Rescue a Reef (RAR) is the University of Miami’s (UM) coral restoration program designed to build community and coral resilience through public engagement, education, and citizen science. The RAR program was launched in 2015 by Dr. Diego Lirman as a way to advance his lab’s coral research and restoration activities while promoting coral conservation and stewardship. RAR’s citizen science coral restoration expeditions invite members of the public to help garden, transplant, and restore the future of threatened coral species. These RAR expeditions are led by UM coral experts and open to snorkelers and SCUBA divers, providing a meaningful, hands-on opportunity to learn about coral conservation and contribute to real-world reef research and restoration.
To date, RAR has led >100 citizen science expeditions with >1,000 participants helping to restore >10,000 coral colonies, positively impacting both our community and coral reefs alike!
