Florida Tech Oceanography Student Earns Cocoa Beach Sail and Power Squadron Scholarship

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Elizabeth Merton, a Florida Institute of Technology rising senior and oceanography major, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Cocoa Beach Sail and Power Squadron (CBSPS). The funding will help with expenses for Merton’s required field projects, which will be in biological oceanography.

Merton works as head aquarist in Associate Professor Kevin Johnson’s laboratory and is responsible for the care of the aquarium in the office of President Anthony J. Catanese. She is a member of the Tri-Beta biological honors society and is a 2006 graduate of St. Cloud High School in Central Florida. Merton anticipates completing her bachelor’s degree in spring 2013.

The CBSPS, a unit of the United States Power Squadron (USPS), serves boaters in the Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Cocoa, Merritt Island, Viera and Rockledge areas. Its mission is to promote recreational boating safety through education and civic activities while providing fellowship for its members.

The Florida Tech Department of Marine and Environmental Systems offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in coastal zone management, earth remote sensing, environmental science, environmental resource management, meteorology, ocean engineering and oceanography.