programs blog

*** In-Person Speaker ***

Robert F. Myers spent much of his childhood in southeast Asia where he developed an intense interest in natural history. His diving and passion for marine life took hold during his early high school years in Hong Kong and continued at the University of Hawaii where he earned a BA in zoology, assisted Bishop Museum ichthyologist John E. Randall on field trips to Enewetak Atoll and took up underwater photography. A year after graduating he moved to Guam to pursue graduate studies and underwater photography. There he earned an MS in Biology from the University of Guam Marine Laboratory (UGM), worked as a fisheries biologist for the Government of Guam and founded Coral Graphics as a vehicle to publish his photographs in books that he co-authored with UGM faculty.

Rob “retired” in 1995 to devote more time to photography, writing, research and consulting. Rob has written or co-authored numerous scientific papers and magazine articles on Indo-Pacific fishes and several books including Micronesian Reef Fishes (3 editions: 1989-1999), Coral Reef Fishes (with E. Lieske, 1993: Harper Collins/Princeton), Coral Reef Guide Red Sea (with E. Lieske, 2004: Harper Collins/Princeton) and Dangerous Marine Animals (with M. Bergbauer and M. Kirschner, 2009: Kosmos, A&C Black).

Rob now resides in south Florida with his partner and wife, Patrice Marker, who has been indispensable in assisting him with her technical expertise as well as photography. Since 2006, Rob has served on the coral reef fishes Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and has collaborated with researchers from around the world on publications ranging from biogeography to conservation, ecology and genetics of Indo-Pacific fishes. Rob also partnered with geologist and malacologist Ed Petuch to produce three books on Marine mollusks: Molluscan Communities of the Florida Keys and Adjacent Areas (2014; CRC Press), The Living and Fossil Busycon Whelks: Iconic Mollusks of Eastern North America (2015) and Jewels of the Everglades: the Fossil Cowries of Southern Florida (2018; the latter two also with David Berschauer) as well as several publications in The Festivus, the journal of the San Diego Shell Club.  

Rob is currently preparing a completely new and updated edition of Micronesian Reef Fishes as well as updated versions of some of his other books and a nearly completed field guide to Florida and Caribbean marine life.

*** In Person Speaker ***

A Lake Worth local, Alexandra Rose earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Florida State University (2019) and her graduate certificate in Aquatic Animal Care and Conservation through the University of Florida (2023). Her love for the ocean began in childhood, spending countless hours at the beach and on the water, always curious about the animals that lived there and their connection to us. As an undergraduate, Alexandra worked in a deep-sea shark research lab, assisting with gut content analysis, field surveys, and tagging projects. Her career path soon took her abroad to Ireland, where she rehabilitated seals during the pandemic, before returning home to south Florida to focus on native wildlife rehabilitation. Following an internship with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, she became a manatee biologist, spending three years conducting stranding response, photo identification, and carcass salvage. When the opportunity to join the Wild Dolphin Project arose, Alexandra felt she was moving from one dream job to another. After completing her first full field season aboard Stenella, she is eager to continue diving deeper into dolphin research and all that the upcoming seasons have to offer. 

Join us for an updated look at the Wild Dolphin Project and the research we conduct with Atlantic spotted dolphins. We’ll share who we are, what drives our work, and how we study dolphin biology and behavior to better understand and conserve these incredible animals. 

*** Virtual (Zoom) Speaker ***

Aaron Pilnick is a marine ecologist specializing in restoration aquaculture and the ecology of foundational reef organisms. He received his B.S. in Biology from Tufts University in 2013 and his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida in 2022. His professional experience includes positions at the New England Aquarium, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and close collaboration with The Florida Aquarium, where he worked alongside partners to develop a leading coral restoration program.

He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Florida, where his work centers on developing aquaculture and restoration methods for sponges, sea urchins, and other invertebrates. Sponges are vital but often overlooked components of coastal ecosystems, improving water quality through filter feeding, and providing essential habitat for fish and invertebrates. In Florida, large-scale sponge die-offs have highlighted their vulnerability and the urgent need for restoration. Pilnick’s research aims to develop strategies for enhancing sponge populations on Florida’s west coast, advancing both ecosystem recovery and coastal resilience.

He is excited to return to speak with the dive club, following his last presentation on long-spined sea urchins and their role in South Florida coral reef restoration.

***Virtual Speaker***

Joshua Patterson is Associate Professor of restoration aquaculture at the University of Florida.  He has been faculty in the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Program since 2014. Josh’s academic training started with a B.S. in Biology from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He then earned an M.S. in Aquaculture/Aquatic Sciences from Kentucky State University in Frankfort, KY and a Ph.D. in Renewable Natural Resources from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA.  Josh conducts research and outreach, mentors graduate students, and manages projects.  His lab focuses on using aquaculture as a tool to enhance or restore aquatic environments including coral reefs, nearshore hardbottom sponges, oyster reefs, and seagrass beds.  In a unique arrangement, Josh and his lab are housed at The Florida Aquarium’s Coral Conservation and Research Center on the eastern shore of Tampa Bay in Apollo Beach.  This talk will focus on Florida’s beautiful and important seagrass meadows, including discussion of impacts to these habitats and conservation/restoration strategies.

*** Virtual Speaker ***

The presentation will expose the audience to the work and impact of Project Recover. Project Recover is a non-profit organization and Department of Defense partner that has been in existence for three decades. Their mission is to locate and repatriate Americans missing in action (MIA) from our previous wars. There are more than 81,000 American MIAs and five million Gold Star MIA family members waiting for answers to what happened to their loved ones so that they can find healing and some sort of closure. Project Recover is the only fully vertical non-governmental organization (NGO) executing this mission in the world. Project Recover executes the entire mission set from research, to search, to documentation, to recovery in both the terrestrial and underwater environments. The mission will be explored with multiple stories of success and the impact these missions have created around the world.

About Project Recover:

Project Recover is the nation’s leading citizen-led, nonprofit organization dedicated to locating, recovering, and repatriating the more than 81,000 American service members still missing in action. We seek to honor the sacrifice of our brave service members by bringing them home, giving closure to their families, and preserving their legacy.

For over 30 years, Project Recover has been dedicated to this mission, completing over 100 unique missions in 25 countries. These missions have led to the development of a database tracking more than 700 case studies associated with 3,000 MIAs. We are proud to have successfully located 200 MIAs that await further recovery missions for repatriation. In collaboration with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, we are actively working to identify 26 MIAs to return them home to their families.

Our work is a living memorial and a uniquely American mission driven by humbled gratitude and honor of our nation’s MIAs.

Dr. Derek Abbey spent 23 years in the United States Marine Corps, serving as an enlisted Marine and an officer, both on the ground and in the air. This included serving as an F/A-18 aviator and in the special operations community. He conducted multiple deployments in the Hornet and holds more combat time in the jet than in peaceful skies. Additionally, he is a plank holder (original member) at 1^st Raider Battalion and Marine Special Operations Company Delta.

 Since retiring from the Marine Corps in 2014, Derek has remained committed to serving the military populations in several capacities. These not only include Project Recover, but also working extensively with military in higher education at San Diego State University and University of San Diego, as well as with several military-connected nonprofits.

He studied history at Oregon State University for his undergraduate education while he was an active duty Marine. He holds an M.A. in Higher Education Leadership and a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego. Additionally, he holds a credential from Stanford University in Non-Profit Executive Leadership and is a 2019 President George W. Bush Scholar.

He has been a member of Project Recover for over 20 years and currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer. For more than 30 years, Project Recover has searched for Americans missing in action (MIA) from our nation’s previous conflicts with the intention of providing answers and closure to Gold Star Families and helping to heal the wounds of war. Project Recover. Today, Project Recover is the only non-government organization (NGO) which has the capability of executing all mission sets related to locating and repatriating American service members who remain MIA. This includes research, search missions, documentation missions, and recovery missions in both the underwater and land environments.

Today, Dr. Abbey lives in Bend, Oregon.

***Remote Speaker***

Aran Mooney is a marine biologist focusing on the sensory biology and bioacoustics of marine organisms. He received his B.S. from the University of New Hampshire (2000; Biology with Spanish minor) and a M.S. (2003) and Ph.D. (2008) from the University of Hawaii (Zoology – Marine Biology emphasis). At UH Mooney conducted research on acoustically reducing dolphin and porpoise bycatch and the effects of noise on marine mammals. After his degree, Dr. Mooney worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory and then the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) as a Postdoctoral Scholar.  He is currently an Associate Scientist at WHOI.  Dr. Mooney’s research focuses on sensory biology and particularly how marine animals detect, use and are affected by sound.  This involves measuring sound sensitivity in a diversity of marine animals, monitoring biological activity and reef health via underwater soundscapes, defining hearing capabilities in organisms not previously known to use sound, such as squid and cuttlefish and developing new sensors to measure sound production, biodiversity and animal behaviors. To achieve these tasks, he works with engineers to develop new sensors and biologging tags.

WHOI

*** In Person Speaker ***  Please join us for dinner at 6 p.m.

Dr. Aaron Pilnick’s dedication to marine ecology and conservation began in his childhood, when he and his brother developed a shared interest in keeping reef aquariums while growing up in the suburbs of New York. This early fascination with aquatic life led him to pursue a career in marine science, gaining his first professional experience at the New England Aquarium while studying at Tufts University. After graduating, he completed multiple research internships studying fisheries ecology in the Northern Gulf and cold-water coral reef ecology in New England. He later worked as a full-time Aquarist at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, where he managed live coral reef exhibits and developed a passion for life support engineering and coral reef conservation.

In 2018, Aaron returned to his home state of Florida to help develop a burgeoning coral restoration program alongside The Florida Aquarium, working on aquaculture critically important reef species at their land-based conservation facility. At the same time, he pursued graduate studies at the University of Florida. He earned his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology in December 2022, focusing on restoration aquaculturing and coral reef ecology with an emphasis on marine invertebrate biology. Now a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Florida, Aaron continues to develop reef restoration solutions while also researching topics such as coastal sponge enhancement and marine disease ecology.

Aaron’s talk will explore his work developing a restoration aquaculture program for the long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum), a critically important reef herbivore. His research on overcoming production challenges has contributed to new strategies for advancing restoration goals in Florida. Through this work, his talk will provide broader insight into science-based solutions for reef restoration and ecosystem recovery.

 ** (In Person Speaker, Please join Josephine for dinner at 6:00 p.m. at the Aloft Hotel) **

Josephine Pierrat is passionate about marine biology since she was young. On a trip to Palau more than 10 years ago where her encounters with the fabulous coral reef and the jellyfish lake convinced her to undertake studies in marine biology to devote her career to it.

Josephine holds a  doctorate in marine biology, specialist in the ecology of sea cucumbers. She studied tropical species of sea cucumbers during her PhD studies on Reunion Island (a French island located in the Indian Ocean), where she focused her research on their diet, their reproductive modes, their relation with sedimentary factors and their spatio-temporal dynamics over more than two years on two coral reefs. She is now working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Mercier lab, where she mainly study the ecology of cold-water sea cucumbers in the Arctic Canadian in relation to commercial fishing initiatives and the creation of a marine protected area in this region.

Josephine is a member of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) Young Professional group of the IUCN, and also a member of APECS, the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists. In parallel, Josephine enjoys recreational diving. She has a recreational licence up to 60 m depth and her professional licence to 30 m.

The Mercier lab is based at the Ocean Sciences Centre of Memorial University (St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada). The head of the lab is the Professor Annie Mercier, a world-renowned specialist, particularly for her work on sea cucumbers. The research of the lab covers various fields in marine biology, with a primary focus on fundamental and applied aspects of benthic ecology (e.g. drivers of reproduction, larval ecology, population structure, species interactions, response to stress, aquaculture programs). Echinoderms (sea cucumbers, sea stars, sea urchins, etc.) and cnidarians (corals, sea anemones) are mainly studied in the cold waters of the Canadian Atlantic coasts and deep sea, and the Canadian Arctic with the collaboration of Indigenous organizations.

***In Person Speaker*** Please join Lureen at the WXYZ bar at the Aloft Hotel at 6:00 p.m.

Do you dream of traveling the world and capturing the most breathtaking
marine life? From vibrant reef-scapes and majestic pelagics to the tiniest, most adorable sea critters, join me on an exhilarating photographic journey. Together, we'll explore the depths of the ocean, uncover hidden gems, and share tips and tricks to help you plan your next aquatic adventure for a fun, productive, and less stressful trip. Please plan to join the club at the February Meeting on Feb 6th.

Lureen Ferretti is a passionate nature photographer and photojournalist, specializing in underwater imagery, who draws her inspiration from the serene beauty of nature and the delightfully humorous behaviors exhibited by animals.

As an ocean enthusiast, she wields her camera as a powerful tool to capture and share the unique personalities and behaviors of marine life, reveals both the delicate beauty and the vulnerability of our environment, and simultaneously document its tragic destruction caused by unwitting or indifferent human actions.

Her mission is to raise awareness, educate, and motivate people worldwide
to take action in safeguarding this precious ecosystem — a lifeline for
countless creatures including humankind.

In Person speaker

Rick Dayan is a retired Engineer. Rick worked for both IBM and as a Intellectual Property consultant. He joined USA Dive Club in March of 1983.  Rick was first certified in 1973 and has been taking underwater photos since a trip to Batangas and Anilao, Philippines back in 1982.  Rick has dove extensively throughout the Bahamas, Caribbean and warm water Pacific Dive Sites (except PNG was cold).

Tonight, Rick will be talking about a recent trip through the Solomon Islands on Bilikiki, a liveaboard boat.