“It’s always interesting to do a marine focused project, but it’s especially interesting to learn about reefs and seagrass in the Florida Keys because this is close to where we live,” said Space Coast senior Savannah Bowen. Credit: Space Coast Junior/Senior High School. Above right image: Shandi Schmitt (left) and Adrianna Patracone. Above left image: Jeremy Brockwell and Kearston Eberhardt. The students enjoy getting to be part of a new study that hasn’t been done here before.” This kind of project allows the students to put their hands on something real, to do something that may inspire them to keep working in the field. “We got the students started, working on artificial seagrass mats, and they are moving fast - we should be done within a week. “I put together a presentation about corals, and the research to study coral reefs and seagrass beds,” said Jennifer Cotton, Marine Science teacher at Space Coast Junior/Senior High School. Nowicki needed help building artificial seagrass mats - and the Space Coast students were happy to lend a hand. Rob Nowicki and colleagues will test this hypothesis with a one-year study starting in June 2017 in the lower Florida Keys Reef Tract between Summerland Key and Key West. Theoretically, if scientists fill that gap with artificial seagrass, young fish might be more willing to cross to reefs under their cover and be less likely to be eaten during crossing. This halo could be a tough barrier to young fish, giving them nowhere to hide between seagrass nursery and reef. However, many reefs have a “halo” of empty sand, where reef fishes have eaten the seagrasses and fled back to the reef to hide from predators. Scientists suspect that patchy coral reefs of Florida and Caribbean have healthier fish communities if seagrass beds are nearby, since many juvenile fish start their lives among seagrasses and move to reefs later. More than 170 students from Space Coast Junior/Senior High School in Cocoa, Florida, built artificial seagrass mats over the past week for a Mote Marine Laboratory study planned for this summer in the Florida Keys.