The Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems (CCRE) program began with a collaborative field project conceived by six National Museum of Natural History scientists during the early 1970s.
The program is an extended duration study of coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass meadows, and the sandy bottoms.
[2] The site grew quickly and within ten years, 65 scientists and graduate students worked at the station, and more than 100 research papers were published on the fauna, flora, and geology of the reef.
The program's initial objectives were to make maps of the area and where near reefs were as well as to identify key species in the ecosystem.
[2] In 1985, the National Museum of Natural History received money from the US Congress to study the Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem (CCRE); this would become the new name of the research initiative.