Welcome to the Virgin Islands Marine and Advisory Service (VIMAS) home page for St. Thomas and St. John!

-ABOUT VIMAS-

Howard Forbes Jr., MSc.
(St. Thomas VIMAS Director)

The Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service (VIMAS) operates within the University of the Virgin Island's Center for Marine and Environmental Studies (CMES). VIMAS agents employ the use of effective outreach strategies and research to not only preserve natural resources in the Virgin Islands, but to also foster environmental stewardship within the communities we serve. Click the "Learn More" button below to learn about VIMAS and our Focus Areas that we use address through our programs. 

OCEAN EXPLORERS SUMMER PROGRAMS

VIMAS' Ocean Explorers Summer Programs provide experiential learning opportunities for youth to become develop proficiency in the water as well as explore career pathways within the exciting field of marine and environmental science. Registration for each program opens in January and closes on May 1st every year.
> Be sure to register for the 2023 programs by clicking any of the buttons below. 

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

VIMAS conducts several programs (some that directly benefit educators) that teach students about our natural resources as well as engage them on ways we can protect our natural resources. Through our Water Heroes Program, students learn about best practices in water conservation, conduct water quality testing of their household's water, and construct and test the efficiency of a water filter. Coastweeks, also known as the International Coastal Cleanup provides the community with an opportunity to learn about the issue of marine debris and mitigate its negative impacts through coastal cleanups. Educators can schedule a field trip with us to provide these opportunities and more for their students. 
> Click any of the buttons below to learn more about each program.

COASTAL RESTORATION

Bolstering ecological and community resiliency is one of the many aims of VIMAS. Through the Mangrove Restoration Project, research is conducted to better understand the conditions that best enable replanted mangroves to survive. This research is then used to engage the community through aiding in replanting mangorves in areas where they once were. Complementing this work, our teams also focus on waste reduction strategies such as the recycling of glass beverage bottles back into sand and glass cullets which serve a myriad of purposes such as the creation of sandbags, sustainable aggregate for concrete and asphalt, as well as for landscaping. 
Click any of the buttons below to learn more about each respective program. 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 

VIMAS brings environmental education to the communities we serve through various community-based events. Such events include Reef Fest where you can learn about the important science research being conducted at UVI and how this research impacts our daily lives. Through the use of art, Sea Walls St. Thomas, spearheaded by the PangeaSeed Foundation, public wall spaces are transformed with educational murals that highlight our natural resources, challenges they face, and what we can do to protect them.
> Click any of the buttons below to learn more about these programs. 

- CONTACT US -   

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