Students in the Museum’s Upward Bound program have had tons of amazing opportunities this summer. Upward Bound is one of the US Department of Education’s programs which help first-generation college bound students prepare for college and a degree in science, technology, engineering, and math. Just this summer, check out what students have been able to do: catch and release sharks with University of Miami researcher Neil Hammerschlag, who studies shark species and populations in south Florida… attend an overnight trip to Tampa, visiting the Mote Marine Laboratory and Myakka State Park… attend an overnight trip to Orlando, studying marine life with Sea World’s education program, visiting the Orlando Science Center, and going tubing… go out snorkeling, kayaking, and collecting marine samples to study… the list goes on! And at the end of the summer, students presented their summer-long research projects, which included topics like human impacts on tropical environments, solutions to environmental problems in the Arctic regions, and animals that live in extreme marine environments. Where else could students prepare for college with such cool, real-world experiences?