For the last 34 years, the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation has had a mission to educate people on how to preserve the lagoon and the surrounding environment. The foundation provides many educational opportunities for schools all across Carlsbad and strives to involve the community in preserving the ecosystem.

Before the foundation was established, frequent construction and road development around the lagoon posed issues surrounding its preservation. Deriving from a passion to save and educate those about the ecosystem, the founders set out to establish the learning center.

“The foundation was a passion project,” CEO Lisa Rodman said. “It started with a group of people back in 1990 that were worried the lagoon was not going to be able to be used because of all of the development, and so they got together to start the foundation.”

As well as educational opportunities, the foundation also utilizes volunteers to clean up and replenish the multitude of habitats throughout the community. Extending beyond just the lagoon, the learning center works to apply its teachings to several different ecosystems.

“We are always looking to develop new volunteers that want to get engaged in different areas,” Rodman said. “Some people like to go out and work on trails and do trash cleanup or repair erosion and ruts from storms.”

When educating the community about the contents of the lagoon, the foundation opts to utilize the resources from the ecosystem rather than simply explaining them. Including an aquaculture facility, white sea-bass hatchery and desalination plant, the center provides several different venues for the learning experience.

“We inspire and energize the community through hands-on education,” Rodman said. “What makes us different is that we use our lagoon instead of just view it.”

With the planet’s ecological future in the hands of rising generations, it is vital for today’s kids to learn how to treat the environment and preserve its ecosystems. Not only do interactive learning experiences build real-world skill sets in children, but have even been proven to raise student achievement in academic areas.

“We have people of all ages come throughout the year, and we teach them to be good stewards to the environment,” Rodman said. “We know [that kids are] going to be here, so we teach the principles of how they can use [the lagoon’s resources] but not abuse them.”

Throughout the last few decades, the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation has had incredible success in educating people on how to care for their local ecosystems. The learning center strives to continue bringing active learning experiences to those in the community and working to preserve the biomes of Carlsbad.

“It is key to making sure that people understand that this planet needs to be taken care of,” Rodman said.