Join us to learn about marine life during REEF Fest 2022! We have a great lineup of guest speakers including scientists, naturalists, and underwater photographers. Seminars are held at the Murray Nelson Government Center (102050 Overseas Hwy. Key Largo, FL 33037.) Please see the detailed schedule below for dates and times.
Seminars are free and open to the public, but pre-registration is requested.
Click here to register for REEF Fest!
For those who are not able to attend in person, REEF Fest seminars will be livestreamed on the REEF Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Seminar Schedule
Friday, Oct. 14
2:30 pm -- Goliath Grouper: Tales of a giant Florida icon
Presented by Dr. Chris Stallings, Associate Professor, University of South Florida
Goliath Grouper were fished to near extinction in the 1980s, prompting a federal fishing moratorium to protect the species. After over 25 years of protection, the largest grouper in the western Atlantic has shown initial signs of recovery in Florida waters. Chris will discuss the history of the fishery, how we have overcome the challenges of estimating the population status of a protected species, and some of the controversies (and falsehoods) surrounding the recovery of Goliath Grouper.
4 pm -- Cultivating Climate Resilience with Citizen Science
Presented by Dr. Andrea Grover, Associate Professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Resilient communities are able to withstand and recover from adversity, and though resilience to climate hazards is increasingly important for many communities, it takes deliberate effort to develop a shared capacity to adapt to changing conditions. Andrea will discuss how citizen science can support community-driven climate resilience initiatives, and how to support successful citizen science collaborations that cultivate community capacity.
6:30 pm -- Solving the Evolutionary Mystery of the Clownfish-Sea Anemone Symbiosis with the Help of Citizen Science
Presented by Dr. Ben Titus, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama and Senior Marine Scientist, Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Clownfish-sea anemone symbiosis is an icon of tropical coral reefs in the Indo-West Pacific. Comprised of 28 described species of clownfishes and 10 host sea anemones, the symbiosis has been an evolutionary conundrum: 25 of the 28 clownfish species have evolved within just the past 5 million years; while symbiosis with sea anemones is largely attributed as the key innovation that triggered this adaptive radiation, no host-driven patterns of diversification have ever been recovered that can account for the vast array of color-pattern or biogeographical variation seen across the range. Combining citizen science photographs with comparative genomic analyses has now shed new light on this long-standing mystery, which may have important implications for implementing long-term citizen science initiatives involving this iconic mutualism.
Saturday, Oct. 15
2:30 pm -- Wonders of the Ocean: The World Beneath
Presented by Dr. Richard Smith, Underwater Photographer, Author, and Marine Conservationist
Richard’s richly illustrated talk investigates the smaller, often overlooked animals that inhabit coral reefs - from his Ph.D. research on the biology and conservation of pygmy seahorses, fishes so small they barely stretch across a five pence piece, to other cryptic and diminutive habitat specialists that are being discovered regularly thanks to recreational divers. During our journey through the Coral Triangle, we will encounter many newly discovered fishes, parasites and unusual reef creatures and how their discoveries have come about. As the oceans change, the habitats these animals depend upon are becoming ever more uncertain.
Speaker Bios



