News

Education, Research and Innovation at The Island School

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

The Art of Compost: Transforming Food Waste into Green Solutions

Food waste is a major issue, so how can we help limit what goes unused? Composting not only allows us to repurpose uneaten food and byproducts, but it also helps us create rich soil for growing our own produce. Learn about composting and how you can get started.

Cape Eleuthera Institute’s Crawfish Aquaculture Program

The Island School’s Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) is thrilled to introduce a crawfish aquaculture program designed to restock wild populations and pioneer the rearing of crawfish to marketable size.  This…

Alumni Spotlight: Tia Peterson

Jul 6, 2022

There are many opportunities that set an Island School Semester apart from a traditional school, but one of the most remarkable things is the real-world research students conduct alongside our team of research scientists through the Cape Eleuthera Institute.

Inaugural “Introduction To Solar-Electric Theory, Design, and Construction” Course Completed

Sep 14, 2018

Michael, one of our general systems interns and two participants work to install the solar modules along the roof. Earlier this month we announced that CEIS was granted an annual…

First in The Commonwealth… Again

Aug 22, 2018

The year 2018 has been a year of firsts on the Cape Eleuthera Island School campus. With all the accolades that have come the school’s way for its marine science…

Turning Trash Into Treasure

Aug 13, 2018

CSD pursues new project to convert glycerol waste. Two small, unassuming boxes sit under the window in the small kitchen at the back of the Center for Sustainable Development. Small…

Permaculture: A Farewell from the Permacults!

Jun 12, 2018

The Permaculture Team’s Parents Weekend meal was a huge success! To recap, the menu included appetizers such as tilapia and coconut meat. For the main meal, the parents were served…

CSD Plastic-to-Fuel Project Receives National Energy Globe Award

Jun 7, 2018

The Center for Sustainable Development is excited to announce that it has recently received some global recognition! The Plastic-to-Fuel via Pyrolysis Project has been awarded the 2018 National Energy Globe…

Permaculture Research Team: A Week of Harvesting

May 22, 2018

After three weeks of expeditions, the Permaculture Research Team is finally all back together and busy preparing for Parents Weekend, which begins this week. As a part of the Permaculture…

Permaculture Research Team: Farm-to-Table

May 11, 2018

The Permaculture Research Team has been busy over the past academic week in its progress towards Parents Weekend! The team has continued collecting and comprehending data, visited a local farm…

How to Help the Bee Population in Your Own Garden

May 10, 2018

One of the newest projects at the Center for Sustainable Development, or CSD, is bee keeping! Over the past year we started saving bee colonies that would otherwise be exterminated…

Celebrating Earth Day in South Eleuthera

Apr 26, 2018

Over the weekend, Cape Eleuthera Island School (CEIS) celebrated the 7th annual Earth Day Fest hosted by One Eleuthera at the Center for Training and Innovation (CTI) in Rock Sound.…

Permaculture Research Team: Plant Science and Botany

Apr 13, 2018

During academic week three, the Permaculture Research team focused their sights on plant science and botany. Our primary projects this week included: pruning the CSD orchard, making our own moringa…

How to Make Organic Biochar at Home

Apr 12, 2018

At the Center for Sustainable Development we use organic biochar to help our soil produce the best vegetation possible. Biochar is a stable carbon-rich product of pyrolysis (the thermal decomposition…

Permaculture Research Team: Soil Amendments

Apr 9, 2018

Last week, the Permaculture research group began to explain their research and findings in and out of the classroom. To recap, this semester we are on a quest to understand…

The Importance of Using Multiple Types of Solar Panels

Mar 30, 2018

Solar energy has been a leading project of the Center for Sustainable Development since the organization was founded in 2014. We felt it necessary to explore alternative energy sources in…

Permaculture Research Team: How do we feed ourselves?

Mar 28, 2018

This spring semester, there’s a lot growing on at the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD). One of the four CSD-based Applied Scientific Research classes through The Island School semester program…

How To Fillet a Tilapia

Mar 15, 2018

In our last blog we talked all about why we raise and harvest tilapia here at the Center for Sustainable Development. This week we are giving you the steps on…

A Weekend Retreat for our Young Men’s Leadership Program

Mar 9, 2018

Over the mid-term break Island School hosted an overnight leadership development retreat on our campus for the Young Men’s Leadership Program (YMLP). The first session started as soon as the…

Why We Raise and Harvest Tilapia

Mar 2, 2018

Our aquaponics system is a huge part of the many things we do around here at the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD). Aquaponics helps us produce our own food quickly…

How To Make Your Own Natural And Effective Fertilizer

Feb 15, 2018

Here at the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD), we have been working hard to find the best formula for natural, nutritious fertilizer that we can make ourselves. We have a…

The Honorable Hank Johnson joins the Young Men’s Leadership Program for a day

Feb 8, 2018

The Young Men’s Leadership Program with The Honorable Hank Johnson on The Island School campus. (From left to right: Stan Burnside, Shicardo Knowles, Ethan Forbes, Theondre Ferguson, Kiyano Butler, Alex…

Abaco Science Alliance Conference

Jan 19, 2018

Candice Brittain talking about the importance of parrotfish conservation in The Bahamas. Last week, Candice Brittain (Director of Outreach and Partnerships), Meagan Gary (CEI Scientist) and Eric Schneider (CEI Scientist)…

Biochar and Biofertilzer: A New CSD Experimental Research Project

Nov 2, 2017

Sustainable agriculture is a new and exciting area of research being conducted at The Center for Sustainable Development (CSD). The experimental research is being lead by two of our Biologists,…

Small Island Sustainability Retrofit: A Case Study at The Deep Creek Middle School

Oct 17, 2017

With an eye towards continued improvement of our campuses and facilities, this fall, an Island School Research Team has engaged with The Deep Creek Middle School (DCMS) in a energy…

A New Coral Nursery Initiative: A Collaboration Between the Center for Sustainable Development and the Cape Eleuthera Institute

May 22, 2017

After the recent addition of a newly established Acropora cervicornis (staghorn coral) nursery, the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) Reef Ecology and Conservation Team has embarked on yet another coral propagation…

The Young Men’s Leadership Retreat: A Year-Long Pioneering Program a Year in the Making

This July, we welcomed a group of 15 young men (aged 10-18) to become future leaders and change makers. This 8 day program, lead by Chris Maxey (Island School Founder),…

IS Alumni Back on the Cape this Summer

We want to welcome back all of The Island School alumni who have returned to Cape Eleuthera and giving back this summer!   This summer, Griffin Hunt (F’11) is working…

The Island School Hosts an International Youth Summit with Musician Jack Johnson and 5 Gyres

Two weekends ago, The Island School hosted the SEA Change Youth Summit with musician, Jack Johnson and 5 Gyres to raise awareness about the impacts of plastic pollution in the ocean and to…

PH Albury & DCMS Eco Clubs Team Up for SEEP Recycling

This past Saturday, the Deep Creek Middle School Early Act and Eco Club teamed up with Preston H. Albury High School’s newly formed Eco Club to sort plastics 1, 2,…

Williams College visits Eleuthera and works on sustainable food systems

Eleuthera was recently visited by a group of students from Williams College (Massachusetts). Their trip focused on Eleuthera’s food systems, with a focus on sustainable production. Over the past two…

Deep Creek Primary School Community Garden: Jump starting healthy meals for the community

Deep Creek Primary School, with the assistance of The Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI), has started a new initiative to build a school community garden with the aim to provide students…

Lyford Cay ‘Take Action’ Projects Get Inspiration from CEI Visit

Last week, a group of grade 8 students from the Lyford Cay International School flew over from Nassau to visit the Cape Eleuthera Island School. These sixteen students made it…

On-track Anderson-Cabot Hall Construction Project Demonstrates Sustainable Building Practices

The Anderson-Cabot Hall broke ground in January, 2014 and is currently halfway through construction.  Once completed, this structure will accommodate up to 44 interns, teaching fellows, and graduate students who…

South Eleuthera Primary Schools Explore Marine Invertebrates & Sustainable Systems

Green Castle Primary School’s teacher, Ms. Mary Thompson, brought her class of students in grades 5 & 6 for a marine invertebrate and snorkel trip at the Cape Eleuthera Institute last…

Local High School Teachers Consider Sustainability as a Part of Curriculum

Teachers and Vice Principal, Ms. Knowles, from Preston H. Albury High School came to visit during teacher’s planning week in late August. This visit served as the start to a…

Opportunities on Cape Eleuthera

The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Institute, and Center for Sustainable Development have a number of internship and work opportunities still available for the 2014-15 academic year. You can learn more…

Permaculture Design Course (PDC) This August!

Have you ever been curious about permaculture? Are you itching grow your own food? Do you dream of transforming your yard into an edible oasis? If any of that sounds…

NSF site visit to CEI

A group of biologists from Universities throughout the United States gathered to discuss the improvement of the research facilities at the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI).  This meeting was funded by…

The Island School is on Google Maps Street View!

The Island School is excited to announce the launch of Island School Street View!  You can now take virtual tours of The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Insitute, and Center for Sustainable…

Tilapia harvest at CEI

Last month, CEI conducted its first tilapia harvest since March 2013.  This exciting process began on Sunday morning when 160 tilapia were selected for harvest for an Island School parent’s weekend meal and a…

CEI Research Team conducts beach plastic surveys

With every researcher at CEI always on the go, managing their own research projects, they hardly have time to get a feel for other projects going on at the institute.…

CEI Outreach at schools in North Eleuthera

Miss Kristal Ambrose, CEI’s Marine Plastic Pollution Specialist, and Tiffany Gray, CEI’s Lead Outdoor Educator, made a visit to 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students at North Eleuthera Primary to talk…

New graduate housing facility

The Island School along with Cape Eleuthera Institute and the new Center for Sustainable Development are attracting young professionals from around the world looking for post graduate level experience in…

Camden Hills returns for their fourth year joined by Oceanside and Medomak

This blog was written by the 18 incredible students visiting us from Maine.Campus Life The Island School/CEI is located in Cape Eleuthera. The campus faces the water with exotic beaches…

Seatrek Fathoms sail into CEI for a 10 day trip

This week we said ‘bon voyage’ to an amazing group of students, staff and crew from Seatrek Fathoms. They graced us with their presence for 10 days of science, fun,…

South Eleuthera Explorers Camp at CEI

Last week the Cape Eleuthera Institute and the Island School welcomed 18 South Eleutheran children to campus for a sleep away camp focusing on the world we live in and…

BREEF Seacamp at CEI

After leading the Deep Creek Natural History Camp, two of our Educational Programs staff helped out with the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) week-long SeaCamp. They met up with…

Pacific Ridge School experiences the Atlantic 2013

The past 12 days have been a whirlwind for a group of 15 students from Carlsbad, Northern San Diego, California. The first week of the program, the students embarked in…

Wemyss Bight Primary School Meets live animals at The Island School and CEI May 28, 2013 & June 6, 2013

The Grade twos and threes from Wemyss Bight Primary School have each come to visit The Island School campus and learn all about how animals get their food, water and…

CEI Symposium, a chance to highlight work done this spring

Last week, our second CEI Symposium kicked off with the first night of presentations by Liz Underwood on lionfish reproduction sites, Skylar Miller discussing larval lionfish recruitment, Maddy Young on…

St. Andrews visits CEI

Last week, Educational Programs at CEI had their hands full with two classes hailing from St. Andrew’s School in Nassau, home of the Hurricanes. The first class, a group of…

Tourism and Coastal Development Symposium on CEI campus

This past Thursday, April 18, the Island School and CEI hosted a Tourism and Coastal Development Symposium. This event was organized by CEI, One Eleuthera, the Kinship Conservation Fellows, and…

Emma Cooper Primary School visits the CEI campus

Emma E. Cooper Primary school joined us last week for an afternoon tour. However, this was no typical tour of campus! The entire primary school came with Kindergarten through grade…

CEI has an outreach booth at the Rock Sound Homecoming!

CEI attended the 2013 Rock Sound Homecoming as part of their community outreach, and engaged the local community members in a conversation about marine conservation. The CEI booth was packed…

Another visiting program experiences Eleuthera!

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?

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…

Wemyss Bight Primary School visits CEI!

On Tuesday morning, CEI had an exciting visit from a local South Eleuthera primary school, Wemyss Bight Primary. Mrs. Paul’s grade 4 class came for a morning field trip as…

CEI partners with One Eleuthera and Out Island Eco Company to provide alternative disposable products to styrofoam on Eleuthera

The Island School and CEI’s journey to becoming a zero-waste campus while extending theconcepts of this model to our neighbors on the island of Eleuthera has taken patience, but we…

CEI is teeming with young scientists!

Last week, 22 middle school students from the Lillian and Betty Ratner School in Pepper Pike, Ohio visited The Islands School and CEI. Over the course of the week, Ratner…

Where can I recycle in the US?

Have you ever wanted to recycle some items but didn’t know where to go? Now, there’s an app for that!Follow the link to learn more about this smartphone app “iRecycle”:…

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Construction continues on new Resources Building

January 2013 has seen lots of action at CEI; programs are visiting, research is ongoing, and buildings are going up. Carter Brown (SP09) visited CEI for a week to assist…

Fall 2012 Cobia Harvest

For the first time in almost 3 years the aquaculture team is harvesting fish from their offshore cage! The fish will be eaten in the Island School’s dining hall as…

Prawns + Aquaponics = Three Course Meal!

The aquaponics system at CEI produces enough lettuce to feed our community twice a day, seven days a week.  The fish production is increasing in the next year, and provides…

Biodigester Comes Online as the Newest Piece of Energy Puzzle

In recent weeks, the CEI/IS biodigestion system has quietly been generating an unheralded form of renewable energy: biogas. Although biodigestion is the most recent addition to the renewable energy scheme…