Mangrove Program New Additions 2016-2017: Living Oceans Foundation

Mangrove Program New Additions

I’m excited to also share that Symone Johnson, a National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Knauss Fellow, is joining us for the first phase of the B.A.M. and J.A.M.I.N. programs. Symone is volunteering with us as part of her professional development training to learn about managing, implementing, and evaluating education programs such as ours. Welcome Symone!

Symone Johnson helping students at Forest Heights to use a GPS device.

When we arrive in Abaco, Bahamas, Abaco Central High School and Forest Heights Academy are just getting in the full swing of a new school year. It’s a good time to implement our programs. Last year, we piloted the B.A.M. program in various grade levels and classes, but we found that the program aligns best with the Biology grade 10 curriculum. This year B.A.M. will begin in the grade 10 Biology classes and I’m excited to meet all of the new students.

Abaco Central High School Biology Class, Grade 10

Forest Heights Academy Biology Class, Grade 10

Additionally, we will pilot a second year program at Forest Heights Academy with students who participated in the last year’s B.A.M. program. We are very excited to be able to continue expanding students’ knowledge of mangroves!

Forest Heights Academy Marine Biology Class

Keep following our blogs for more information about our new second year Mangrove Education and Restoration program.

After the Storm: Standing with Our J.A.M.I.N. Family in Jamaica

There are moments in this work that feel heartbreakingly familiar.

Two weeks after we completed our Jamaica Awareness of Mangroves in Nature (J.A.M.I.N.) programming, Hurricane Melissa made landfall. A powerful Category 5 hurricane, Melissa is now tied with Hurricane Allen in 1980 for the strongest winds ever recorded in an Atlantic storm. Like Hurricane Dorian, which devastated The Bahamas in 2019, Melissa will be remembered as one of the strongest hurricanes on record in the region.

For 11 years, the University of the West Indies Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory and William Knibb Memorial High School have been more than program partners. They have welcomed us into their classrooms and labs, shared meals and laughter, and committed themselves to educating their students about mangroves and coastal resilience. These colleagues and students are not distant collaborators. They are family.

And they were hit hard…

B.A.M. Turns 10: A Year of Milestones, Resilience, and Growth

The 2025–2026 academic year was one of those defining years for our Bahamas Awareness of Mangroves (B.A.M.) and Jamaica Awareness of Mangroves in Nature (J.A.M.I.N.) programs. It was a year marked by celebration, challenge, growth, and powerful full-circle moments, and a reminder of why mangrove education matters.

In The Bahamas, B.A.M. reached a major milestone: ten years of partnership and environmental education in Abaco. Since 2015, in collaboration with Friends of the Environment, we have worked alongside Patrick J. Bethel High School and Forest Heights Academy to bring hands-on mangrove science into classrooms and into the field. This year, we were proud to expand the program to S.C. Bootle High School, increasing access for students who live…