Buck Island Reef National Monument

Through trial and error, outreach, and a small army of volunteer divers, scientists slow the progress of one of the Caribbean’s most lethal coral diseases—for now.

A study on prehistoric artifacts of the Saladoid-era (ca. 400 B.C. to A.D. 600) peoples on St. Croix Island used archeological and settlement pattern data to understand the lives of ancient Caribbean societies, including how they settled the landscape; their contacts and exchanges both among themselves and their island neighbors; and how these communities, societies, and their interactions changed over time.

The primary duty of the Community Volunteers Ambassadors is to encourage local residents, particularly young people, to volunteer for climate-resilience-related projects in the park.

Meet Judd Patterson, Data Manager for the South Florida Caribbean Network. As a data manager, helps wrangle all the information that we collect on the health of our park resources. Judd is excited about the stories data can tell through time, whether that's looking back at park records from over a hundred years ago, or making sure the science we do in our parks today become time capsules for future generations to learn about how things were back in 2021.

Work, Learn, Play, and Grow! That is what these youth, interns, and National Park Service staff did this summer through the paid Youth Conservation Corps Program!

A solar eclipse is visually stunning, but what will it sound like? NPS scientists will find out by recording sounds in parks across the USA.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports.

When you think of visiting “America’s Paradise,” what comes to mind? Sparkling clear waters? Coral reefs? Palm trees swaying the breeze? History? All of these and more can be found in Buck Island Reef National Monument in the US Virgin Islands.