How might diverse music festival attendees learn marine conservation facts in a 2-5 minute interaction?

BACKGROUND

Tortuga Music Fest invited Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) to participate in their Conservation Village, a group of booths intended to teach festival attendees about choices they can make to protect marine environments. 

I designed, co-wrote, and fabricated a matching game where players used fish identification skills to match pictures with names and descriptions. They then ranked the fish based on how sustainable they believed them to be as a meal choice, opening up conversations about the factors that go into a fish’s sustainability as a meal.

Outcome

We were able to have great conversations about how understanding a fish’s life cycle can indicate the sustainability of eating it. Multiple festival attendees took photos of the finished board for future reference. REEF continues to integrate the game into outreach events.

Educational Outreach

In addition to design and fabrication, I was one of four team members who led users through the game. Players ranged from users with pre-conceptions and significant marine life knowledge (like fishermen) to users with minimal awareness, requiring rapid assessment and adaptive conversations.

Additional team members: Ellie Splain (concept collaboration) and Damaris Borden (copy collaboration).