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Our Community
Red Tide Institute at Mote Marine Laboratory
Positions Itself for Consistent Progress
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium is pleased to announce support for the directorship
of Mote’s new Red Tide Institute thanks to a generous five-year grant.
Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation has provided $751,487 in funding that
will provide a significant level of support for the director of the Red Tide Institute
at Mote, helping to ensure consistent progress towards developing and testing innovative
technologies for the control and mitigation of the impacts of red tide.
The new Red Tide Institute at Mote — established in the fall of 2018 with a
transformative philanthropic investment from its Founding Donor, the Andrew
and Judith Economos Charitable Foundation — will seek to bring together the
best and brightest scientists with a goal of using applied science and innovative
technologies to determine the most effective, ecologically-sound and novel
methods for the mitigation of adverse impacts from Florida red tide.
Following the establishment of the Red Tide Institute, Mote recruited a widely
respected red tide algal bloom expert, Dr. Cynthia Heil, to serve as the Institute’s
Director and help coordinate mitigation-development efforts with red tide researchers
in five ongoing and diverse red tide-related research programs at Mote.
Heil also collaborates with external partners, including the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Department of Health, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other national and international
harmful algal bloom research organizations.
“We thank Mote for their commitment to our community through efforts to
improve our quality of life and ecosystem,” said Barancik Foundation President |
CEO Teri A Hansen. “Our support ensures Mote and Dr. Heil can focus on their
work and also enhances the Institute’s ability to securing additional funding.”
“We are so grateful that the Barancik Foundation has chosen to support the
Directorship of Mote’s new Red Tide Institute,” said Mote President & CEO Dr.
Michael P. Crosby. “As Mote is a nonprofit, independent research institution, the
support of our community has always been a core foundation in helping further
our goals of using innovative science and technology
to respond to the grand challenges, such as red
tide, that our oceans and coastal environments are
facing. After decades of research to better understand
red tide and how it occurs, Mote’s Red Tide
Institute is perfectly poised to use applied science to
develop new technologies to significantly decrease
the impacts of red tide.”
Celebrate North Port’s 60th Anniversary
with Free Admission to Warm Mineral
Springs Park on June 18
The City is celebrating its 60th Anniversary by
waiving daily admission at Warm Mineral Springs
Park for all Sarasota County residents on Tuesday,
June 18, 2019! The park will be open for visitors
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The only warm spring in Florida, it maintains 85-
87 degrees year-round and contains more than 50
different minerals – one of the highest mineral
content of any natural spring in the United States.
The park averages approximately 110,000 visitors
per year from all over the world, who travel to
swim in its mineral-rich waters.
Beneath the Spring’s depths is one of the most important
underwater archeological sites in America.
It is believed that the Spring dates to the Ice
Age. During exploratory dives in the 1950s, the
remains of a prehistoric man and evidence of several
creatures were discovered, including saber
tooth tigers, giant sloths, tortoises, and even camels.
The Springs are listed on the U.S. National
Register of Historic Places.
Warm Mineral Springs Park is owned by the City
of North Port and operated by National & State
Park Concessions. Proof of Sarasota County residence
will be required for admission into the
Springs on June 18. Acceptable proof of residence
includes a driver’s license or an FPL bill, water bill,
tax bill, or deed. Spa services are not included in
the free admission and must be booked in advance
and paid for separately.
For more information about Warm Mineral
Springs Park, including general rules and prohibited
items, visit www.cityofnorthport.com/warmmineralspringspark
or call 941-426-1692.