Project Accomplishments
Since 2009, Nature’s Academy has served the local community through the Science Literacy Project, which:
- Delivered inquiry-driven field trip programs at no cost to public schools.
- Has educated over 7,000 local students on the importance of water quality and watershed ecology.
- Removed over 5,000 pounds of litter from local shorelines.
- Enhanced community science literacy, as over 75% of our students demonstrated academic gains.
- Indirectly reached over 100,000 community members through school conservation projects.

Project Awards & Accolades
While Nature’s Academy’s educational programs sustain the company, we have managed over $295,000 in grants and donations to support trips for public schools.
- Out of the five states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, Nature’s Academy received the Third Place EPA Gulf Guardian Award in Youth Environmental Education.
- The Florida Wildlife Federation honored Dana with the 2014 Conservation Educator Year Award.
- Honoring Dana’s services to the community, Manatee County proclaimed April 20, 2013, “Dana Pounds Day.”
- Dana Pounds was named a Community Hero by the Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation, and was presented a $50,000 check for a charity of her choice. Dana designated portions to the Sustany Foundation and Nature’s Academy.