Partnerships are vital to Rookery Bay Reserve fulfilling its mission of promoting informed coastal decisions. The Reserve partners with local, regional, and federal educators, resource managers, scientists, and community stakeholders in a variety of ways. Find out more about some of our partners below:

• Audubon of Florida
• City of Marco Island
• City of Naples Natural Resources
• Collier County Extension /UF/IFAS
• Collier County
• Edison State College
• Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf of Mexico Program
• Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
• Florida Gulf Coast University
• Florida Sea Grant
• Friends of Rookery Bay
• Gulf of Mexico Alliance
• Marine Industry Alliance of Collier County
• NOAA Coastal Services Center
• NOAA Estuarine Reserves Division
• SFWMD/Big Cypress Basin
• Florida Society for Ethical Ecotourism
• The Conservancy of SW Florida
• USFWS/Ten Thousand Islands NWR

In 2010 Rookery Bay Reserve and Edison State College entered a partnership that will pave the way for research opportunities, internships, logistics assistance, and more.  This partnership will enhance the Reserve’s academic standing, a proven asset among other sites in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System with academic partners.

“We have had a long-standing partnership with Edison College, and are thrilled to see it moving to a new level of cooperation and sharing of resources, said the Reserve’s director, Gary Lytton.  “We are particularly excited about the opportunity to engage more students and faculty in ongoing research and education at Rookery Bay,” he added.

The partnership provides both parties with many exciting benefits including the creation of a pilot Undergraduate Research Center at Rookery Bay; shared use of facilities both at Rookery Bay and at the Collier County campus; student access to one of the nation’s most pristine mangrove estuaries; and internships for students of marine science, biology, ecology, interdisciplinary humanities and molecular, tidal and weather-related research, which will provide valuable insight into the Reserve’s ongoing research and monitoring efforts.