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REEF Fish & Friends is a free seminar series held at the REEF Campus in Key Largo, Florida. Each event features engaging ocean-themed presentations from guest speakers. Snorkelers, divers, and marine life enthusiasts are invited to join informal discussions and mingle with members of our friendly, ocean-minded community. Complimentary light refreshments are provided. The evening kicks off with a social from 6:15-7pm, followed by a presentation from 7-8pm. Seminars are also live-streamed on the REEF Facebook page and YouTube channel. REEF Fish & Friends is made possible by the generous support of our members. For information on how to get involved, email mead@REEF.org.
If you want to be notified about our community events such as Fish & Friends, sign up to receive the monthly REEF Campus and Keys Community newsletter here.
2025 Schedule (see archive for full listing of speakers and links to recordings)
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January 14, 2025: All Hands on Deck: Collaboration for Restoration in the Florida Keys Join Dr. Melissa Giresi, Director of Conservation at the Ocean Conservation Foundation , as we dive into the exciting world of collaborative reef restoration in the Florida Keys. Discover how she's bringing together renowned research institutions, local dive centers, government agencies, and likeminded nonprofits to tackle the challenges facing our local ecosystems. We'll explore ways to increase collaboration and empower ocean lovers, divers, snorklers, and swimmers.
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February 11, 2025: What it Means to be Reef Safe Coral reefs are among the most vibrant and biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, but they are increasingly threatened by human activity. While an large number of companies are labeling their sunscreens as "reef safe", they are doing so without thoroughly testing the ingredients for their effects on coral reefs and marine life. In this presentation, Autumn will explain why Stream2Sea has chosen the term "reef safer" and is leading the way towards a higher stander of transparency and accountability in the sunscreen and body care industries. |
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March 11, 2025: Galapagos Fishes, From the Shore to the Abyss & From Darwin to DNA Dr. Jack Grove, a marine biologist, naturalist, and phototgrapher with over 45 years of excpeicence will take a deep look into the rich biodiversity of marine fish of the Galapagos. Join us in this journey spanning mutliple benthic zones, history, and the importance of DNA. |
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April 8, 2025: Collaborative Fisheries Science with a "SMILE": (Size Matters Innovative Legnth Estimates) Dr. Jennifer Loch will present on the SMILE project, which uses a novel, user friendly camera system to capture images of target species used to produce legnth estimates through an AI workflow, ultimately supplementing important biological data to fisheries managers and stock assessment scientists. This project relies on citizen science participation to collect fisheries ecology data, thus enhancing engagement in marine resource management. |
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May 13, 2025: Sea Turtle Nesting in South Florida: Trends & Threats David Anderson is the Sea Turtle Conservation Coordinator at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. He and his team collect sea turtle nesting data and analyze trends using geographic information technology on Boca Raton's five miles of beach. He also conducts nighttime lighting surveys, educational presentations, and responds to sea turtle stranding events. David's work is important in protecting the coastal envrionment by prioviding guidance on various threats that sea turltes face. |
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June 10, 2025: Fishes We Have Known: A Love Story Shortly after graduating from Texas Tech University in 1967, Ned moved to Florida to dive. During his 20-year teaching career in Jacksonville, Florida, he was active in the Florida cave diving community, and wrote many articles for popular scuba diving publications. In 1979 he formed New World Publications and published the Diving Guide to Underwater Florida, in print for over 40 years. In 1989, Ned Deloach and Paul Humann created their first publicaiton, Reef Fish Identification, Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. It was during the work of this publicaiton that Ned and Paul co-founded Reef Envrionmental Education Foundation. Since then, Ned and his wife Anna have traveled the world, writing and capturing their view of marine life in multiple more publicaitons. Currently, their writing and photography appears as a regular feature in Alert Diver. |
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July 8, 2025: Speaker Information to be Announced Soon |
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August 23, 2025: An Exploration Through Sourthern Florida Archaeology As director of the Southeast/Southwest Regions of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, Sara Ayers-Rigsby designs educational outreach and programming for Florida's southernmost 9 counties. Her research interests include public outreach, resilency, archaeological compliance legislation, and industrial archaeology in Florida. |