The College of the Florida Keys continues its 2024 VIP Series with “State of the National Marine Sanctuary” on Thursday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in the Tennessee Williams Theatre on the Key West Campus. The presentation will be led by Sarah Fangman, the Superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. In its tenth season, the College’s VIP Series invites the community to learn from the Views, Ideas, and Perspectives of speakers of local, regional, and national prominence. The 2024 season includes presentations that focus on timely topics relevant to Keys’ audiences.

In this lecture, Superintendent Fangman will discuss managing the sanctuary under stress and how marine researchers and the community have responded in novel ways to try to protect threatened resources. Topics will include what we know are the impacts from the current temperature stress on the whole system—including corals, seagrass, fish, and sponges—and how the marine community is answering the cry for help.

Fangman became Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent in 2017, transitioning from the same position with Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary in Georgia. She began working with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in 1998 after serving as a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow with NOAA Fisheries at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response program in Washington D.C.

CFK’s 2024 VIP Series is sponsored by First Horizon Bank. Tickets for each event are $5 at the door. Admission is free for students at CFK and Monroe County schools. For more information, call CFK at 305-296-9081 or visit the College’s website at CFK.edu/VIP.