Page 71 - January_2016_Life_In_Naples_Magazine

Jan. 15-17 2016 Feb. 2, 2016, 12 – 1 pm
SWFL Nature Festival Lunch & Learn: A Snapshot in Time
Don’t miss the 12th Annual Southwest Florida Nature Festival! Three days of field trips are Understanding landscape-scale status and trends
available in a variety of transportation modes including walking, driving, biking, paddling, of critically important aquatic and coastal upland
buggy, and boat tours. Most tours are offered in cooperation with regional and local habitats is crucial for resource management.
partners such as Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Up A Creek Kayak Tours, and Conservancy RBNERR recently completed work toward
of Southwest Florida. New this year are an evening firefly walk in Big Cypress National producing its first ever comprehensive maps that
Preserve, a behind-the-scenes private tour at Naples Botanical Garden, and a birding walk classify and enumerate the relative acreages of the
at Harnes Marsh Preserve, a part of the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement various aquatic and upland habitat types contained
District (Lee County). Each tour has limited space and requires pre-registration. within the Reserve’s managed area. These maps
In addition to field trips, the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center will host a day of are an important tool with which researchers
on-site activities and lectures on Saturday, January 16. Marine life touch tank, guided trail and resource managers can begin to investigate
walks, educational booths and other activities will be ongoing throughout the day. Hourly how these habitats have responded to land-use
lectures by local and national experts will cover local wildlife and there is even a session changes, how they will respond to future changes
on how to be a better birdwatcher. including the effects from sea level rise, and can
Admission to the Environmental Learning Center on Saturday is $10 ($5 for members.) serve as a basis for designing and implementing
The Keynote Presentation will be “Florida’s Living Beaches” by authors Blair and Dawn resource management/restoration strategies that
Witherington. Our wave-swept coastline offers more than a sandy stroll amidst stunning can allow for these habitats to be more resilient to
scenery. As ever-changing ribbons of sand, these beaches foster unique life forms and natural and anthropogenic changes.
accept beguiling castaways from a vast marine wilderness. Blair and Dawn have sought to
satisfy beachcombers’ curiosity within four books on southeastern US beaches covering Kevin Cunniff is a coastal/estuarine ecologist,
beach processes, plants, animals, minerals, and manmade objects. with particular expertise in seagrass habitats,
The cost to attend the Keynote Presentation is $15 and includes light refreshments. who has been working in south Florida estuarine
ecosystems since 1999. Cunniff has served as
Jan 22, 2016, 5:30 – 7 p.m. RBNERR’s Research Coordinator since November
Amazing Adventures Lecture, “South African Safari: One day” 2013. Most recently, Cunniff was a researcher in
the Seagrass Ecosystems Research Laboratory
Keynote Speaker: Carl Kelly at Florida International University where he was
This typical day on safari begins before conducting long-term research on seagrass and
sunrise tracking two cheetahs as they water quality trends in the ecotonal mangrove
hunt, circle a lake, water hole and the lakes of northern Florida Bay in Everglades
wide variety of animals there, and National Park.
concludes with a close encounter at
sunset. Carl Kelly is a retired pastor
and journalist. He currently works as a
charter captain and ecotour guide, and
volunteers at Rookery Bay NERR.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for refreshments,
the speaker’s presentation is 6 to 7 p.m.
followed by questions and mingling.
Cost is $15 ($10 for members) and includes refreshments.

Jan 23, 2016, 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Collage on Canvas
Local artist Marjorie Pesek will lead this three-hour
worshop for adults of all levels of creative talent. She
will share her unique art technique of Layered Imagery.
Participants will be supplied with a sketch on a 9” x
12” stretched canvas, a template of the subject, glue,
scissors, and magazines. Marjorie will work with you to
create a masterpiece you can take home! Additional kits
available for purchase in the nature store. See examples
on Marjorie’s website by clicking here.
Cost is $55 and $45 for Friends of Rookery Bay
members. Registration fee includes one adult (ages
12+) and all necessary supplies. Come early and enjoy
complimentary admission to the Environmental Learning Center.

Life in Naples | January 2016 71