Species Diversity Article

Virginia Beach Sea Camp and Kayak, LLC.
Virginia Beach Sea Camp and Kayak’s goal is to create positive outdoor experiences in the amazing waters around Virginia Beach. We run a variety of summer camps, lead guided kayak tours, offer individual instruction and rent watercraft to get you and your family out on the water in one of our kayaks, canoes, stand-up paddleboards or soft top surfboards. You will remember that it really is “better out there” once you push off, paddle out and smell that sea air.

Bob Carroll, Director and Lead Educator
Bob (aka Captain Octopus) is the director of Virginia Beach Sea Camp and Kayak, LLC. He has over 20 years of professional experience leading field trips on beaches, canoes, boats and islands throughout the Chesapeake Bay while working in various education positions for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. In 2006, Bob moved from the field to the classroom, and began teaching 7th grade life science for the Virginia Beach City Public School system. During the school year, he teaches at the International Baccalaureate Middle Years program housed at Plaza Middle School and leads a very active marine biology and environmental clubs. Since the summer of 2008, Bob has led the marine biology summer camps at the Baylake Pines School. He incorporated Virginia Beach Sea Camp and Kayak, LLC in March of 2012. Bob studied fresh water ecosystems at Cornell University in college. He also studied nautical science and oceanography on the Sea Education Association (SEA) Westward-108 cruise during a semester abroad. Bob received a Masters degree in marine science from the College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where he assisted on a host of research projects on the Georges Banks, Antarctica and all over the Chesapeake Bay. He has a 100-ton U.S. Coast Guard captains license and a Commonwealth of Virginia teaching license. Bob grew up on the Jersey Shore in the town of Spring Lake. He started working as a beach cleaner when he was 14 years old which was the 2nd best job he ever had. He was an ocean lifeguard for 6 summers through high school and college which was the best job he ever had. Bob currently has 14 aquaria in his life as well as three young children, a mermaid (The Oyster Queen), a hamster, a bearded dragon and one dog. Bob lives in the Sylvan Beach area of Ocean Park, Virginia Beach. Please wave if you see him on Shore Drive. Bob was awarded the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Education from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality in the spring of 2012 for his environmental education projects at Plaza Middle School. He was one of 18 recipients nationwide to win this prestigious award. Bob was also the Distinguished Teacher of the Year at Plaza Middle School for the 2012/13 school year.

Laurie Sorabella, Lead Educator
Laurie (aka The Oyster Queen) is an oyster restoration scientist and environmental education expert. She has 18 years of experience inspiring students and teachers to understand, embrace and contribute to the restoration of the environment. She worked for several years as a field educator on the Chesapeake Bay where she was the first female manager of the Fox Island education center. She later formed Oyster Reef Keepers of Virginia, a non-profit organization that works to restore oyster reefs in Virginia waterways through community-based restoration, education, scientific research and monitoring. For the past 15 years, Laurie has led and directed the “Schools Restoring Oysters to the Chesapeake” program that annually engages 167 teachers and 8,500 students every year in raising and stocking oysters to Virginia’s oyster reefs. If your child has raised oysters in school, than he or she has already been impacted by Laurie’s passion. Laurie was awarded Virginia's Environmental Educator of the Year in 2006 to recognize her major contributions to the environmental education of Virginia’s youth and the restoration of Virginia’s vital natural resources. Laurie has a bachelor of arts from Wesleyan University, (Middleton, Connecticut) and a master of science degree in marine science from The College of William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science. She served as the director of Lynnhaven River Now for three years and currently works as their oyster coordinator. She also shares her oyster expertise with the Elizabeth River Project, the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance, the City of Virginia Beach, and hundreds of schools throughout Virginia. Laurie has always loved of the outdoors. She told her father that her dream house was a 2-story tent when she was young. Her love of the outdoors grew while working as a counselor at Camp Thoreau in Vermont during her college summers. She completed her first Shamrock half marathon in March 2013 and is one heck of a mother bear to her 3 children.

Marina Vallad
Marina will be a senior at ODU in the Fall of 2013 where she is an environmental health major. She is on the board for surf club at ODU and is taking her first surf trip to Costa Rica this spring. Marina is no stranger to the 1st street surfing scene. She is smart, strong, responsible, reliable, friendly and experienced.

Dominic Donoso
Dominic is a rising 11th grader at the Bayside HS Health Sciences Academy. He has been working with Bob on summer camps for three years. He is an avid fisherman and is on the Bayside HW soccer and swim team. Full of energy and with experience, knowledge and common sense that belie his age, Dominic is an incredible asset to the Sea Camp team.