All About Us
Marine CSI: Coastal Science Investigations was founded in 2014 by Kimberly Belfer, with collaborations and assistance from Regina Borriello and Kasie Regnier. Regina brought her expertise as a high school biology teacher and Kasie brought her experience as an informal educator to adapt our original resource books for publication. They are available for purchase here. Our in-school field trip programs, Watershed Walkabout: Cape Fear, Watershed Walkabout: White Oak, and Watershed Walkabout: Young Ecologists were developed from these resources, with an emphasis on the Cape Fear River and White Oak-New River basins. The mission of these program is to bring inexpensive, interactive, and inquiry-based lessons to schools in the southeastern region of North Carolina.
Our Company:
Marine CSI: Coastal Science Investigations was the brainchild of Kimberly Belfer, who took everything she had learned about informal education, and developed resources where there was a direct need for them. Knowing that formal educators had limited time to scour the internet and books for one or two hands-on lessons for their students, she created both a K-8 and High School resource book with adapted lessons SHE put the time in to find. After four months of research and another six months of lesson plan adaptation and design, she self-published these resources to a captive audience.
With each lesson being correlated to the Next Generation Science Standards, she set her sights even higher and created companion student workbooks to go along with the activities in the big books of lessons. All four books are currently available for sale directly from our website HERE.
With the success of these resources, she also saw a demonstrated need for in-school field trips and on-site learning modules for students. Field trip costs were rising, funding was scarce, and most students had little to no chance of ever going to some of the most local ecosystems. From her previous experiences conducting outreach programs, she developed a small book of lessons hand-selected from the big books and created an program around therm. When she returned to Wilmington in 2018, she incorporated the business with the Watershed Walkabout program in tow to fulfill that need in the community, especially to underserved and under-represented students.
She has since expanded to four counties with the program, reaching a higher audience through offerings to homeschool groups, camps, and Girl Scouts as well. During the pandemic, when on-site programs were not possible, she developed the Explore Your Watershed series of books to help families get out to their local ecosystems for some fun family science activities. These are also available for purchase through our website.
Our Director of Education/Owner:
Kimberly Belfer is a certified Environmental Educator in NC and has received certificates in Project WET, Project WILD, Project Aquatic WILD, Wonders of Wetlands, and Project Learning Tree. She received her Bachelor's degree in Marine Biology (minor in Environmental Studies) from Stockton University (NJ). From there, she had her first taste of marine science education at the NJ Sea Grant Consortium (formerly Marine Sciences Consortium).
She received a Master of Applied Science degree in Conservation Biology from James Cook University (Townsville, Australia), where she got to dive the Great Barrier Reef. Since then, she has dedicated her career to being an informal educator and program coordinator, working for various organizations and facilities, including NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, and Museum of Coastal Carolina.
As a Marine Conservation Biologist, she brings a unique style to her programs, always focusing on fun learning and conservation of our environment. For her, the passion for teaching and understanding the world around us shines through with every group she's in front of, making students feel comfortable talking about hard concepts like climate change, endangered species, and human causes of pollution.
Besides working on her business, in her spare time, Kimberly is a published historical fiction author. She has written novellas and novels on many different time periods and enjoys the research that goes into each one. Currently, she has six published books and is working on her next novel for publication. She also spends as much time as possible on the beach, collecting shells for her "shell box" she started as an educator with the NJ Sea Grant Consortium.
Testimonials:
"Great job explaining the importance of keeping our waters clean! We all need to be good stewards of the Earth." ~4th Grade Teacher, Myrtle Grove Christian School
"Great! So knowledgeable and presents it to the age group very effectively and appropriately." ~Kindergarten Teacher, Wrightsboro Elementary School
"I don't think I have ever seen the kids so excited! They connected to this lesson because they had some background knowledge. We learned TONS and enjoyed the process!" ~2nd Grade Teacher, Supply Elementary School
"Kimberly was awesome! The students listened in awe! Her energy was perfect. She knew so much about the topic. She kept the kids interested. Her movement activities were the best. Her activities were fun. Her rules were clar for activities. The students stayed interested the entire presentation, even with their presentation being after lunch." ~2nd Grade Teacher, Supply Elementary School
"Ms. Kimberly was phenomenal! So knowledgeable, so patient, and so attentive to the students." ~5th Grade Teacher, Northwood Elementary School
"I enjoyed working in groups." "I liked that it was hands-on." "I would want to do it again!" "It was super fun." ~5th Grade Students, Northwoods Elementary School
