Watch the presentations from the 4th Transforming Landscapes for a Sustainable Future conference held on January 21, 2023 at the Emerson Center in Vero Beach, Florida.
Dr. Craig N. Huegel, Director, University of South Florida Botanical Garden, owner and operator of Hawthorn Hill Native Wildflowers, and teaches biology at St. Petersburg College. Former faculty member , Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida where he cofounded the Cooperative Urban Wildlife Extension Program. Author of Native Florida Plants for Shady Landscapes, Native Wildflower and Other Ground Covers for Florida Landscapes, and Native Plant landscaping for Florida Wildlife. Uses central Florida landscapes as laboratories to evaluate native plants and grows a wide variety of species (mostly wildflowers) that are not commonly propagated elsewhere.
Dr. John W. Fitzpatrick, Professor and Emeritus Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY. A Minnesota native, Fitzpatrick received his B.A. from Harvard University (1974) and Ph.D. from Princeton University (1978). Through 1989 he was Curator of Birds and Chairman of Zoology at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, studying ecology of Tyrant Flycatchers and community dynamics of Andean birds. At Archbold Biological Station in central Florida, where he was Executive Director from 1988 to 1995, he maintains a 50+ year collaborative study of ecology, behavior, landscape genetics, and conservation of the endangered Florida Scrub-Jay. As Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (1995-2021), Fitzpatrick oversaw development of the Lab into a world-renowned center for ornithology, conservation biology, and citizen science. He has authored more than 150 scientific papers, and co-authored four books including a leading college-level textbook on ornithology. Together with colleagues at the Cornell Lab, he pioneered eBird, now the world’s largest citizen-science project and a global standard for ecological monitoring. His honors in ornithology and conservation include awards from American Ornithological Society, The Nature Conservancy, Linnean Society of New York, and National Audubon Society. He was President of the American Ornithological Society (2000 – 2002), served on the Board of Governors of The Nature Conservancy (1995-2006), Trustee of the National Audubon Society (1995 – 2001), and on three U. S. Endangered Species Recovery Teams. In 2020 he was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Fitzpatrick lives with his wife, Molly, on a forested hillside in Ithaca, NY.
Dr. Grant Gilmore, President and Chief Scientist, Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science. Inc., doing marine research and technology development with emphasis on fish ecology and public education. Previously he was at Tropical Ecoscience, Inc., NASA/Dynamic Corp. Kennedy Space Center, and at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (Fort Pierce) where he participated on seven international deep sea expeditions, using JSL submarines in the tropical western Atlantic, West Indies, Bahama Islands, Cuba, Galapagos, and Central America. These have been presented on 25 national and international television documentary programs by National Geographic Society, Discovery, Audubon, Animal Planet, New Zealand TV, FOX, two NPR radio programs, and “Living on Earth” series. He also writes popular columns for Florida Sportsman Magazine.
Sean Patton, Owner, Stocking Savvy, Environmental Consulting on Native Plants, Native Fish and Native Florida, Sarasota, FL. A graduate of New College of Florida, where he studied Marine Biology and Ecology. After graduating, he became an Aquatic Biologist working in the swamps, lakes, and other bodies of water found in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. After being disillusioned by the traditional, costly, impermanent, and ineffective systems within the private sector of environmental management, he began researching alternatives methods of restoring Florida’s landscapes to their most balanced and natural forms. Stocking Savvy was born with this vision in mind. Now, he utilizes naturally-occurring biological systems, native plant species, harvesting, and a coalition of green businesses to restore habitat across our state. He believes every backyard can be a flourishing habitat and every pond a paradise. Helps run the Sarasota Manatee EcoFlora Project helping document and identify plants in these counties and engage the public in citizen science.
Dr. Larry Reeves, Assistant Professor with the University of Florida, based at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach. He is interested in mosquito diversity, ecology, and biology, and the ecology of mosquito control. Though his work is primarily focused on Florida, he has also worked on various projects in southern Arizona, the Philippines, Borneo, the Peruvian Amazon, and elsewhere. He has broad interests in biodiversity, and initially became interested in mosquitoes because they interact with a hugely diverse range of organisms, from Nepenthes pitcher plants, to marine mammals, to Burmese pythons, to the pathogens they transmit. He first realized the importance and central ecological position of mosquitoes when he was infected with dengue virus while studying Lepidoptera in the Philippines. Today, his research integrates lab and field work through DNA barcoding, using this, and other molecular techniques to understand species diversity and boundaries, to reveal interactions between mosquitoes and other species, and to better understand the evolution of mosquito host associations. In his research, he uses photography to both provide insight into research questions and ecological interactions between mosquitoes and other organisms, and to aid in communicating research results, teaching mosquito identification, and in mosquito-related messages targeting broad audiences. His images have appeared widely in the popular media, including in Newsweek, NPR, National Geographic, and National Wildlife.
Timothee Sallin, Co-CEO of IMG Enterprises, a diversified, family owned Florida agri-business. IMG Enterprise is the parent company of Cherrylake and IMG Citrus. Timothee is passionate about promoting sustainable agricultural and sustainable landscape practices in Florida as well as innovation in agricultural technology and organizational leadership. Timothee is a board member of 1000 Friends of Florida, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving special places and building better communities. A graduate from New College of the University of South Florida, Timothee earned a degree in Economics and International Studies. Timothee is also a graduate from the University of Florida’s Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources.