Smoke on the Coast BBQ and Fireworks Festival on July 3

CBA is partnering with Whole Foods Destin for the annual Smoke on the Coast BBQ and Fireworks festival, funded by Coins for a Cause . We are bringing our corn-hole boards, photo booth, CBA info, and so much more. Mark your calendars for an evening of food and fun at Destin Commons!

Click here to learn more.
Reef Breakwater Building
June is a busy reef-building month for CBA! We are holding build events every weekday to reduce shoreline erosion and provide habitat for oysters and other aquatic critters. Come for a full day or part of a day, and bring your friends and family. RSVP to our Restoration Coordinator, Rachel Gwin, at gwinr@nwfsc.edu.
Species Monitoring at Living Shorelines
CBA's monitoring team collects data on oyster presence and size, sediment accumulation behind the reef, as well as species diversity around the structure itself. "Our monitoring goal is to be able to measure the success of CBA constructed oyster reefs by quantifying oyster recruitment and health, shoreline stabilization and species diversity," says Brandy Foley, CBA's Monitoring Coordinator. Stay tuned for updates on our findings!
Grasses in Classes Field Trips
20 classes of 3rd and 5th graders across Okaloosa and Walton Counties visited restoration sites along the Choctawhatchee Bay this month to finish their Grasses in Classes curriculum. Students planted the smooth cordgrass they have been raising since the fall and learned to identify native species.
Congratulations Riley!
Starting this fall our Ecology Technician Riley Timbs will be starting his Master's Degree at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington!

During the fall, he will be performing isotope analysis on sulfide in the seagrasses of Florida Bay, just south of the Everglades National Park.
In the summer he will spend time in the Florida Keys collecting samples and data for the project. "Working at CBA had given me an enormous appreciation for our marine and estuarine ecosystems," says Riley, "as well as giving me some awesome experience that allowed me to get accepted into and funded by UNCW."
Volunteer Opportunities
For more information or to sign up to be a water quality monitor, email Brandy Foley at foleyb@nwfsc.edu.