Former first lady Laura Bush visits Mote

Former first lady Laura Bush toured Mote Marine Laboratory Wednesday afternoon during her visit to Sarasota for her speech at the Ringling College Library Town Hall Lecture Series.

Bush’s tour began with a behind-the-scenes visit with Mote’s resident manatees, Hugh and Buffett. Mote President and CEO Dr. Kumar Mahadevan guided Bush on the tour. Bush and Mahadevan met last December during the State of the Gulf of Mexico Summit hosted by the Hartman Research Institute in December in Houston. At the summit, Bush spoke about the importance of preserving Gulf ecosystems and forging new cooperative conservation efforts to ensure their future — which, according to a prepared statement, are also key parts of Mote’s mission.

Bush met with Mote scientists who are shedding new light on the sensory biology behavior of sharks and researchers who are leading studies of restoration of coral reef ecosystems, which are impacted by ocean acidification and disease.

“This is all very interesting to me, especially because I’m interested in ocean conservation for the Gulf, both here in Florida and in Texas,” said Bush. “I love to see this research, and I’m very impressed — especially with all the young Ph.D.s here, many of whom are women. I think it’s important to engage young people, whether they’re scientists or whether they’re kids learning about marine conservation.”

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].