CHAT 24 graduates on Helen M

Charlotte Harbor Ambassador Training (CHAT)

Our commitment to education and the belief that people do not protect what they do not love, and cannot love what they do not understand, brought us to create the Charlotte Harbor Ambassador Training (CHAT) program. A continuing adult environmental education and volunteer program consisting of class and field trip experiences led by experts, seeking to educate and provide insight on the importance of the Charlotte Harbor watershed that graduates will share with the general public.
Students at easel
Student holding water sample vial
Student presentation harbor map

2025 Program Highlights

This presentation by Brandon Moody, Charlotte County Water Quality Manager, focuses on the condition and factors affecting the Charlotte Harbor Watershed.

Dr. Richard Whitman discusses the most prevalent organisms in Charlotte Harbor, Spineless Creatures (invertebrates).

A Landscape Scale Approach to Restore & Manage Estuaries presented by Nicole Iadevaia, CHNEP Director of Research & Restoration.

Dr. Jennifer Zoebelein provides a history of Charlotte County, its fisheries and development.

See the Presentation above or view a video of it here.

David Schutz, M.S., M.S.Ed., provides instruction and demonstration of the instruments we use for our water testing.

Instruction Manual for Hanna Multiparameter Meters

Kate Rose, M.S., Florida Sea Grant Extension Agent, Charlotte County, talked about the Eyes On Seagrass and Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch programs and their importance for a healthy Charlotte Harbor watershed.

Students participated in the construction of vertical oyster gardens after learning the importance of these organisms to the restoration of our waters through a presentation by Ashley Cook, Park Manager, Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center.

Arielle Taylor-Manges from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection speaks about the five aquatic preserves managed locally by the Charlotte Harbor AP office in Punta Gorda, the resources and challenges facing our area, and what we can do.

Bruce Wojcik, Heal Our Harbor board member, provides information on the different shorebirds of Charlotte Harbor.

Information on upcoming program and volunteer opportunities is provided by Karen McCague, Volunteer Coordinator for Heal Our Harbor and CPCC, with special appearances by CHAT 2024 grads.

This presentation is all about the Smalltooth Sawfish. Learn what is currently known from Gregg R. Poulakis, Ph.D., about this endangered indicator species through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Research and Monitoring Program.

Heal Our Harbor’s Bruce Wojcik teaches us about the fish of Charlotte Harbor.

With our Thanks, partial funding for this program provided through a Charlotte County MAC grant.