Join us for free marine life seminars during REEF Fest! 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 schedule below for dates and times.

Seminars are free and open to the public, but pre-registration is requested. 

Watch Online: For those who are not able to attend in person, REEF Fest seminars will be livestreamed on the REEF Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Seminars

"Fisheries Science with a SMILE: Citizen Scientists contribute to marine conservation one photo at a time!"
Presented by Dr. Alli Candelmo, REEF Director of Conservation Science

Rapid advancements in imaging technologies hold promise for new sampling methodologies that can expand non-destructive and affordable fisheries data collection. REEF's new projects SMILE and Grouper Spotter are combining novel imaging technology with the power of citizen scientists to provide data for fisheries assessments. Through the SMILE (Size Matters: Innovative Lengths Estimates) project, volunteer scuba divers are testing low-cost, waterproof cameras equipped with a laser that allow for the measurement of fish captured in pictures using AI technology. Grouper Spotter is a photo identification (ID) database for four grouper species, where images of individual fish are matched using patterned species instance recognition software to generate data for estimating key population information (e.g. abundance, mortality, recruitment, movement, and growth). Through both programs, REEF will engage and educate recreational divers in an effort to build awareness and a constituency for conservation.

"Upside-down Jellyfish As Bioindicators"
Presented by Natalia López Figueroa, Ph.D. Candidate, University of South Florida College of Marine Science

Cassiopea, aka upside-down jellyfish, are found in warm, coastal regions worldwide, including shallow mangrove swamps, mud flats, canals, and seagrass beds in Florida. Most research on upside-down jellies has focused on their life history and their symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, however, recent studies suggest that they may be able to play an important role as indicator species to help determine ecosystem health. Natalia's research seeks to answer to question, "Can upside-down jellies be used as bioindicators of nutrient pollution or other social disturbances in coastal ecosystems?" The results of this work will provide a better understanding of how these unique jellies live in their natural habitat, and how they may be used for affordable coastal zone management practices.

"Key Largo... The New Normal"
Presented by Stephen Frink, Underwater Photographer and Publisher of Alert Diver Magazine

Based on a legacy of diving Key Largo since 1978, Stephen Frink will illustrate the historical nature of the reefs and marine life of his home waters. He will also acknowledge the profound coral bleaching episode during the summer of 2023, and the dive opportunities that are present in our 'New Normal' in the Keys.

"The Reef Fishes of Gainesville, Florida: How the Florida Museum Fish Collection informs our understanding of reef fish communities"

Presented by Rob Robins, Ichthyology Collection Manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History

The Florida Museum of Natural History Fish Collection is second in specimen records only to the US National Museum/Smithsonian Institution. The collection houses the source material for many scientific works that have furthered our understanding of reef fish diversity, including the discovery and description of many new fish species. A summary of these books, scientific papers, and their findings will be presented. Recent, more novel uses of museum fish collections, beyond species descriptions, have reported on changes to marine fish communities with conservation implications. Examples of these works will also be discussed.

"Diving With a Purpose: Restoring Coral Reef Ecosystems and Documenting Maritime History"
Presented by Kramer Wimberley, Founder, Diving with a Purpose-Collective Approach to Restoring our Ecosystems (DWP-CARES)

DWP-CARES is citizen science-based coral ecosystem monitoring initiative that teaches recreational divers how to document and restore our coral reefs. A special focus of DWP is the protection, documentation, and interpretation of African slave trade shipwrecks, and Kramer will discuss the importance of maritime shipwreck documentation along with saving our coral reef ecosystem by highlighting the work of DWP-CARES.

Alli Candelmo, PhD is REEF’s Director of Conservation Science. Alli joined the REEF team in 2018 and brings a wealth of experience to the organization. She attended Rutgers University where she obtained a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution. She has studied the population dynamics and management strategies of invasive lionfish in the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos, working with the local stakeholders and communities on both islands to help improve removal efforts and gain a better understanding of invasive lionfish. Her doctoral and postdoctoral research has examined a number of anthropogenic impacts on coastal ecosystems and early life history finfish, including; toxicants, ocean acidification and increased temperatures. She had the opportunity to collaborate with REEF on the Grouper Moon project in 2016 and 2017 examining survivorship of early life stages of Nassau and Tiger Grouper. She also has experience developing hands-on science activities. She is a strong advocate for conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems, regularly volunteering for local community programs. Alli served as Conservation Science Program Manager from 2018 to 2023, and joined the leadership team as Director of Conservation Science in 2024. Alli overseas a portfolio of projects, including the Invasive Species Program and Lionfish Derby Series, the Size Matters Innovative Length Estimates (SMILE) Project, GrouperSpotter, and is a member of the Grouper Moon Project research team.

Natalia López Figueroa was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science, under the advisement of Dr. Pamela Hallock in the Foraminifera and Cassiopea Research Laboratory (ForCRLS). She received a B.Sc. in Coastal Marine Biology from the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao in 2013, and an M.Sc. in Environmental Science from Hampton University in 2017. Natalia was the first person from Puerto Rico and student from the University of South Florida to receive the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Margaret A. Davidson Fellowship from the NOAA Coastal Management Office. This opportunity allowed her to perform research at a reserve from the national estuarine research system (NERR), specifically Jobos Bay NERR, in Puerto Rico. Her dissertation work has focused on providing tools to managers in Puerto Rico to improve management practices. Natalia has worked with many aspects of the coastal and oceanic world, from isotope hydrology to sea turtle egg translocation, and zooplankton ecology. She has a passion for mentoring the next generation of scientists through academic and research advising, hoping to join academia someday to continue fostering research in coastal zone management. Natalia takes science everywhere she goes, and enjoys teaching in informal settings because science is for everyone.

Stephen Frink is among the world’s most frequently published underwater photographers, with a career spanning four decades. He arrived in Key Largo in 1978 to open a small studio dedicated to UW photo services, primarily renting cameras and processing E-6 slide film, but he soon began to receive assignments to photograph and write articles for the consumer dive publications of the day. He worked as a photojournalist for Skin Diver magazine for 17-years, covering much of the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Florida Keys for the publication. Subsequently he worked as the Director of Photography for Scuba Diving magazine. For the past 10 years Stephen has been the publisher of Alert Diver Magazine, a beautiful coffee-table collectible magazine for the members of the Divers Alert Network. He teaches Masters level courses of Stephen Frink School of Underwater Digital Imaging each summer in his home waters off Key Largo, and offers dive excursions emphasizing underwater photography through his travel company, WaterHouse Tours. For many years Stephen served as the North American distributor for Seacam housings and strobes, and remains involved as a brand ambassador. Stephen divides his time between residences in Key Largo and Rougemont, North Carolina. Visit his portfolio at http://www.stephenfrinkphoto.com.

Rob Robins is Ichthyology Collection Manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History, a college on the campus of the University of Florida. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Miami and a master’s degree from the University of Florida. Rob is coauthor of the book “Fishes in the Fresh Waters of Florida” (University of Florida Press, 2018) and has just completed co-teaching “Diversity of Fishes” to undergraduate and graduate students during the University of Florida 2024 spring semester. Rob has participated in oceanographic and freshwater collecting trips, traveling as far afield as Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and India. He has described 9 species of fishes and is a contributor to the International Union on the Conservation of Nature’s assessment of Western North Atlantic fish population status and trends. His focal research interest is nonindigenous fishes and other vertebrates introduced to Florida.

Kramer Wimberley is a Master Scuba Diver Trainer who has spent most of the last 38 years of his life underwater. He started his career diving the wrecks of the Florida Keys and the Caribbean, then the Northeast and finally the South Pacific. Kramer has traveled to over 35 countries. Kramer is a Lead Instructor for Diving With A Purpose (DWP), a community-focused nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of submerged heritage resources. A special focus of DWP is the protection, documentation, and interpretation of African slave trade shipwrecks. Kramer also created DWP's Collective Approach to Restoring our Ecosystem (DWP-CARES). CARES is a coral ecosystem monitoring program and ocean restorative healing program that focuses on teaching recreational divers about human-impacted climate change and how to identify key fish, invertebrate and substrate species. Through community outreach presentations, reparative work of coral and sponge outplanting, as well as ocean debris removal, CARES has developed partnerships in Costa Rica, Guanaja, Honduras, Portobelo Panama and Barbados, with plans to create additional cohorts throughout the Caribbean.