News

Education, Research and Innovation at The Island School

Read on for program highlights, research results, all-star alumni, sustainable living ideas, and more.

Coral Restoration for Younger Generations from South Eleuthera

Jan 4, 2022

Through our restoration projects, our team promotes a connection between people and the environment in The Bahamas. As part of this effort, Coral Researcher & PADI IDC Staff Instructor Natalia Hurtado taught the PADI open water course to 5 participants of an extracurricular mentorship program at The Island School called the Young Men’s Leadership Program (YMLP). One of the participants said after the course “What I liked most about the open water course was being given the opportunity to explore the ocean.”

School Without Walls 2021

Apr 19, 2021

Last month, we held our third and final session of Schools Without Walls for the academic year. This week of experiential learning sees our Deep Creek Middle School students immerse themselves into other branches of the organization, which includes helping with research projects, working on our campus’s sustainability initiatives, and exploring iconic cultural and natural history sites across Eleuthera.

Patch reef survey time!

Mar 31, 2016

Last week the Reef Ecology and Restoration team completed the March monitoring surveys of the 5 year reef study around the patches of Eleuthera. The March surveys usually call for thick…

Cool new video of bonefish spawning aggregation in South Eleuthera!

Feb 10, 2016

A spawning aggregation of thousands of bonefish (Albula vulpes) was recently filmed in South Eleuthera. Bonefish make monthly migrations of up to 80 km (50 miles) to form spawning aggregations!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikVNxeY2KRs&feature=youtu.be…

Oregon State University’s final field season at CEI

Oct 19, 2015

Dr. Mark Hixon’s PhD students from Oregon State University returned to CEI for a fourth summer of invasive lionfish research.   As part of a long-term project, PhD student Alex…

Flats Ecology and Conservation team removes fishing line from black grouper at 90 feet!

Jul 31, 2015

Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes with a trusting grouper to realize our impact on the ocean and how we can make a difference. This week, the Flats…

CEI Research Manager attends Coral Reef Strategic Planning Workshop

Jul 6, 2015

The Bahamas National Trust invited the Cape Eleuthera Institute to participate in a Strategic Planning Workshop  intended to develop a national strategy for improving the health of coral reef ecosystems and…

Lionfish June Patch Reef Surveys

Jul 2, 2015

The lionfish team recently completed their quarterly surveys of lionfish and other reef fish in the patch reef system of South Eleuthera, part of a longterm study. This time around…

The lionfish team completes year 5 of reef surveys

Jan 6, 2015

The lionfish team zipped up their 5mm wetsuits, donned their hoods, and braved the dropping water temperatures to conduct the 5th year of reef monitoring. It is well known that…

Palm Beach Day Academy visits the Cape Eleuthera Institute

Dec 15, 2014

Seven students from The Palm Beach Day Academy, in Palm Beach, Florida, kicked off a busy December at the Cape Eleuthera Institute with a five day program focused on marine…

Next Generation of Island School Students

Oct 28, 2014

Fall 1999 Island School alumna, Elizabeth Besser Novak sent us a photo of her son, Brigham, dressed up in his Halloween costume–a scuba diver! Only about 15 more years until he can apply…

The Lionfish Team Breaks from Lab Work to Conduct Patch Reef Surveys

Oct 24, 2014

  For the past three seasons the Lionfish Research and Education Program, managed by Dr. Jocelyn Curtis-Quick, has been conducting an array of lab-based behavioral studies.  Projects have assessed everything…

Simon Fraser University’s Gotta Catch ‘Em All

Sep 23, 2014

Summer 2014 was a fun but busy field season for the research team from Simon Fraser University. This was the first field season at Cape Eleuthera Institute for Fiona Francis,…

Summer Research at CEI and Abroad – Check out our eNews!

Sep 20, 2014

The summer season at Cape Eleuthera Institute always sees a tremendous amount of activity.  Visiting scientists fly in, new interns and undergraduates arrive, and every now and then our own…

Spring Gap students are here!

Jan 29, 2014

The Spring Gappers are on campus! Our first week was busy getting oriented to all the exciting opportunities that are waiting for us in the next two months. While we’ve…

Lionfish study focused on South Eleuthera’s patch reefs is accepted for publication!

Jan 27, 2014

Good news for the continuing battle against invasive lionfish – a study conducted at CEI in collaboration with Simon Fraser University and Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), and headed by…

Lionfish team completes December surveys

Dec 20, 2013

Wetsuits were in order as the lionfish team took to the seas for their December surveys of the patch reefs.  A three-day blitz with eighteen dives brought us to sixteen…

Highlighting 3 Fall Interns with the Lionfish/Conch Programs

Sep 11, 2013

This Fall semester, The Lionfish and Conch Programs decided to do something new. They instituted a dual internship, which would focus on sustainable fisheries and marine conservation; interns would work…

Space 2 Explore Camp teaches Eleutheran youth about marine conservation

Aug 14, 2013

Space 2 Create, a non profit summer day camp for the youth of Harbour Island, Eleuthera, joined forces with The Cape Eleuthera Institute to initiate Space 2 Explore, a program…

Newcastle University from the UK sends undergraduates to collect data at CEI

Jul 31, 2013

Seven undergraduate students from Newcastle University have been on campus since July 1, assimilating with various research groups at CEI. Each student is working on an individual project for their…

Lionfish team completes July patch reef surveys

Jul 25, 2013

The lionfish team has recently finished their fish abundance surveys, which are undertaken every three months. They visited sixteen reef patches in the Exuma Sound over three days. There are…

SFU Researcher is studying yellow stingrays at CEI

Jul 3, 2013

In order to better understand the ecological role of the Yellow Stingray, Urobatis jamaicensis, team SFU has been performing some baseline stingray surveys each Saturday. What happens on Stingray Saturdays? There are sixteen survey sites (patch reefs)…

Lionfish Researcher Invasion

Jun 26, 2013

Currently CEI is overrun with lionfish researchers; it’s an invasion!The Oregon State University has a team of 6 here. The renowned lionfish researcher Dr. Mark Hixon was also on site for…

Senior Students (Re) Visit CEI!

Jun 25, 2013

The week of May 20th we had four senior students Ian, Kyle, Annie & Cyrus, join us at CEI to work on their senior projects. Three of the four students…

Aquaculture team moves the off-shore cage

May 12, 2013

Last October, Hurricane Sandy caused a dilemma by shifting the off-shore aquaculture cage. Last week the aquaculture team, along with the help of a number of CEI and IS faculty…

SFU sends two scientists to study lionfish in the food web

May 8, 2013

Here are two short bios from two visiting scientists from Simon Fraser University: Luis- I am a marine ecologist with background in oceanography and fisheries ecology; my research interests are…

April patch reef surveys completed by Lionfish Research team

May 1, 2013

Last week, the lionfish team here at CEI got out of the office and spent their working hours underwater- about 14 hours to be exact! They conducted a round of…

Oregon State University Lionfish Lab hits the reefs of South Eleuthera

Mar 29, 2013

For the past two weeks, Mark Hixon’s graduate students from Oregon State University (Alex Davis, Tye Kindinger, and Lillian Tuttle) have been busy SCUBA diving on their experimental reefs where…

Another visiting program experiences Eleuthera!

Mar 26, 2013

This eyewitness account was written by a student in the University School-Hathaway Brown Program: Before getting started, allow me to explain one reason why the Island School was such an…

Interested in a CEI summer or fall internship?

Mar 19, 2013

Call for marine ecology, sustainable food production, and renewable energy-related intern applicants!Interested in gaining experience in the marine sciences?  Perhaps sustainable living and food production?  Please note the approaching application…

Fun activites on Foundation Day!

Feb 28, 2013

CEI staff came together with Island School and Deep Creek Middle School staff to celebrate the Cape Eleuthera Foundation. The day included an afternoon of fun activities and a beach…

Vermont Commons visits CEI and has a blast under the sea!

Feb 7, 2013

A group of 12 students, 8th – 12th grade, from Vermont Commons School in South Burlington, Vermont, is off after a week of SCUBA diving and research. This was their…

The Island School Hosts New York Harbor School SCUBA Divers

Feb 5, 2013

Last week The Island School hosted 12 SCUBA divers from the New York Harbor School. Accompanying the divers were dive instructors Liv Dillon and Joe Gessert and board member Eli…

DCMS Grade 9 Learn to Scuba Dive

Dec 3, 2012

In SCUBA, I have learned and experienced a lot. I have come to love and enjoy the fun of SCUBA diving. SCUBA has become one of my favorite hobbies. I love the…

Fall 2012 Gets Scuba Certified!

Sep 12, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-LaIxuRO04&feature=youtu.be

And They’re Off!

Sep 5, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyInLwkjpoA&feature=youtu.be  K1 and K2 returned from their 3-day expeditions yesterday afternoon and now it is time for K3 and K4 to head out to sea! Meanwhile, back on campus, K1 and…

Personal Statement from a NYHS Student’s Trip to Island School

Feb 10, 2012

[slideshow] The New York Harbor School (NYHS) is a public high school located on Governors Island off the southern tip of Manhattan.  Founder, Murray Fisher, connected with The Island School…

Diving In

Sep 17, 2010

If you distill all the rules and protocols of scuba diving, there is one fundamental principle: breathe. Perhaps this seems redundant. On land, the physiological process of taking air into…

Learning Underwater…

Mar 10, 2010

[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/islandschool/4422636672/ show_info=no] Students breathing bubbles at Tunnel Rock