Coastal and Marine Laboratory

The Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory welcomes student groups to experience our coastal environment – an environment that is remarkably pristine, very unlike the more developed areas to our west and south. We find that providing the hands-on experiences central to field trips increases student awareness of these habitats, their importance to ecosystem resilience, and the need to support their protection. 

Our staff will work with you to customize your experience to fit your group’s size, time line and budget. Trips can be half day, full day, or even include overnight stays.  

We can accommodate students starting in middle school and up. For middle school students, we require that the group leader provide one chaperone for every six students and for high school students’ one chaperone for every 10 students. Students staying overnight must be in at least the ninth grade. Chaperone attention to student behavior & group dynamics will make the experience more rewarding for all involved. During your visit, we will depend on you to monitor your student’s general behavior.  Our staff must concern themselves with educational activities during your visit and cannot act as chaperones.  We ask that you watch for and stop incidents in which students argue, push or fight, or destroy marine lab property because these activities are not tolerated, nor are they fair to the well-behaved students.

Waivers that apply for visiting groups of such students include the FSUCML Waiver and Photo Release Waivers for Adults and Minors. 

Questions or ready to schedule a field trip? Contact us at degilbert@fsu.edu or 850-645-3485.