FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 14, 2015
UPCOMING LECTURES AT UNF TO FOCUS ON MARSHES AND MANGROVES
~Attend a lecture to
learn more about ecosystem shifts between marshes and mangroves in Northeast
Florida~
 GTM Research Reserve Assistant Manager Gary Raulerson, (center) will share his knowledge on marshes and mangroves.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH – The Guana
Tolomato Matanzas (GTM) National Estuarine Research Reserve invites the public
to attend the lecture, "Ecosystem Shifts Between Marshes and Mangroves in
Northeast Florida: Research and Knowledge Transfer," given by GTM Reserve
Assistant Manager Gary Raulerson on Friday, Jan. 23 at the University of
North Florida.
"Dr. Raulerson's experience studying mangrove forests in Southwest Florida
has become increasingly more applicable locally as coastal saltmarsh transitions
to mangrove-dominated habitats," said Michael Shirley,
director of the GTM Research Reserve. "Studying the similarities and differences
between what we are experiencing locally compared to mangrove restoration
sites elsewhere will help us understand the changes we might expect in these
coastal habitats over the next few years."
Raulerson will discuss some of the exciting projects happening at the
reserve focusing on salt marsh and mangrove transitions. He will highlight
the variety of work being accomplished in research, education and stewardship,
which has been enhanced by the reserve's volunteer base.
Raulerson has served as assistant manager at the GTM Research Reserve since
2012. From 2010 to 2012, Raulerson worked with the Wekiva River/Middle St. Johns and
Tomoka Marsh Aquatic Preserve Office where his myriad of responsibilities included
management plan development, oversight and assistance with ongoing research and
public outreach. At the Sarasota Bay Program, where he served as senior
environmental scientist from 2000 to 2008, Raulerson supervised and performed
technical research and project evaluations of habitat restoration and estuarine-related
activities to implement the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for
Sarasota Bay.
Raulerson earned his doctorate from Louisiana State University where he
examined the differences in decomposition by snails and crabs in natural and restored
mangrove forests in South Florida. He also holds a master's from the University
of Kentucky and a bachelor's from the University of Florida, both in wildlife
ecology.
WHAT:
Lecture: Ecosystem Shifts Between Marshes and Mangroves
in Northeast Florida
WHEN:
Friday, Jan. 23
3 - 4 p.m.
WHERE: University of North Florida
Biological Sciences Building, Room 1701
1 UNF Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32224
| 
