FESTIVAL OF Trees 2022

2022 Festival of Trees

As CCMI’s largest fundraiser for the year, Festival of Trees was a seasonally-inspired event, where we auctioned off beautifully decorated, gift-ladened trees and wreaths to benefit the organisation. Held on Friday, 18 November 2022, this event was attended by more than 200 of our most engaged supporters in attendance, we had a fun evening together as we raised money to support the critical research, education, and conservation efforts of CCMI.

In addition to sharing an impact update with supporters, we introduced our ‘Big 4’ goals for 2023 and beyond:

1. Keeping it REEL –We will continue to invest in the best people and technology to push the boundaries of scientific discovery and are supported by National Science Foundation, RESEMBID, and Darwin Initiative Plus grants.

2. Expanding our horizons – Growing our facility to expand our ability, including expand our wet labs and launching exciting plans to expand our accommodation at CCMI to double our capacity. We must grow our facility so we can conduct more impactful research and education simultaneously.

3. Next gen focus – Investing in our students, the leaders of the future. In 2023, we will support more than 100 local residential primary and secondary school scholarships, internships, and early careers opportunities. We will also continue to develop our Reefs Go Live broadcasts, which reaches over 100,000 people around the world each year, as well as developing our international internships and fellowship programmes.

4. Pledge to protect corals – A pledge we live by. The entire CCMI team, including the board of directors, pledge to protect coral reefs for the future by developing innovative and impactful research projects, collaborating with the best scientists in the world, sharing, engaging in, and supporting education and outreach that WORKS.
This evening cocktail party was held at Grand Old House on the spacious outdoor deck with touches of the holiday season all around – decorated trees and wreaths, mulled wine, seasonal foods, a gift raffle, and more. We closed out the event with another incredible performance by LionFish, who provided amazing music to ensure we were all dancing until the end of the event!