Thousands of students recently connected with NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program team members through two interactive webcasts. This NOAA Reef Smart collaboration with JASON Learning linked the science fundamentals kids are learning in school to real-life applications of coral reef science and future careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. The webcasts consisted of video, dialogue, and interactive features, such as polls and chats where students could ask NOAA coral scientists questions through an event moderator. To view upcoming webcasts, visit: http://www.jason.org/live.

The NOAA Reef Smart Initiative is a series of strategic, community-based outreach events designed to increase awareness of NOAA's coral reef ecosystem research done in partnership with NCCOS and NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

For more information, contact Alicia.Clarke@noaa.gov.