About | Reef Discovery Center

About Our Center

History

Florida’s coral reefs have sustained extensive damage due to disease, pollution, ocean warming, and other environmental stressors. Numerous local and national organizations are working diligently to address these problems and to restore our reefs to their former glory. It takes an enduring collaboration between dedicated scientists, environmentalists, government agencies, and the general public to mitigate these threats. The Reef Discovery Center, a 501c3 nonprofit, has enthusiastically joined this effort.

RDC Timeline

Mission

Our overarching goal is to inspire the public to get involved, become ocean stewards, and to instill pride in the natural wonder that is Florida’s coral reef tract.

Through our onshore and offshore coral nurseries, our mission is also to expand the regional capacity for coral husbandry and reef restoration.

Visitor Experience

We aim to astonish visitors with immersive educational experiences that inspire passion to help our coral reefs recover.
We believe that the traditional approaches used in exhibit spaces to motivate visitors have become dated, and that a facility that truly aspires to educate and inform the public should take advantage of the innovative technologies that have recently emerged.

In addition, we believe that public engagement should happen not just through exciting exhibits, but also through hands-on activities that contribute to the restoration of our reefs. Reef Discovery Center volunteers will have the opportunity to care for corals in our state-of-the-art facility and to participate in marine research that advances reef restoration practices.

The Reef Discovery Center is located close to an ocean access park. Through snorkel and diving tours offered by our education partners, visitors will have the opportunity to explore the nearby reefs, up close and personal. Visitors can thus amplify and enrich their Reef Discovery Center experience without even leaving the neighborhood.

Meet Our Team

Dr. Kirk Dotson

Founder, Board President

Kirk Dotson, a retired aerospace engineer, received his degrees from Texas A&M (BS) and Rice University (MS, PhD). He worked for 27 years at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA, where he specialized in the analysis and prediction of rocket vibrations induced by aerodynamic and propulsion excitation.
Kirk is a member of the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI), the Florida Marine Science Educators Association, and the Economic Resilience Committee for the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.
He is an active participant in SEFCRI Technical Advisory Committee meetings and enjoys following scientific research on coral diseases, corallivory, and reef restoration techniques.
Kirk is a director on three other boards: Rice Engineering Alumni Association, South Florida Association of Environmental Professionals, and Friends of North Beach Village. Finally, he is a member of United Way's philanthropic Alexis de Tocqueville Society, and is the founder of two permanent endowed graduate fellowships at Rice University: in Engineering and in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Stacy Brown

Vice President and Treasurer

Stacy Brown is an ocean advocate, environmental educator and community connector with more than 15 years of non-profit management, finance and grant experience. She holds a BS degree in Marine Biology and is currently enrolled in a Master of Marine Science program at Nova Southeastern University.
For the past three years, she has served as CFO and Education Director for 1000 Mermaids Project & co-founded and served as CFO and Education Director for Ocean Rescue Alliance from 2020-2021 and has been instrumental in creating, researching and deploying over 70 artificial reef modules and educating thousands on the health of our reef systems. For the past five years, she has served as Operations and Development Director for Urban Farming Institute building more than 7 community or school based raised bed and hydroponic gardens, writing grants and managing day to day non-profit operations. She has presented at the Florida Artificial Reef Summit, Global Coral Reef Week and SDG 14 Planting Seeds Panel.
Stacy currently sits on boards for the Florida Food Policy Council, South Florida Association of Environmental Professionals and Urban Farming Institute and currently manages or participates in local community serving projects ranging from community and school garden building to oyster and coral nursery efforts and is a volunteer BleachWatch Instructor for Florida Department of Environmental Protection promoting coral reef protection.

Dr. Pamela Fletcher

Secretary

Dr. Pamela Fletcher has 30 years of experience working in the field of marine research and management in New England, Florida, Central America, and the Caribbean. Pamela’s background in policy and management are built on experiences as an employee of public and private organizations including a unique liaison role set between a public university and a federal research laboratory, and as a Fulbright Scholar. Much of Dr. Fletcher’s work is focused on facilitating the use of research data and information for management and science communications.
Pamela holds a BA in Marine Affairs, BS in Fisheries Science and Technology, MS in Management and Policy, and a PhD in Soil and Water Sciences.
Pamela’s doctoral research examined the use of decision support for coral reef and marine resource management melding science and policy concepts with social science. Dr. Fletcher currently focuses on the integration of biophysical, institutional, and human dimensions science for informed decision making. Current projects include marine and coastal conservation and management, and developing long-term monitoring to improve the understanding of ecosystem change and socio-ecological connections.
Pamela is committed to implementing and encouraging others to apply real-world strategies and solutions to the wise stewardship of shared resources for the benefit of people and the environment.

David Vance

Founding Director

David Vance is a retired pharmaceutical industry attorney whose role was understanding the drug development science to help develop educational materials about diseases or conditions and their treatment. He retired in Broward County after 11 years of working for South Florida companies.
Originally archaeology major with a continuing interest in history and preservation, Dave was an Eagle Scout passionate about all aspects of nature and the environment. His interest in Florida Reefs includes doing the Islamorada Scout Sea Base Scuba Adventure with his son and daughter. He is a long time supporter of the Sierra Club and of the Arthur R. Marshal Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, as well as a more recent active participant in the Audubon Society. With scientific and ecological interests, Dave is committed to helping protect our Florida reefs for us, our children, and generations to come.
David is a board director of Friends of Our Florida Reefs since June 2018.

Lisa Peterfreund

Director

As trustee of her family foundation, the Merrill G. & Emita E. Hastings Foundation, Lisa evaluates and provides financial assistance to over fifty nonprofit organizations locally, nationally, and internationally in the areas of the environment, the arts, and women’s empowerment, including scholarships for both young women and women returning to the workforce. Besides her own foundation, Lisa is an active member of numerous philanthropic organizations, including Florida Philanthropic Network and The Philanthropy Roundtable.
Over the past six years, Lisa has been a consultant for the National Leadership Institute (NLI). NLI provides assistance to small to medium, south Florida nonprofits through training in board development and fundraising.
Lisa has always been passionate about nature and the environment, including founding the Ecology Club at Choate Rosemary Hall. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After a year working for another small nonprofit in Washington, DC, Lisa obtained her Masters in environmental policy from the Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Dr. Adrienne Correa

Director

Dr. Correa is an Assistant Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice University. She first learned to scuba dive in graduate school, while collecting invasive ants in the Hawaiian Islands.
Adrienne's research turned to the ocean shortly thereafter, and today she explores the role of microbes in the health of coral reefs that are experiencing rapid environmental change.
Adrienne serves on the Advisory Council for the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, home to Texas’s own coral reefs. She is also a Fellow of the Kavli Frontiers in Science and was a National Academy of Sciences Gulf Coast Research Program Early Career Fellow. Adrienne's research and teaching take her to coral reefs around the world, including the Gulf of Mexico, Australia, Belize, Panama, and the South Pacific.

Dr. Abby Renegar

Director

Dr. Renegar is a research scientist at Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She presently manages the Marine Toxicology Laboratory and Coral Histology Laboratory as well as the Onshore Coral Nursery at NSU.
Dr. Renegar's primary research interest is experimental evaluation of the impacts of land-based sources of pollution and climate change on scleractinian coral biology and ecology. Her current research is focused on examining the acute and chronic effects of exposure to environmental contaminants, including pesticides, metals, petroleum hydrocarbons and UV filters on the health of scleractinian corals and other reef organisms.

Melissa Sathe, M.S.

Advisor

Melissa Sathe is a South Florida native and grew up in Ocean Ridge. She received her B.S. from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Master of Science in Marine Biology from Nova Southeastern University where she was a graduate researcher for the Coral Reef Restoration, Assessment and Monitoring Lab.
After completing her degree, Melissa worked at Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management where she managed coral reef monitoring field work and then onto the Florida DEP Coral Reef Conservation Program as the Reef Injury Prevention and Response Technician.
Melissa currently works for Coastal Eco-Group, a private environmental consulting business, as a Senior Marine Biologist. Melissa is also President of Friends of Our Florida Reefs, a registered 501c3 nonprofit citizen support organization dedicated to conserving and protecting over 100 miles of vital coral reefs (directly offshore SE Florida between Miami-Dade and Martin Counties) by enhancing and complementing the critical efforts, programs and activities of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

Kyle Pisano

Advisor

Kyle Pisano is the Onshore Coral Nursery Manager for Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Kyle’s primary focuses are coral aquaculture as well as recirculating aquaculture systems design & maintenance. Kyle handles the day-to-day logistics of keeping the coral nursery running as well as coordination for various laboratories and third party entities, such as environmental contractors and government agencies; Ensuring corals are handled with care and efficiency. Prior to moving to Florida from Massachusetts, Kyle worked in a large recirculating aquaculture farm that produces barramundi (Australian Seabass).
When not running the Onshore nursery for NOVA, Kyle also cares for many people's ornamental aquariums in addition to spending a good deal of time fishing the offshore waters of Broward county.

Interesting Fact

Did you know?

That’s a parrotfish ready to take a bite of algae growing on dead coral. Parrotfish teeth are incredibly strong. The dead coral that this “excavator” bites off with the algae gets ground up by a second set of teeth in the fish’s throat and is pooped out as sand!

Parrotfish are great at keeping the ocean floor clean of algae, so that corals can grow. However, it’s recently been discovered that they can be a problem when scientists attempt to restore reefs by putting laboratory-raised corals into the ocean.

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