University of Miami may grow coral in Virginia Key park to restore reefs

Written by Miami Today on September 8, 2026

University of Miami marine research may extend into county-owned parkland on Virginia Key in an agreement that would see researchers growing coral there for reef restoration in the county.

A county committee is to act this week on an accord that would see the new facility within six months training county staff as part of the partnership. The university would pay all costs of the arrangement.

The county must waive competitive bidding by a two-thirds vote in order to approve the partnership.

The university’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, one of the world’s leading academic oceanographic and atmospheric research institutions that is based on Virginia Key, would construct, operate and maintain the coral reef production facility in the park.

The park, county documents show, is within a 0.556-acre portion of the county parkland at 4441 Rickenbacker Causeway. The agreement would turn the site over to the university to operate through June 30, 2050.

As part of the accord, a Coral Reef Educational Program will be provided within six months where the university will host yearly coral conservation training for naturalists on the staff of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department.

The agreement would allow the university to help meet county goals in coral reef restoration, coastal resiliency, and public conservation education.
The site will include equipment necessary for aquaculture and coral production to propagate coral for reef restoration in support of county aims for coastal resiliency. The university “will install a significant portion of the corals within the county’s submerged lands, prioritizing [the parks department’s] coastal parks, and protecting the county’s waterfront shorelines and beaches,” the county legislation says.

The program is to give the parks department access to Rosenstiel’s scientific expertise for curriculum, staff development and collaborative program planning.

The university would also collaborate with the parks department to develop an environmental K-12 education curriculum, provide conservation education materials for parks department programming that includes field trips and camps, and offer staff training and mentorship.

Rosenstiel would also offer internship program mentorship in the parks department’s Fit-to-Lead Program and other hosting program opportunities related to marine ecology and coral reef education.

Coral reefs support valuable commercial and recreational fishing and tourism industries and protect coastlines from surge and wave impacts, with an estimated asset value in Southeast Florida of $8.5 billion. The county legislation says the reefs generate $4.4 billion yearly in local sales and $2 billion a year in local income, supporting 70,400 jobs.

The Rosenstiel School’s basic and applied research interests encompass virtually all marine-related sciences. Its main campus on Virginia Key forms part of a specially designated 65-acre marine research and education park that includes two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration laboratories and a dedicated marine and science technology high school. Rosenstiel also operates a 78-acre advanced satellite reception and analysis center in southern Miami-Dade.

If the legislation to permit Rosenstiel to use the parkland passes in the Recreation, Tourism and Resilience Committee this week, it will then need a two-thirds county commission vote to take effect.