The Friends of Gumbo Limbo recently awarded $15,000 in Gordon J. Gilbert Scholarships to future scientists and those currently doing research to further the mission of Gumbo Limbo — to increase public awareness of the coastal ecosystem through education, conservation and research endeavors.
Scholarships of $2,500 each were given to Cassie Nicholas and Karyn Saunders of Boca Raton High School and Raymond Truong of Atlantic Community High School. Nicholas will study environmental engineering at the University of South Florida. Saunders will attend Duke University also studying environmental engineering. Truong will study molecular biology at University of Miami.
Graduate scholarships of $2,500 each were awarded to three local graduate students doing research that supports the mission of Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. Karen Pankaew, a master’s candidate at Florida Atlantic University, will receive support for studying the energy loss and impact of disorientation of sea turtle hatchlings because of anthropogenic light pollution/skyglow.
Courtney Cocilova, a Ph.D. candidate, was awarded a scholarship to assist in her research into the impact Red Tide (specifically the metabolising of brevetoxin) has on the long-term health of endangered sea turtles.
The third graduate scholarship went to Boris Tezak, a Ph.D. candidate investigating the effect of climate change on the sex ratios of leatherback populations in Florida and more effective techniques of identifying sex in leatherback hatchlings.
The scholarship program is named in honor of Gordon J. Gilbert, the founder of the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. Gilbert was instrumental in protecting the property and acquiring the funding to construct the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.
— Staff report
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