The Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) is growing, so much so that the organisation has plans to expand its facilities and develop new courses just to meet demands.
Located in Little Cayman, the CCMI is a learning facility offering fundamental courses in marine ecology and conservation to students from 8 to 12 years old.
The research centre also assists university students in completing undergraduate degrees.
“We are literally bursting at the seams,” said CCMI Field Station Manager, Peter Quilliam. ”We need to move our existing staff off-site so that we can turn those rooms into additional student rooms and we also will be creating additional classroom space,” he added.
“By the end of 2015 we should have the first stages done and we can take additional courses and have more students through the station,” said Mr. Quilliam.
This year alone the CCMI has hosted 18 school groups, 150 primary school students, 32 secondary school students, 74 undergraduate students and 14 visiting researchers.
Mr. Quilliam says all phases of the expansion are due to be completed by 2020.