Aqua Team Belize Force

Online, December 22, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at the University of Belize and The Institute for Sustainable International Studies (ISIS) signed an agreement of collaboration to promote two marine science courses at the Calabash Caye Research Station.

The Environmental Research Institute (ERI) was established in January 2010 at the University of Belize. Its goal is to address the large gap in local capacity for research and monitoring that exists within Belize. The University of Belize was established as Belize's national university in August 2000. In 2009 the Calabash Caye Field Station was moved under the new ERI of UB to support the mission of marine sciences education, research and monitoring.

Calabash Caye Field Station (CCFS) sits on the 186 mile long Belize Barrier Reef. The field station sits on a 5 acre plot and is about 32 miles from Belize City. Calabash Caye has a dense cover of coconut trees and mature palm forest and is fringed on the lagoon side by red, black and white mangrove species. On the eastern side there is a well-developed fringing reef separated from the shore by shallow seagrass beds. The mangrove, seagrass and reef habitats within the atoll are still relatively health and intact. These ecosystems provide habitat for a number of threatened and endangered species such as American crocodiles, sea turtles, manatees and dolphins. CCFS provides the perfect location for marine science courses.

ISIS will be promoting two summer courses under this agreement: Tropical Marine Ecology is aimed at undergraduate biology, ecology and environmental science students, and the Coral Reef Management and Ecology course is aimed at upper level undergraduate students as well as Master's degree students. Both UB courses are taught by staff from the ERI and Natural Resources Management programs at UB. This exciting partnership makes the rich resources and biodiversity of Belize easily available to international students.

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For more information, see www.isisbelize.com or contact Nancy Adamson at [email protected].