Courtyard Marriott North Ft Lauderdale
2440 W. Cypress Creek Road
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309-1829

Feel free to join us for dinner @ 6:00 PM in The Bistro, food and beverage service provided, located in the Courtyard By Marriott North Fort Lauderdale/Cypress Creek.  Social Time begins around 7:00 PM in the Florida Room.  The general meeting starts at 7:30 PM with current events, announcements of local dives, mini-trips, status of overseas trips, announcements of social activities, and the Lobster Pot! Then our monthly guest speaker takes center stage for an informative, often educational, definitely entertaining presentation on a dive subject, exotic dive destination, or perhaps new equipment.  Please come to one of our meetings the first Thursday of each month.  Visitors and guests are welcome.

Rules Changes to be Presented for Approval

The Board of Directors has approved these changes to the club rules to be presented at a meeting of the General Membership for a vote. A two-thirds majority of the membership present at the General Membership meeting will be needed for approval.

Current Version

ARTICLE II: APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

Section 1: An applicant must attend one meeting or function before being eligible for membership.

Section 2: Applications for membership must be submitted along with the initiation fee, prorated annual dues, proof of certification from a nationally recognized training agency and a duly signed and witnessed Membership Agreement.

Section 3: The initiation fee shall be established by the Board of Directors.

Section 4: Application for membership must be approved by a three-fourths vote of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP DUES

Section 1: Annual dues shall be established by the Board of Directors and will be payable on January 1st of each year.

Proposed Version

ARTICLE II: APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

Section 1: An applicant must attend one meeting or function before being eligible for membership.

Section 2: Applications for membership must be submitted along with the initiation fee, appropriate annual dues, proof of certification from a nationally recognized training agency and a duly signed and witnessed Membership Agreement.

Section 3: The initiation fee shall be established by the Board of Directors.

Section 4: Application for membership must be approved by a three-fourths vote of the Board of Directors present at a Board meeting.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP DUES

Section 1: Annual dues shall be established by the Board of Directors.

Program for September

Madeline Kaufman Speaking about Coral Reefs

Coral reefs have been on the decline for the past couple decades, yet millions of people depend on these ecosystems for food, jobs, tourism, recreation, medicinal compounds and coastline protection. With recent global bleaching events, severe disease outbreaks and increasing anthropogenic pressures, reefs have suffered to the point that active human intervention has become necessary. About ten years ago, the Lirman Benthic Ecology Lab at the University of Miami began to actively propagate corals in offshore nurseries and plant them onto the reef. They have planted over 10,000 corals onto the Florida Reef Tract to date. About 3 years ago, they expanded their restoration efforts to a citizen science program, known as Rescue a Reef. As a part of this program, they bring recreational divers out on coral gardening excursions in which divers help maintain the nurseries, collect corals and plant them onto the reef. To date, citizen scientists have helped plant about 3,000 corals. During her presentation, she will talk about the importance of coral reefs, the threats they are facing and what we can do to help.

She is originally from Baltimore, Maryland but came to Miami 6 years ago to pursue a Bachelor of Science in marine science and biology. After graduating in 2016, she took a gap year and became a divemaster with South Beach Divers, began volunteering as outreach coordinator for the nonprofit Debris Free Oceans and worked as a research assistant in two coral research labs at UM. She just returned to school this past January and is pursuing a Master of Science in marine biology, focusing on coral conservation genetics and restoration ecology.