Mote volunteer program gives high schoolers taste of marine science

After a successful first year, the fall volunteer program at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium is ready to welcome back its favorite high school students. 

Volunteer and Intern Coordinator Claire Messmer started the fall program last year after seeing how much the high schoolers loved volunteering during the summer. 

“We had a summer high school volunteer program for several years where high schoolers come for eight weeks during the summer and volunteer one day a week,” said Messmer. “But year-round, we didn't really have anything specific for high schoolers. Some of them would come and volunteer on the weekends. But we wanted to make a program specifically with a high schooler’s busy schedule in mind.”

Courtesy photo

Instead of committing one day a week like during the summer, the fall program only requires one day a month consisting of a four-hour shift on any weekend. The volunteers' main role at Mote is hosting a station that provides information about a topic related to what people see in the aquarium. 

“We have four stations throughout the aquarium,” said Messmer. “Two of them had already existed. Our adult volunteers had run those stations a few times. Then two of the stations I created. Those are the shark science station and a coral conservation station. And then we have a cart about our strandings investigation program, and a cart about watershed animals.”

These stations give the high school volunteers a more hands-on experience than the adult volunteers who usually act as aquarium guides. Messmer said it allows them to learn a lot about their topic and love it. 

Photo by Petra Rivera

Messmer, originally from Colorado, was a teen volunteer herself. She contributed over 1,000 volunteer hours during high school at the Denver Zoo. After graduating from Colorado State University with a master’s degree in zoo, aquarium and animal shelter management, she moved to Sarasota to take her position at Mote in 2022.

“My favorite part of working with them is seeing myself in them,” said Messmer. “Remembering back to when I was in high school, a lot of these students want to enter the field of marine science. So this program helps them understand more what goes into working in the field. It shows that if you want to be a marine scientist, you can be more than just an aquarist. There's education opportunities, research opportunities, rehabilitation of animals. And then also just talking to them a little bit about how to become a better interpreter. I think the best form of conservation is education.”

Applications to become a high school volunteer at Mote this fall are still open. The program runs from September through December. Volunteers must be able to complete a minimum of 16 service hours per semester. There is a background training course and an orientation on Sept. 9. Messmer said there is currently no cap to how many people can apply. 

“Our volunteers are super dedicated,” said Messmer. “We love and appreciate all of them.”