education Programs
Join the MDC staff for a variety of online virtual programming all about the Indian River Lagoon! From animals and plants to conservation science research and beyond, we’ve got programs that the whole family will enjoy.
Registration for these programs is FREE, but donations always are appreciated. We need your support to stay afloat!
We currently use the Zoom platform (as well as some Facebook Live) for our virtual programming. We want to assure you that we have been careful to enact all the safety protocols to make our Zoom experiences positive ones, and we will continue to monitor any safety and security updates.
Virtual Public Lectures
We are offering our popular monthly public lectures in an online-only format at this time. Each month we highlight a different topic and invite an expert guest speaker as a way to educate our community. We hope you’ll join us for these free informative programs.
Coming soon…
Diamondback Terrapins | August 19 at 7 p.m.
“Diamondback Terrapins and Their Conservation in Florida” will the topic of the Marine Discovery Center’s August public lecture.
The program is free, but participants must set up a personal Zoom account to access the webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Bradley O’Hanlon, reptile and amphibian conservation coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), will be this month’s guest presenter at the free webinar, set for Thursday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Diamondback terrapins are the only fully estuarine turtle species in the world and may be found in this area’s Indian River Lagoon. In his discussion, O’Hanlon will cover the basic biology of terrapins, threats they face in the wild, and ongoing research to learn more about the species.
The webinar will also take a look at how the FWC is conserving the species’ habitat. The FWC is currently receiving public comment about proposed policy changes, giving webinar participants the opportunity to learn about potential rule recommendations and how to contribute to that process.
O’Hanlon has worked with FWC since 2016, providing input for reptile and amphibian policy and planning, including working with the state listing process and developing conservation plans for imperiled species.
Prior to joining FWC, O’Hanlon worked for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources on gopher tortoise projects and has a decade of herpetology experience in the Southeast.
Past Webinars
Invasive Species of Florida
April 16, 2020
Public Lecture: Coyotes
August 20, 2020
Public Lecture: Right Whales
January 21, 2021
Public Lecture: Bird Migration
April 15, 2021
Public Lecture: Bird Walks at MDC
May 21, 2020
Public Lecture: Florida Weather Myths
September 17, 2020
Public Lecture: Horseshoe Crabs and Human Health
February 18, 2021
Public Lecture: Honey Bees
May 20, 2021
Public Lecture: Florida's Springs
July 15, 2021
Public Lecture: Climate Change & Coastal Resilience
July 16, 2020
Public Lecture: Seahorse Research
October 15, 2020
Public Lecture: Microplastics in the IRL
March 18, 2021
Public Lecture: Manatees in the IRL
June 17, 2021
Virtual Florida Master Naturalist Program
The Florida Master Naturalist Program (FMNP) is an adult education UF/IFAS Extension program developed by the University of Florida and provided by many Extension offices and participating organizations throughout the state of Florida. FMNP training will benefit persons interested in learning more about Florida’s environment or wishing to increase their knowledge for use in education programs as volunteers, employees, ecotourism guides, and others.
Marine Discovery Center teaches the core Coastal module twice a year as well as several special topics throughout the year.
Traditionally these courses are taught in-person, but due to the restrictions brought about by COVID-19 we are implementing online-only and hybrid versions of our core and special topics.
Coming soon…
There are no online or hybrid courses available for registration at this time.
Please check back soon!
Past Programs
In Spring of 2020 MDC began a series of webinars to help engage the community while we all physically distanced and quarantined. Our Little Lessons were geared towards children in Pre-K – 2nd grade and were a combination of Facebook Live storytime sessions and webinars. Our Coastal Connections series showed viewers what MDC staff and volunteers do to protect and restore the vital habitats of the Indian River Lagoon and included topics that ranged from creature features and microplastics research to the plants and animals of shoreline restoration work and more.
While we no longer offer our Little Lessons and Coastal Connections webinars, we hope you will enjoy the recordings of these past programs.
Little Lessons
Marvelous Mollusks
April 8, 2020
Splendid Spinies
April 29, 2020
Jazzy Jellies
April 15, 2020
Stupendous Sea Turtles
May 13, 2020
Extraordinary Earth Day
April 22, 2020
Coastal Connections
All About Ecotones
April 9, 2020
Discover Estuaries
April 28, 2020
Virtual Marsh Walk
May 14, 2020
Horseshoe Crabs
May 21, 2020
Microplastics Galore!
April 10, 2020
Birds of the Salt Marsh
April 30, 2020
Mangrove Madness
April 16, 2020
Oh C.R.A.P.
April 14, 2020
Marsh Succulents
April 23, 2020
Oysters
May 7, 2020
Virtual Boat Tour
May 28, 2020
"To protect and restore the Florida coastal and Indian River Lagoon ecosystems
through education, research and community stewardship."