Abstract 1952 Seabird Conservation Provisions Project

The ultimate goal of this project was to create provisions concerning seabird conservation to be presented at Hill Day in Washington DC. This was accomplished through two avenues: community engagement and active change. Community engagement was accomplished through a social media campaign. The objective of this campaign was to inform the general Sarasota Florida public about the main topics of the project I conducted. I created informational graphics about red tide and climate destruction impacts on seabirds on Florida coasts. I posted these informational graphics with alternative text to go along with my DEAI goals. The second part of my community engagement was accomplished through a webinar. Attendance included Save Our Seabirds CEO, an avian vet and wildlife rehabilitation, a volunteer, and a volunteer coordinator. An informational powerpoint about red tide and climate destruction impacts on seabirds was supplemented by these experts on seabird conservation. The webinar was recorded and posted on social media. For the active change part of this project, I wrote an op-ed that included my own experiences with seabird conservation and research, interviews from experts in the field, and a call to action that showed an overview of provisions. Lastly, I wrote provisions to be presented to legislators at Hill Day in 2024. These provisions included funding to the Red Tide Institute and funding to seabird conservation organizations, such as Save Our Seabirds. The last part of this project will be presenting the provisions at Hill Day and hopefully getting lasting impacts in the form of legislation.