Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation — USA (2018)

The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation (RFMRP) is the primary response team for sea turtle rescue in New York, U.S.A., and it is the state’s only facility permitted to rehabilitate animals. The team responds to the second highest amount of cold stuns affecting Kemp’s ridleys, greens, and loggerheads in the U.S. Atlantic. A 2018 SWOT grant will be used to expand the lecture series and to implement a Citizen Science Response Program. Thirty-one citizen scientists have been recruited to patrol beaches daily during the cold stun season and to increase rescues, limit the time that animals are exposed to extreme conditions, and increase the chances for successful rehabilitation.