On Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, GTM Research Reserve attended the Cub Scout Pack 277 “Back to Pack” event, held at Christ Church in Ponte Vedra Beach. The purpose of the event was to get Cub Scouts excited about scouting in the upcoming year. Outreach Specialist Kristine Seager introduced the group to Princess Diana, a diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) turtle, one of the reserve’s animal ambassadors.
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Beach Debris! Fishy Fashions and the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve is pleased to announce a special installation in our nature center. Fishy Fashions are marvelously inventive costumes made from flotsam and jetsam and assorted beach debris. This exhibition will begin with a kick-off event, “Fishy Fashion Show,” on Tuesday September 30th at 5:30PM.
We here at the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve (SJBSBP) always enjoy it when researchers come to visit and share their expertise with us on a variety of incredibly interesting subjects. This past week we had the honor of hosting a USGS team that was researching alligator snapping turtles near SJBSBP property.
The GTM Research Reserve (GTMNERR) has launched a new volunteer program. GTM’s Margaret A. Davidson Fellow Meredith Pratt is training volunteers for a new long-term fisheries monitoring program and leading them through their first sampling protocol. The first training session began with a brief presentation about the importance of fisheries monitoring and information on how to sample monthly.
Rookery Bay Research Reserve recently hosted a Wildlife Interaction Workshop, organized by the Coastal Training and Engagement sector, as part of an ongoing series designed to educate environmental professionals who work outdoors in the field and interested community members about Florida’s native and nonnative wildlife.
On August 21st, the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves (BBAP) team worked with Miami Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM) to clean up the Coco Plum Mangrove Preserve in Coral Gables. The team did a tremendous job pulling all kinds of debris out of the mangroves, removing well over 1,000 lbs. of debris.
EBAP assisted a researcher and interns from Mote Marine Laboratory in their collection of seagrass samples from Estero Bay. These samples will be used to study the genetic distribution of seagrasses and to determine experimentally if any genotypes are more resilient to various stressors than others.
Griffin Alexander, Stephanie Stinson, and Mackenzie Magyar represented DEP’s Southeast Region at ICAST 2025, the world’s largest sportfishing tradeshow, in Orlando last week. The team especially enjoyed conversing with fishing stakeholders from across the country (and world) at the event, sharing information on Florida's magnificent State Parks and Aquatic Preserves.
The annual vegetation and elevation monitoring of the GTMNERR (GTM Research Reserve) Wetlands and Water Levels (WLWL) sites has been successfully completed. WLWL is a national program with standardized protocols for each NERR to examine the interplay of water levels, elevation and plant communities in coastal wetlands at scales relevant to local, regional and national decision makers.
Rhoden Cove Landing on Lake Jackson AP will have a new 200ft boardwalk and observation platform by the end of the year that will offer the public wildlife viewing and bank fishing opportunities. However, there are many challenges in access, permitting, and construction due to dramatically fluctuating water levels and vegetation at this site.