2024-25 Junior SeaKeepers Graduation and Research Symposium

Overview

On Thursday, June 12th, 2025, The International SeaKeepers Society's Education and Outreach team hosted the second annual final Graduation and Research Symposium for our 2024-25 Junior SeaKeepers cohort at Lowe Art Museum through the University of Miami. The Junior SeaKeepers Program offers a unique marine science program for high school students in South Florida to gain practical experience in oceanographic research while actively participating in marine conservation efforts. Under the guidance of local and global marine science experts, students have explored various marine science topics, honing their skills in scientific research, effective science communication, and community engagement. During the Graduation and Symposium, we celebrated the next generation of ocean ambassadors equipped to comprehend and address the challenges our oceans face on a significant scale.

The main feature of our final Junior SeaKeepers event was the Research Symposium where participants were able to display their scientific posters created over the last few months as a part of their ocean conservation research project. As the last step of this project, students put together high-level scientific posters and were able to present their findings to friends, family, SeaKeepers partners, and local community members in a traditional scientific poster session layout. This opportunity gave students the chance to bring their research experience full circle from project planning, through execution and communication to the public and relevant stakeholders. JSK Public Service Announcement projects aimed at creating awareness around local and global marine conservation issues were also displayed at this event for viewing by our attendees. To finish out the evening, SeaKeepers Director of Education and Outreach, Toni Lohroff, presented our 22 graduating students from 18 South Florida high schools with completion certificates and awarded our three Junior SeaKeeper Scholarships. Huge congratulations to our 2024-25 honorees for their exemplary program participation, and we look forward to working with them as JSK alumni leadership for next year's program!

2024-25 Junior SeaKeeper of the Year Awardee: Alexander Walker - incoming Senior at Miami Arts Studio at Zelda Glazer. Alexander's research project was titled: "Evaluating the Impacts of Invasive Lionfish in South Florida's Coastal Waters." Alexander's PSA project was an original song and music video called "Ocean is Life" that can be found on YouTube through his account, Xanderman.

2024-25 Coastal Champion Awardee: Alexis Rothen - incoming Sophomore at TERRA Environmental Research Institute. Alexis's research project was titled: "From Surface to Seafloor: An Audit of the Plastic Pollutants Collected at Different Depths." Alexis's PSA project was a digital infographic focused on informing the South Florida public about the impacts of toxin biomagnification in our seafood due to anthropogenic pollution.

2024-25 Conservation Communicator Awardee: Atena Aguero - graduating Senior at Miami Design and Architecture Senior High. Atena's research project was titled: "Costing the Coast: How Income Inequality Impacts Coastal Sustainability Efforts in South Florida." Atena's PSA project was a collection of physical art pieces in a gallery-style display aiming to bring awareness to the harms of anthropogenic pollution on humans and the environment.

We were so honored to be able to work with this year's incredible group of Junior SeaKeeper students. Throughout the program, our education team has had the opportunity to mentor students through research and community engagement projects while helping to shape the way that they see conservation issues and their solutions, and we cannot see how they go on to use these new skills in their futures. The final Graduation and Research Symposium was a wonderful opportunity for our Junior SeaKeepers to bring their work throughout the program full circle and share what they have learned with the local community. We hope that our 2024-25 students have enjoyed their experiences, and we look forward to continuing to work with these passionate students in the future. We also wish to thank the canned beverage companies Open Water and Fruga for their generous refreshment donations in support of our Junior SeaKeepers Graduation and Symposium.