The Center for Conservation Initiatives
Advancing conservation through education and training, outreach and volunteerism, science and research, and land stewardship.
Overview
What is the Center for Conservation Initiatives?
At a time when humans are altering the world at an unprecedented pace and scale, the need for objective field research has never been more urgent. Conservation lands and biological preserves serve as the indispensable real-world laboratories that environmental scientists need to further our understanding of our planet and its processes.
The Center for Conservation Initiatives (CCI) serves as a networked, site-based science and strategy platform for TNC and partners to investigate critical conservation questions, demonstrate strategy, and connect people to the science. CCI advances conservation through education and training, outreach and volunteerism, science and research, and land stewardship in Florida.
To achieve this, we build on our long history of experience in land management and leverage our facilities by developing TNC Florida’s four flagship preserves into campuses with thoughtful programming to educate the public and support TNC’s top conservation priorities.
CCI is organized around three components for providing its programming to educate the public and support TNC’s top conservation priorities: campus preserves, online programming, and community engagement.
- Campus Preserves:
- Online Programs: To reach greater audiences, CCI is providing online trainings, educational webinars, virtual events and tours. Many of these complement programs at campus preserves and community engagement.
- Community Engagement: Engaging with Florida’s public, partners, and students in their communities is important for CCI to deliver conservation knowledge and spur action. Visiting schools, organizations, local government, and partners are some examples of how staff engage with the community.
CCI's Vision, Mission and Initiatives
- Vision: A future where the conservation of nature is a fundamental and integral value in our community that is informed and underpinned by science and research.
- Mission: Advance conservation knowledge and action, and inspire the next generation of conservation leaders.
- Focal Initiatives: Our approach to achieving CCI’s vision and mission is based around four Initiatives:
Director's Welcome
For six decades TNC Florida has enjoyed tremendous success working across the state; producing tangible conservation results and leading in on-the-ground management, education and training; protection of hundreds of thousands of acres through a variety of conservation methods; and, perhaps most importantly, long-term nurturing of partnerships and collaboration between multiple colleagues and organizations.
Utilizing our network of preserves, TNC staff have served as vital partners with a diverse range of participants—state and federal agencies, colleges and universities, other non-profits, and private landowners. These collaborations have resulted in an incredible number of conservation successes, benefiting both the environment and the people of Florida. TNC is a leader in stewarding our natural resources in Florida and across the world. Stewardship is the responsible oversight and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving. Caring for our environment’s health is critical for people and nature to flourish.
The Center for Conservation Initiatives provides an opportunity to build upon this productive base of long-term experience and existing partnerships across the state to greatly expand and focus the amount of education, training, outreach and research that TNC influences. CCI informs and inspires the next generation of conservationists, environmental leaders, residents and communities, and supports and influences research on questions that can benefit both people and nature.
—Steve Coates, CCI Program Director, steve.coates@tnc.org
Partners and Affiliations
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- Archbold Biological Station
- Bok Tower Gardens
- Florida A&M University
- Florida Forest Service
- Florida State University
- Florida Water Management Districts
- National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
- National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center
- National Park Service
- U.S. Department of Agriculture – Forest Service
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- University of Central Florida
- University of Florida
Campus Preserves
The campus preserves serve as on-the-ground hubs where we partner with educational programs, schools, universities, colleges, agencies and communities to provide a hands-on environment to learn about and address critical conservation questions. These campuses provide educators with a unique opportunity to enrich the minds of their students in new and engaging ways.
The rich diversity of landscapes comprising our campus preserves reflects Florida's unique geography and biodiversity. From marine and coastal environments on the southeast coast to working forests in the panhandle, to the connected lands, waters and communities that make up the center of the state along with Florida's ancient wilderness, our campus preserves offer a collective diversity of geographies to expand learning opportunities and enhance scientific inquiry.
CCI’s Four Campus Preserves
CCI campus preserves are located in North, Central and South Florida, each reflecting unique geography and landscapes.
* Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve (Liberty County in North Florida)
* Blowing Rocks Preserve (Martin County in South Florida)
* Disney Wilderness Preserve (Polk and Osceola Counties in Central Florida)
* Tiger Creek Preserve (Polk County in Central Florida)
Blowing Rocks
Blowing Rocks Preserve is a barrier island protected for its natural beauty, its distinctive rocky Anastasia limestone shoreline, and its important sea turtle nesting beach.
Apalachicola Bluffs
Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve has steephead ravines that are a very rare geological feature providing refuge for a number of rare species of plants and animals, some found nowhere else on Earth.
Disney Wilderness
Disney Wilderness Preserve is located at the headwaters of Florida’s Everglades system, and the 11,500 acres is considered a model for restoration and mitigation.
Tiger Creek
Tiger Creek Preserve sits on the edge of peninsular Florida's oldest and highest landmass, sheltering many threatened and endangered plants and animals.
Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Campus Preserve
Location: Seven miles north of Bristol, Florida (Liberty County)
Theme: Working Forests
Conservation Focus: Located in Florida's panhandle, this campus preserve is focused on developing innovative techniques to manage and restore forest habitats with an emphasis on longleaf pine and its unique groundcover community.
Natural Resources:
- Sandhill, steephead ravines and streams
- Apalachicola River system
- Species of concern includes: Eastern indigo snake, Frosted flatwoods salamander, gopher tortoise, Florida grasshopper sparrow
- Longleaf/groundcover restoration
- Prescribed fire and invasive species ecology
- Angus Gholson Jr. Environmental Learning Center
- Sustainably-designed facilities
- Hiking trails and birding
- Meeting space
Blowing Rocks Campus Preserve
Location: Jupiter Island, Florida (Martin County)
Theme: Marine and Coastal Environments
Conservation Focus: Located along Florida’s east coast on Jupiter Island, this campus preserve focuses on marine and coastal conservation.
Natural Resources:
- Coastal barrier island: Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean
- Anastasia limestone shoreline
- Species of concern include: sea turtles (green, leatherback, loggerhead), black skimmer, least tern, West Indian manatee
- Coastal habitat restoration
- Marine and estuary ecology and education
- Sea level rise impacts
- Hawley Education Center
- Sustainably-designed facilities
- Hiking trails, birding, fishing, swimming
- Classroom and meeting space
Disney Wilderness Campus Preserve
Location: Poinciana, Florida (Osceola and Polk Counties)
Theme: Connected Lands, Waters and Communities
Conservation Focus: Located at the headwaters of the Everglades and the doorstep of the Orlando metro area, this campus preserve focuses on the interdependency of water, upland forests and the growing communities in Central Florida.
Natural Resources:
- Wetlands, lakes, longleaf pine flatwoods
- Everglades headwaters
- Hydrology
- Species of concern include red-cockaded woodpecker, Florida scrub-jay, gopher tortoise
- Prescribed fire and invasive species ecology
- Upland and wetland restoration
- Urban/wildland interface
- Agriculture – cattle
- Sustainably-designed facilities
- Hiking trails, birding, tours
- Classroom, meeting space
Tiger Creek Campus Preserve
Location: Four miles east of Babson Park, Florida (Polk County)
Theme: Florida’s Ancient Wilderness
Conservation Focus: Located along the Lake Wales Ridge, a series of small sandy islands leftover from an ancient time when the Florida peninsula was nearly entirely covered by water 2 million years ago. The focus of this campus preserve is studying and managing this ancient wilderness and its unique endemic species.
Natural Resources:
- Sandhill, scrubby flatwoods, streams, wetlands
- Lake Wales Ridge ecosystem – an ancient island
- Species of concern include: sand skink, gopher tortoise, ten federally-listed plant species
- Prescribed fire and invasive species ecology
- Aquifer recharge
- Fire-adapted communities
- Hiking trails, birding
Natural Resource Stewardship
Florida has approximately 45 million acres of state land and water, with 32% under conservation and managed by either federal, state, local or private entities. Protecting and ensuring management of these rare lands are critical to the health of Florida’s nature. Conservation and working lands provide many benefits to communities and nature such as aquifer recharge, clean drinking water, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, jobs and abundant recreational activities.
Through the work of CCI, TNC protects, maintains, and enhances natural areas and native species’ populations, expanding natural resource management knowledge through stewardship in concert with outreach, education, science and strategy initiatives.
Stewardship of natural resources at CCI campus preserves contributes to TNC’s conservation mission through science-driven management and provides expanded education and outreach opportunities.
Non-Native Invasive Species Management
One of the top threats to biological diversity in Florida, invaders of all kinds, from minute grasses to 20-foot long Burmese pythons, occur across all natural habitats statewide.
Regardless of where invasive species are found, TNC uses the best available science, focusing on prevention, early detection, and rapid response. These efforts require knowledge of emerging problem species and quick attention to their removal before becoming established. For already entrenched species, we focus on controlling populations that have significant negative impacts on native species.
Beyond our preserves, we actively share what we learn with conservation partners through Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas (CISMAs), often serving in leadership roles on CISMA committees. Training our staff and partners in effective invasive species management techniques is a cornerstone of education and training efforts within the Center for Conservation Initiatives.
Habitat Restoration
The four CCI campus preserves use different restoration tools depending upon the habitat type, historical land use and location. We “think globally, but restore locally” because every site is unique and requires its own restoration plan. High-quality habitat restoration an important mission of CCI.
Steps in the habitat restoration process include determining the habitat’s history, setting short and long-term restoration goals, planning for the best possible restoration of the site and monitoring long-term progress and outcomes. When you visit a CCI campus preserve, be sure to ask a staff member about the habitat restoration projects.
Fire Management
Known as the lightning capital of the world, Florida has a unique relationship with fire. Historically, lightning-ignited fires burned across the state in a patchwork mosaic every 2-3 years, creating one of the most complex fire-maintained ecosystems in the world. This unique landscape is home to one of five biodiversity hotspots in North America.
The Sunshine State has protected and continues to set aside lands for the preservation of its natural heritage. But for most species that call Florida home, like the Florida scrub-jay, gopher tortoise, Florida black bear and a long list of rare plants, land acquisition is not enough. Once the land is protected from development and fragmentation, it must be maintained with prescribed fire. Prescribed fire also helps decrease the threat of catastrophic wildfires to nearby communities and businesses by reducing the amount of fuels—dead branches and overgrown vegetation—that accumulate naturally over time.
There are now over 10 million acres of conservation land in Florida, over half of which require fire every few years to maintain biodiversity and community safety. Because the job is so large, TNC has made prescribed fire an important focus of CCI natural resources stewardship. Since 1979 TNC in Florida has played an active role in applying prescribed fire to Florida’s conservation lands and to training tomorrow’s prescribed fire professionals.
Conservation Exchange: Cultivating Partnerships and Building Connections
Conservation Exchange (ConX) is a transformative program facilitated by The Center for Conservation Initiatives (CCI), aiming to serve as a pivotal hub for collaboration and relationship building among natural resource professionals. This program is an opportunity to share and gain insights and approaches as you work together to solve the biggest challenges in the industry. The challenges addressed span from prescribed fire and invasive species management to restoration, water management and public engagement strategies.
Benefits of the Conservation Exchange Program
ConX offers a myriad of benefits to participants and their respective organizations. By bringing together professionals from federal, state, and local agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), ConX cultivates lifelong relationships that foster inter-agency collaboration, career progression, and the refinement of shared best practices in land management. The program provides early and mid-career professionals with invaluable opportunities for hands-on problem-solving and the application of conservation techniques in real-world settings, nurturing future stewardship leaders in Florida. Additionally, the program's structure ensures continual collaboration beyond in-person training sessions. This is achieved through a comprehensive online learning platform and dedicated virtual communities, fostering continuous knowledge sharing and mutual support among conservation professionals.
Join the Conservation Movement Today
For natural resource management professionals across the state, the Conservation Exchange beckons as a beacon of opportunity and growth. Keep an eye out for upcoming sessions and seize the chance to connect with like-minded individuals, exchange ideas, and contribute to the advancement of conservation practices in Florida. Whether you're a park manager, forester, biologist, GIS specialist, or any other relevant professional, your participation in the Conservation Exchange Program promises to enrich your career, expand your network, and contribute to the collective effort of preserving Florida's precious natural heritage.
CCI Stewardship at Work
Science
An Environment for Science
Research
As a science-based organization, research is a critical component to our Science and Strategy work. We’re working to establish our lands as notable regional and national research sites by expanding research activity across the four campus preserves. TNC in Florida has seven preserves open only to researchers that provide access to additional species, ecological, hydrological, and geological research opportunities throughout the state.
Research and Monitoring Reports
CCI annual Research and Monitoring Reports provide project descriptions and researcher updates, and they list more than 260 publications and reports generated from research and monitoring on TNC lands in Florida by academic, agency and other investigators, as well as TNC staff since 1982.
Active Research and Monitoring
There are many research and monitoring projects active on the CCI campus preserves at any given time. Download the full project lists of our active research and long-term monitoring projects.
Access the CCI Portal
Request use of CCI campuses for education, training, research, data, meetings and events.
Visit the PortalConducting Research on CCI Campus Preserves
Research and monitoring activities on CCI campus preserves by TNC partners require a research permit, liability releases for all field work participants, fees for most project types, and adherence to CCI and preserve policies and procedures.
For more information or to discuss a potential research project, please contact the CCI research coordinator Beatriz Pace-Aldana at BPace-Aldana@tnc.org.
To request access to the research permit application and forms, please visit the CCI Portal.
Conservation Education and Training
Our Future Conservationists
CCI's goal for conservation education and training is to inspire and prepare the next generation of conservationists, through inclusive and engaging learning environments.
Providing access to on-the-ground conservation educational experiences and energizing youth to take volunteer action on behalf of the environment helps ensure future advocates for conserving our natural resources.
CCI’s formal and informal education and training programs are successfully providing valuable and impactful learning opportunities for K-12, college students, and natural resource professionals.
Become an Agent of Discovery and Supercharge Your Curiosity
The Nature Conservancy in Florida, in partnership with Agents of Discovery, has an exciting new way to explore our incredible preserves through interactive, augmented reality missions!
This virtual learning experience was made possible thanks to generous support from the VoLo Foundation and Hixon Family.
To inspire a love for nature—and a passion to protect it—the Agents of Discovery App adds even more fun to your outdoor explorations while learning amazing facts about Florida’s unique ecosystems. Interact with virtual characters that bring our preserves to life! Challenge your mind with fun games, quizzes, and activities—discover rare plants, identify animal tracks, learn interesting facts and more. Unlock awesome rewards as you complete your missions. All you need to play is a mobile phone or tablet and the missions are available at the preserves, from home, or the classroom.
Adventure awaits at these TNC locations:
- Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve (ABRP), Bristol FL: Players hike the Garden of Eden trail with Agent Indigo the eastern indigo snake, learning how forces of nature like water, wildfire, hurricanes and tornados shape the landscape.
- Blowing Rocks Preserve (BRP), Jupiter Island FL: Players discover the vital role of mangroves in protecting our coasts. Players help Agent Hermie the hermit crab identify different mangrove species and participate in virtual beach cleanup challenges.
- Disney Wilderness Preserve (DWP), Poinciana FL: Players adventure along the trails to learn about the importance and interconnection of freshwater ecosystems. Agent Sandhill, a sandhill crane, highlights the Northern Everglades and how players can help conserve water.
- Tiger Creek Preserve (TCP), Babson Park FL: Players journey through the unique Lake Wales Ridge ecosystem and search for animal tracks with Agent Avian, a bald eagle. This preserve is home to some of Florida’s most unique plant and animal species. While on the trail, users can also listen to and identify bird calls.
We have missions for everyone:
Perfect for kids aged 8-12: Designed to inspire young minds and cultivate a love for nature.
Fun for families and friends: Share the adventure and create lasting memories together.
Educators: Turn screen time into green time! Make learning wild. Enhance classroom learning with engaging, interactive field trips.
How to Play:
Download the free Agents of Discovery app on your smartphone or tablet, select your TNC preserve mission, and start exploring! Complete challenges, unlock rewards, and celebrate your achievements. Remember to log in to save your progress. Let's explore nature together and be passionate stewards of our planet!
Get Involved
The campus preserves provide opportunities to partner with education programs, schools, universities, colleges, agencies, and communities to provide a hands-on environment to learn about and address critical conservation questions. There are also numerous volunteer opportunities available at the campus preserves. Click the appropriate button below to learn more.
The Hixon Environmental Stewardship Program
HESP Program Focus
- Support formal education programs for public K-12 schools and colleges through in-person and virtual learning (i.e. speaker series, organized field trips, educational materials, webinars, etc.).
- Provide professional-level hands-on and virtual natural resource training courses and learning opportunities targeted to conservation partners in fire training, invasive species, habitat restoration, monitoring, etc. utilizing the latest methods and technologies.
- Offer mentoring and professional conservation experience through internships and fellowships for students and early-career environmental professionals.
Conservation Internships and Fellowships
CCI offers internships and fellowships on diverse aspects of conservation to early-career individuals, providing hands-on experience in stewardship, outreach, education, training, science and conservation strategy.
Internships – Internships provide emerging conservation professionals the professional experience and skill development needed for entry-level conservation jobs. Interns receive stipends, housing, training and mentoring.
Fellowships – Fellowships provide professional development to individuals with broader experience, and generally have a higher educational requirement. Fellows work more independently and are often project-based, but also receive mentoring and training.
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For more information on internship and fellowship opportunities please contact the CCI Training and Education Coordinator at Amanda.Thompson@tnc.org.
- Natural Resource Stewardship - For over 30 years, stewardship interns have provided critical capacity for natural resource stewardship at several TNC preserves in Florida. These internships usually last 12 months, focused on TNC and partner lands. Interns work alongside stewardship staff to carry out activities such as invasive species control, prescribed fire, species and habitat monitoring, trail and natural landscape maintenance, restoration activities, equipment operation and repair, and working with volunteer teams.
- Public Outreach and Education - Outreach and education opportunities develop a variety of skills related to public outreach, education, and training. Interns and fellows work alongside staff to plan and deliver educational tours, public outreach events and experiential education programs. They assist with training outreach volunteers, co-facilitating volunteer workdays, and carry out preserve visitor operations such as opening and closing.
- Science and Monitoring - Science and Monitoring interns and fellows assist with many aspects of conservation science including data analysis and reporting, monitoring design and implementation and science communication. They acquire new scientific skills and monitoring techniques and have the opportunity to network and learn from TNC science and stewardship staff and our science partners.
- Landscape Conservation - These internships and fellowships provide broader experience with large-scale conservation issues and strategies across Florida. Interns and fellows will work alongside CCI staff on state-wide conservation strategies or with conservation partners on non-TNC lands. The work may involve pine restoration projects on state or national forests, serving on an ecological restoration team that supports prescribed fire and invasive species control on public and private lands, working alongside partners in estuary or coastal restoration projects, or assisting in urban conservation projects that bring nature to cities.
- Natural Resource Stewardship - For over 30 years, stewardship interns have provided critical capacity for natural resource stewardship at several TNC preserves in Florida. These internships usually last 12 months, focused on TNC and partner lands. Interns work alongside stewardship staff to carry out activities such as invasive species control, prescribed fire, species and habitat monitoring, trail and natural landscape maintenance, restoration activities, equipment operation and repair, and working with volunteer teams.
Upcoming Events
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Public Outreach
We offer a number of ways to get involved with educational opportunities, programs and activities such as shoreline clean-ups, sunrise sessions for artists and birders, virtual lectures and much more.
CCI Public Outreach
Connect with TNC, experience nature, and contribute to conservation in your community.
Find OpportunitiesConnecting People and Nature
It is more important than ever for people to understand the role that nature plays in our everyday lives. CCI’s goal is to create an inclusive environment for people and communities that will inform and expand their awareness and appreciation of nature.
CCI outreach programs and activities provide opportunities to connect with TNC, experience nature, and contribute to conservation efforts in our communities to foster a deeper understanding of the critical role that nature plays in our lives and be inspired to step-up and speak-up for nature.
Get Involved
Make a positive difference in nature by becoming part of our CCI volunteer team.
Explore Volunteer OpportunitiesVolunteer with CCI
Achieving our mission to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends would not be possible without the efforts of our volunteers. Whether assisting with conservation work in the field or public outreach, wildlife monitoring or social media communications, our volunteers are an integral component of the work we do.
We invite you to turn your passion into action by volunteering at our CCI campus preserves.
CCI Volunteers in Action
Visit a CCI Campus Preserve
- Hiking
- Jogging
- Birding
- Galleries and Exhibits
- Guided tours
- Swimming
- Fishing
- Picnicking
Upcoming Events
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