Eco-Watch

Are you interested in learning about the natural world around us? Join us for a presentation by a guest scientist, researcher, or other expert.  Visit http://www.gumbolimbo.org for additional details about speakers and topics.  Reservations recommended (561) 391-8110.

Dates:

Wed, March 10 Dr. Tiffany Troxler, Human Alterations in Wetland Ecosystems: The Impacts of Water Management and Climate Change
Wetland ecosystems are some of the most threatened environments on Earth. Water withdrawals and nutrient pollution are some of the human-caused impacts that disrupt the ecology of wetlands and interfere with ecological services wetlands provide. The Everglades ecosystem in Florida is an excellent case study for understanding how modified water availability and quality can alter fundamental attributes of wetlands and serves as an example of the vulnerability of coastal wetlands in tropical regions of the world. Ongoing research in the Everglades can help to uncover these effects and provide information for developing management recommendations to preserve and enhance wetland ecosystem resources.  Large-scale projects that investigate the seasonal dynamics of tree islands, freshwater and estuarine marshes and estuarine creeks all contribute to a better understanding of linkages between water management and critical wetland resources of the Everglades. This is particularly important given that climate change predictions call for significant changes in the seasonal pattern of rainfall and, thus, water available to the subtropical Everglades.

Tiffany Troxler is a research scientist at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. The focus of her work is wetland ecosystem science emphasizing plant ecology, hydrology and biogeochemistry and is motivated by conservation, management and restoration of wetland and coastal landscapes. She received her Ph.D. from FIU in 2005 based on work in Everglades tree islands. She has centered most of her research in the Florida Everglades but has also conducted research in wetlands of Panama and Bolivia. Tiffany has also worked throughout the Arctic conducting research on the effects of experimental soil warming on tundra ecosystems.  She is also an active collaborator of the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Research Program, based at FIU.

Wed, March 24 Dr. Kira Kaulfmann, Socio-cultural Transformation in African Societies Seen through Studying Shipwrecks and the Slave Trade: Historical Effects We See in Florida.
There is a long tradition of interaction between Europeans and African societies on the coast of West Africa.  The Portuguese first traded with the people of this region over 500 years ago for gold, ivory, and other goods.  The Dutch and the British followed with an emphasis in trading human cargo and eventually abolishing this practice.  This tradition of trade is expressed here in Florida by the Archaeological remains of slaves who did not survive the Atlantic journey and are currently buried in Key West.  Studying the shipwrecks (Underwater Archaeology) from Ghana and the burials (Terrestrial Archaeology) from Florida provide different perspectives from each side of the Atlantic Ocean about how African societies in West Africa were changed by European influence and control.

Dr. Kaufmann is an archaeologist with the University of Wisconsin.  Friends have referred to her as amphibious because she specializes in both in terrestrial and underwater archaeological sites.  Sha has conducted terrestrial and underwater archaeological projects the southeast United States, Midwest United Sates, Peru, Philippines, and Africa.  She has worked as an archaeologist, for over 20 years, in cultural resource management, for state government, in academia, and in public archaeology.  Her particular interest is in understanding submerged archaeological sites, primarily occupations sites that are now underwater, but she studies shipwrecks as well.

Dr. Kaufmann received a B.A. in Anthropology with a double minor in Biology and French from Northern Illinois University, and a M.A. in Anthropology from Florida State with an emphasis in Underwater Archaeology.  Her Masters thesis focused on the prehistoric occupation of caverns and caves that are now underwater in a karst sinkhole/cavern system in north Florida.  She received a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with an emphasis in Archaeology and GIS.  Her dissertation research focused on the spatial analysis of Effigy Mound sites from the Late Woodland period using geophysical remote sensing survey, such as conductivity, resistivity, and ground penetrating radar.

Wed, April 21 Dr. Kirt Rusenko, Sea Turtles of Gumbo Limbo
Kirt has been the Marine Conservationist for the City of Boca Raton based at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center since 1995.  He is in charge of the Boca Raton Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program which monitors sea turtles on Boca Raton’s five miles of beaches.  He was instrumental in opening a sea turtle rehabilitation facility which has handled more than 100 patients during January 2010.  He is also in charge of the 4 outdoor seawater tanks and their inhabitants.  He has been working on reducing many forms of environmentally destructive lighting that is now negatively impacting sea turtles even in areas with no beachfront lighting.  He has been working with North Carolina officials to find a solution to fox predation of sea turtle nests.  Also works with the government of Costa Rica to develop a coastal code that restricts development.  Previous positions were Research Assistant Professor of Dermatology at University of North Carolina Medical School in Chapel Hill.  Research and Development Scientist for Thermo Separation Products in Riviera Beach, FL .  Environmental Specialist for Florida Power and Light at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant.

Sun, April 25, 12:00 pm Dr. Arlene Fradkin, Gumbo Limbo’s First People.  This lecture also includes a hammock walk.

Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm (April 25 at Noon)

The following programs have already taken place:

Tues, January 12 Dr. Ed Petuch - Prehistoric Seas of the Everglades Region
The talk will cover the origins of the Everglades, from the megatsunamis produced by a late Eocene asteroid impact, to the giant barnacle reefs and walruses of the Miocene, to the atoll-like coral reef systems of the Pliocene and Pleistocene, and to the giant fresh water lakes of the late Pleistocene.  The talk will be illustrated with pictures of some of the main fossils and with simulated satellite images of what Florida would have looked like from space during the Neogene Period.

Edward J. Petuch received his Ph.D. in Oceanography from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, in 1980.  He later held a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship and worked at the Smithsonian Institution (Department of Paleobiology) and at the University of Maryland.  His research has taken him to 47 countries around the world and has resulted in the publication of 11 books and 150 papers.  Dr. Petuch has taught at Florida Atlantic University for 23 years and is a Professor of Geology in the Department of Geosciences

Wed, January 27 Dr. Christopher Migliaccio - Ecology, Conservation and Horticulture of Florida’s Native Palms
Chris Migliaccio, Professor of Ecology & Environmental Science, is in his twenty-first year as a faculty member at the Wolfson Campus and has held the Louis Wolfson III Endowed Teaching Chair (2001-2004). He has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Miami (FL) where his main interest was South Florida ecology. His M.S. is in Science Education from FIU where much of his graduate work was in tropical ecology.

Chris has been a science educator since graduation from the UM in 1975 and has taught grades K-14 as well as adults. During the summer, he scores AP Environmental Science essay exams for The College Board, facilitates Miami-Dade County Public School teacher workshops in botany at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and has lead ecological study tours to Costa Rica, Ecuador and Kenya for other teachers and MDC students.

At MDC, he’s most recently taught BSC 1050 – Biology and Environment (including regular and Honors classroom sections and Virtual College sections), PCB 2033 – Introduction to Ecology, IDS 1107 – Tools for Success, IDH 1001 & 1002 – Honors Leadership Seminars I & II and works with the College’s Earth Ethics Institute to train faculty and students in Earth Literacy.

Wed, February 10 Larry Wood - Jewels of the Reef; The Hawksbills of Palm Beach
The talk will introduce hawksbill sea turtles and summarize the findings of “The Florida Hawksbill Project”, the first in-depth study of the population structure, movements, and ecology of a Florida hawksbill turtle aggregation.

Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, moved to Florida to work with turtles at the Children’s Museum of Juno Beach in 1988. Developed nesting beach surveys, rehabilitation center and educational programming focused on marine turtle conservation. Earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at FAU, began studying the hawksbill aggregation in 2004, then became full-time effort for the Zoological Society of the Palm Beaches in 2008.  Now developing marine research and conservation programs for the Center for Conservation Medicine at the Palm Beach Zoo.  For maor information about the Hawksbill project, see http://www.floridahawksbills.com.

Wed, February 24 Dr. Robert Pemberton - New invasive bees in southern Florida-what are they doing?
Dr. Bob Pemberton is a recently retired research entomologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Invasive Plant Research Laboratory in Fort Lauderdale, where he led international programs to develop environmentally safe biological controls for invasive plants and insects. He is a research associate at Fairchild Garden, the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Through these associations, Bob studies the pollination ecology of plants, particularly orchids, and the ecology of invasive solitary bees. Bob obtained his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in Entomology. He lives in Ft Lauderdale with his wife Cho Yeon and their cat Lion.

“New invasive bees in southern Florida-what are they doing?”

A beautiful iridescent green orchid bee was discovered in Fort Lauderdale in 2003. The bee is native to Mexico and Central America but somehow was accidentally introduced to Florida. The bee is well established and locally abundant in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.  An oil collecting bee, which looks like a small bumble bee and also from tropical America, was found to be well established in southeastern Florida in 2007. These bees have unusual and fascinating ecologies that include the gathering of fragrant oils from flowers and other sources, buzz pollinating flowers with hidden pollen, and the collection of resins and oils from particular flowers to make their nest and feed their young. The naturalization of these exotic solitary bees can have both positive and negative impacts for Florida’s environment. 

Supervision Required: An adult must participate with children.
Age range: Age 14 & up
Instructor: Debbie Wilson
Length of Event: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Member cost: $5 donation recommeneded
Non-member cost: $5 donation recommended

This program is offered on the following dates:

01/12/2010
01/27/2010
02/10/2010
02/24/2010
03/10/2010
04/25/2010
04/21/2010
03/24/2010

Reservations required for all programs (unless otherwise indicated): 561.391.8110
Pre-payment is required for all programs; no refunds. Payment may be made by cash, check, Visa or MasterCard.

All of our programs are subject to cancellation 2 days prior to the scheduled date due to low sign-up. Please sign up at least 3 days before a scheduled program to help ensure that your favorite program will not be cancelled . Registrations will be accepted after this point if the program has not been cancelled and if there are openings. Programs are subject to cancellation due to inclement weather.

Many of our programs are family oriented. Children must be accompanied by an adult unless otherwise specified.