Join us in welcoming TBEP's latest staff member, Sheila Scolaro!
Sheila manages the Bay Mini Grants (grants funded by the Tarpon specialty license plate for community initiated Bay restoration and improvement projects), facilitates the Community Advisory Committee, and coordinates community engagement through Give-A-Day for the Bay volunteer events.
Previously, Sheila managed the Seagrass and Water Quality Monitoring Programs and Community Outreach Program for Sarasota County. She received a B.S. in Plant Science from the University of Florida and is completing an M.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of South Florida. Outside the office, you can find Sheila backpacking along the National Scenic Trail System or paddleboarding through mangrove tunnels found along Tampa Bay.
R Training Workshop Wrap Up!
TBEP has recently been educating partners and stakeholders on open science practices that can help us conduct better science in less time. As part of this effort, TBEP hosted its first remote R training workshop on June 19th.
R is a free statistical programming software that is used by TBEP staff to analyze environmental data to report on the status and trends of Bay health indicators. The all day training workshop was given by TBEP Program Scientist Dr. Marcus Beck and was attended by 160 participants. The goal of the workshop was to expose TBEP partners on how R can be used to support common data analysis workflows and included individual training modules on R basics, data wrangling, data visualization, and using R for GIS analysis. The workshop also focused on using RStudio as a platform for writing and sharing analysis code in a reproducible workflow.
A training website was created as a resource for continued learning after the workshop. The training lessons were recorded and are publicly available on TBEP's YouTube channel.
Questions can be directed to Dr. Marcus Beck, mbeck@tbep.org
These downloadable coloring book pages highlight the anatomy of a few estuary all-stars, including mangroves, oysters, seagrasses and tarpons. We think they're great for the curious kids who enjoy the relaxing benefits of coloring.
Check out Grace Lewis' refresh of our classic "Exploring Tampa Bay: A Teacher's Guide to Florida's Largest Estuary." The guide's 6 units come complete with teacher instructions and creative lesson ideas.
TBEP in partnership with Sarasota Bay and Coastal and Heartland NEPs completed a series of studies in 2016 and 2019 to evaluate tidal creek water quality. Open science initiatives at TBEP have focused on making the underlying tidal creek data accessible and understandable to program partners by creating an interactive online dashboard.
The tidal creeks dashboard was recently unveiled as a screening level assessment of tidal creek water quality using a report card scoring system and site specific indicators of creek condition. The dashboard includes interactive maps to view results for selected groups of creeks, download results of reported creek condition, and to assess a suite of supporting indicators for an overall view of individual creek health.
Overall, the dashboard provides complementary information to support existing reporting indicators for bay health and to understand the diversity of aquatic habitats in southwest Florida.
You know that environmental project you've always wanted to complete? Let's talk about it.
Starting July 13th, we're inviting the Bay's community groups, educators, and citizen scientists to submit an application to our 2020-2021 Bay Mini Grant Program.
As usual, project proposals must incorporate at least one of Tampa Bay Estuary
Program’s goals: water quality, habitat restoration, invasive species, public education, fish and wildlife enhancement. This year, priority will be given to proposals which directly incorporate emerging contaminants or community involvement in bay restoration.
Excited to get started? Email our Public Outreach Specialist Sheila Scolaro for more information and application details at sscolaro@tbep.orgor simplyclick here to learn more.
Comprehensive Planning for Clean Water Webinar | TBEP & TBRPC
Tune into this FREE webinar hosted by the TBEP and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council to learn about the challenges faced by local government planners and resource managers, particularly as they relate to environmental protection.
The educational purpose of this webinar is to teach planners how to incorporate scientifically-sound resource management goals into comprehensive plans, codes, or other planning documents.
Head over to our Unsplash page to view high-quality photos of the Bay, our team/partners at work and a more than a few of our feathered friends. Our photos are free to download and use as you please!
