Full Program

Keynotes

• Dr. Michael Shirley, Deputy Director of the Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection and the Coastal Zone Management Administrator within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection

• Stephanie Robinson, Senior Coastal Management Specialist ​with Lynker, LLC on contract with NOAA's Office for Coastal Management

• Adam Blalock, Deputy Secretary for Ecosystem Restoration within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Workshops

• Florida-Friendly Communities Workshop (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) with Claire Lewis, University of Florida, Eban Bean, Ph.D., University of Florida, and Emily Brown, Florida Department of Environmental Protection

• Heritage Monitoring Scouts (HMS Florida) Workshop with Sarah Miller, Emily Jane Murray, Robbie Boggs, and Emma Dietrich from the Florida Public Archaeology Network

• Using iNaturalist and EDDMapS for Species Observations Workshop with Kaitlyn Dietz and Abby Kuhn from the GTM Research Reserve

Presentations

• The state of the marshes in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas Estuary, Nikki Dix, Ph.D., GTM Research Reserve

• Warming and mangrove encroachment alter belowground processes with positive implications for surface elevation maintenance at the GTM Research Reserve: Findings from the WETFEET project, Samantha Chapman, Ph.D., Villanova University

• Salt marsh plant community structure influences success of Avicennia germinans during poleward encroachment, Tess Adgie, Villanova University

• How big changes are affecting the marsh’s smallest residents: How warming and shifting vegetation can affect benthic algae in coastal marshes, Gabriela Canas, University of North Florida

• Belowground warming alters the growth responses of Avicennia germinans and Spartina alterniflora, Harris Stevens, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

• The role of elevation in the northward advance of Avicennia germinans at GTM Research Reserve, Ches Vervaeke, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

• Implications of mangrove migration into saltmarsh habitat: Resilience to sea level rise, Jim Morris, Ph.D., University of South Carolina

• Impacts of land use and impoundment management on water quality in a coastal river, Jessica Lee, University of North Florida

• Water quality dynamics in tidally influenced blackwater creeks along a rural-urban gradient in northeast Florida, Taryn Chaya, Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience

• Spatially explicit oyster biofiltration services in a subtropical estuary, Daniele Pinton, University of Florida

• Oyster spat monitoring in the GTM Research Reserve, Alee Knoell, GTM Research Reserve

• Marina Observation of Sea Turtles (MOST): Establishing a database of north Florida green sea turtles, Ed McGinley, Ph.D., Flagler College

• Plastic ingestion in post-hatchling sea turtles: Assessing a major threat in Florida nearshore waters, Catherine Eastman, University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab

• Unmanned aerial vehicles for research and monitoring, Allix North, GTM Research Reserve

• PowerPoint presentations vs. virtual reality technology: Comparing environmental education teaching tools in the classroom, Kaitlyn Campbell, GTM Research Reserve

Posters

• Analysis of long-term water quality trends in a northeastern Florida estuary system, Emma Wilkinson, Flagler College

• Annual winter variations of ichthyoplankton family assemblage within the GTM Research Reserve, Chris Kurtz, University of North Florida

• Gathering boat wake information in the GTM Research Reserve using virtual surveys, Philip Yang, Villanova University

• Herpetofaunal monitoring at the GTM Research Reserve, Laura Suthar and Zachary Lepera, GTM Research Reserve

• Mapping coastal protection services provided by habitats in a National Estuarine Research Reserve, Gregg Verutes, University of Santiago de Compostela

• Refining techniques for high-frequency monitoring of chlorophyll-a in the NERRS, Silas Tanner, GTM Research Reserve

• Using plankton DNA to assess the impact of water quality on the base of the estuarine food web, Ashley Reaume, University of Central Florida

• White-tailed deer survey and harvest results in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area, Justin Van Gorder, Guana River Wildlife Management Area