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20, 2023 INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA AGENDA ITEM Department of General Services / Parks & Recreation Date: June 8, 2023 To: The Honorable Board of County Commissioners Through: John A. Titkanich, Jr., County Administrator Michael C. Zito, Assistant County Administrator Beth Powell, Director Parks and Recreation From: Wendy Swindell, Conservation Lands Manager Subject: Notice of Grant Award from the Indian River Lagoon Council — Small Grants Program — Contract #: 2023SG-07 BACKGROUND: As part of the improvements undertaken at the recently opened Jones' Pier Conservation Area, the small concrete cottage on site has been renovated and re -purposed to accommodate a facility for staff, volunteers, and researchers associated with academic projects and volunteer work. This renovation work was funded, in part, by a 2021 grant from the Indian River Lagoon Council to convert the kitchen area in the cottage into a "wet lab.' For the 2021 grant effort, staff worked with the Indian River State College's Biological Sciences Department students to complete the wet lab conversion, as well as to complete a "Bio Blitz" at Jones' Pier to begin an inventory of biodiversity at this conservation area. Since 2020, staff has been developing working relationships with project partners, scientific organizations, and academic groups with the goal of promoting environmental education and research opportunities at Jones' Pier. New efforts for 2023 include coordination with the Florida Oceanographic Society (FOS) to complete a "living dock" oyster project on the small pier. In addition, staff has coordinated with the biology department at St. Edward's Upper School and the Pelican Island Audubon Society River Kidz Program towards future programming in the summer, and the remainder of 2023. The goals of the 2023 Jones' Pier programming will be: (1) for younger age groups to develop a beginner's field guide for Jones' Pier. The produced take away field pamphlet guide will be housed in a free little library at the trailhead for visitors to reference when walking the trails on site. Students will have an opportunity to complete field work to collect species, use the microscope (age level appropriate) and other resources to prepare a brief description of each species. They will work with an art teacher to create their rendering, and will be credited in the guide (accompanying each species) for their work; and (2) the St. Edward's High School students will be tasked with completing a research study to compare the diversity of species in the Jones' Pier marsh versus the nearby Lagoon. This will involve the capture and identification of fish, macroinvertebrates, and more challenging species, and working with environmental professionals to develop a C:\Granicus\Legistar5\L5\Temp\ab4f916b-3510-4b21-b7ac-eb1d4940e890.doc 227