World Aquarium’s WAAMSI 6 Awards Dinner Program

The World Aquarium hosted an awards luncheon to honor students from the 2014 World Aquarium Aquatic and Marine Science Institute, Sunday, September 28, 2014. The event occurred at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac Hotel and involved students representing over several high schools from the metropolitan St. Louis area.

This annual program has allowed participating high school students to study Marine Science here in the Midwest. They attend a day long class one Saturday each month, culminating in a week long trip to the Florida State University Coastal & Marine Laboratory. The class visits with scientists and laboratory technicians from the US Navy, US Coast Guard, NOAA, Florda State University, Gulf Specimens Marine Lab and several field sites to do hands-on research. The World Aquarium provides scholarships to all students, with a particular preference to at-risk sophomores and juniors, to participate in this entirely FREE program.

W.A.A.M.S.I.’s has the following objectives:

1. To motivate and encourage disadvantaged youth to seek careers in marine and aquatic sciences;

2. To offer a broad applied perspective on aquatic and marine sciences;

3. To give students exposure to scientific organization in marine and aquatic sciences; and

4. To allow students to meet with leaders in aquatic and marine sciences.

Each WAAMSI 2014 student, who successfully completed the program, received a certificate and a World Aquarium medal.

The mission of World Aquarium focuses on presenting, promoting and protecting the world of water. The mission is fulfilled through education, exhibits, conservation programming and research projects. Since 1971, the World Aquarium organization has worked as a not-for-profit organization within the St. Louis community to bring about a new way of educating the public about the importance of water and our environment.

For more information about the World Aquarium or the Aquatic Marine Science Institute, please visit the website, http://www.worldaquarium.org.