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SCIENCE IN ACTION AT LUNCH & LEARN
ROOKERY BAY LECTURE SERIES AT
ROOKERY BAY
RESEARCH RESERVE Learn more about the scientific work

of Rookery Bay by attending one
(or all!) of the presentations in the
2022-2023 Lunch & Learn Lecture Series:
In the hustle and bustle of busy people-filled Naples, there is still a natural undisturbed spot to Research in the Reserve.
enjoy—Rookery Bay Research Reserve. The 110,000 acres of undeveloped land and water (just south
of the City of Naples) has been set aside as a National Estuarine Research Reserve.
REGISTER TODAY AT:
At Rookery Bay Research Reserve, residents and visitors alike can enjoy a variety of outdoor
activities, including kayaking, boating, fishing, shelling, beach going, and birding as well as RookeryBay.org/
calendar
learn about the subtropical habitat and local wildlife at the interactive and family-friendly
Environmental Learning Center.

DECEMBER 14, 2022
“Ongoing Graduate Student Shark
Research: A Florida International
University/Rookery Bay Collaboration”
by Kristine Zikmanis, Rookery Bay;
Margaret A. Davidson, Fellow
and Sara Casareto, FIU/Rookery Bay
Graduate Research Assistant

JANUARY 11, 2023
Clockwise from top left: Shark research at Rookery Bay Reserve; Research in the Mangroves; Great Egrets and “The Birds of Rookery Bay
Roseate Spoonbills; Kristine Zikmanis, presenter of shark research at Lunch & Learn; Red Knot birds, banded in
and How They Tell Us Their Stories”
New Jersey; Researcher Jill Schmid
by Col Lauzau, Avian Biologist
But, at the core, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is place of active marine
research, conservation, training, and education. Rookery Bay is one of thirty National Estuarine FEBRUARY 8, 2023
Research Reserves (NERRS) preserving more than 1.3 million acres along the coast of the “Over Two Decades of Fisheries
Research in Rookery Bay”
United States. All of the NERRS have a similar mission. Each one is committed to protecting, by Pat O’Donnell, Fisheries Biologist
conserving, and monitoring long-term changes in the water, land, and wildlife of their area. The
habitats of the NERRs vary widely—from deep cold glacier bays in Alaska and marshy wetlands MARCH 8, 2023
in South Carolina, to mangrove islands and shell-strewn beaches of Rookery Bay in Naples. “What is GIS? Mapping the Reserve”
By sharing information and working together at a national and federal level through the by Jill Schmid, GIS Specialist
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NERR scientists from around the
country can better understand climate impact on estuaries (where rivers meet the sea) and how APRIL 5, 2023
this relates to sea level, shifts in wildlife and fish communities, shoreline erosion, and changes “Sea Turtles of the Reserve”
in water quality. This data is used to educate the community and help lawmakers make more by Sarah Norris, Sea Turtle Biologist
informed decisions about coastal management to protect the future of natural places like these
for generations to come.

Life in Naples December 2022 33