This conference will feature presentations by those working in the Florida Keys, including surrounding areas such as Florida Bay and Biscayne Bay. Individuals will share their research and initiatives, fostering a deeper understanding of the state of marine resources in the region and encouraging inter-disciplinary collaboration.
We are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. Suggestive statements, sexual innuendo, or offensive remarks are not appropriate during any activity, including during talks, poster sessions, workshops, social functions, after hours parties, via Zoom chat or on Twitter or other online media. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Those violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled without a refund at the discretion of the organizers. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns about participant behavior, please notify the organizers immediately.
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Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Danielle Morley is a Research Administrator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). She directs the Finfish Research Team at the South Florida Regional Lab in the Florida Keys. She originally moved to the Keys and joined FWC in 2009. Since then, she has been researching reef fish in the Florida Keys with a focus on spawning aggregation ecology. She and her team participate in research using tools such as acoustic telemetry, passive acoustic hydrophones, biosampling, and underwater fish counts. Ms. Morley holds a BS from the University of Rhode Island, and MS from both Nova Southeastern University and the University of Florida and is currently a PhD candidate with the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Tom Matthews is a Program Administrator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Adjunct Professor at Florida Keys Community College, and Consultant with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. He received a B.S. degree in Marine Biology from Auburn University in 1986 and a M.S degree in Marine Science from the University of Alabama in 1988.
For the past 22 years at FWC, he has conducted research on fisheries and marine ecology. His principal area of research was on the Caribbean spiny lobster fishery. Since 1991 at FKCC, he has taught undergraduate classes in marine biology, oceanography, and environmental science. Since 2008 with GCFI, his research and program implementation work focused on identification of the sources and reduction of marine litter. He has 17 publications and was principal investigator on 18 grants.
UF/IFAS Office of Conferences & Institutes
Beth Miller-Tipton has served as Director of the UF/IFAS Office of Conferences and Institutes (OCI) for the past 30 years. She has been a guiding force, providing leadership to a creative and devoted planning team whose mission is to unite scientists and professionals focused on a common purpose so they can make a positive impact on the world around them. In addition to management responsibilities, Beth also coordinates several large scientific conferences.
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Andy has conducted research, monitoring, restoration and conservation projects on coral reefs worldwide since 1979 with a focus on understanding and addressing large scale changes to coral reefs. He joined NOAA in 1998 and over the next ten years worked closely with NOAAs Coral Reef Conservation Program. Beginning in 2010, he served as lead scientist for the Living Oceans Foundation, were he developed and led a six year Global Reef Expedition. In 2016, he established Coral Reef CPR, a small non-profit charity that is working to restore reefs in the Indian Ocean through research, education and low-tech coral gardening and restoration programs. Andy joined FKNMS shortly after Hurricane Irma (2017), where he has been focusing his efforts on the response to SCTLD, coral restoration activities including Mission Iconic Reefs, and the Restoration Blueprint. Bruckner leads the FKNMS Science Mission, working closely with state, federal and NGO partners on research, monitoring, conservation and management activities within Florida’s coral reefs and coordinates research, monitoring and restoration within the associated marine ecosystems. Bruckner holds BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in biology and marine biology from the University of Oregon, Northeastern University and the University of Puerto Rico. He has received a Presidential Early Career Award and an Administrators Award while at NMFS, and seven bronze medals from NOAA for his work on coral reefs.
Florida Atlantic University - Harbor Branch
Dr. Laurent Cherubin is a Research Professor who has been at Harbor Branch since August 2013 and is one of the two lead PIs in the Ocean Dynamics and Modeling program. Laurent is a physical oceanographer who studies the physical processes associated with the formation of oceanic vortices by ocean currents. He also studies the role of these processes in the life history of marine organisms, in particular how they affect the transport of their larvae. He has published over 60 articles in the scientific literature and is pioneering the application of artificial intelligence to ocean dynamics predictions and marine organisms acoustics.
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Alexandra Fine joined Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's Science Team in 2024 as a research specialist. In her role, she works closely with the research coordinator to plan and implement core science functions in support of the sanctuary's management plan, including identifying research priorities and developing science work plans, understanding management effectiveness, conducting damage assessments and habitat restoration, coral reef monitoring, and partner collaboration. Fine earned a bachelor's degree in marine biology from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School and a master's degree in marine conservation and policy from Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
A New York City native at heart, Fine loves to travel, and after graduate school she sailed as a scientist on a research cruise traveling from San Diego to Antarctica, with a quick stop in Easter Island, Chile, studying changes in carbonate chemistry of the ocean along the way. Most recently, Fine came to the sanctuary from NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami where she led research projects to investigate the impacts of water quality and land-based sources of pollution on coral reef ecosystems in South Florida. Prior to NOAA, she worked at Mote Marine Lab on Summerland Key, where she developed and executed research experiments on the effects of climate change, ocean acidification, and restoration methods on coral reef organisms and ecosystems. She loves being out on the water scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking, paddling and enjoying all the wildlife and nature the world has to offer.
Retired Science Coordinator, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
Dr. Steve Gittings spent his career working in the field of conservation science. Beginning in 1980 at Texas A&M University, he studied chemosynthetic communities and reef ecology, mostly in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys. He became the inaugural manager of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in 1992. He then served for 28 years as Chief Scientist for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, where he led the development of a system-wide approach for the assessment of sanctuary conditions. He has characterized and monitored ocean ecosystems, responded to and assessed damage from ship groundings and oil spills, supported accident investigations, and told the stories and lessons of a changing ocean in news, print media, documentaries, and presentations. He has been diving for over 50 years, led and participated in four saturation missions in the Aquarius habitat, and one as submarine pilot and trainer on a NASA mission. He also works to control invasive lionfish in the western Atlantic through planning, education, research, and the promotion of new commercial products and technologies.
Steve’s Ph.D. research was on the grounding site of the M/V Wellwood, on Molasses Reef off Key Largo. He studied the factors controlling the recovery of the reef community following the massive mechanical disturbance caused by the grounding.
Professor and Eminent Scholar (Retired), Newfound Harbor Marine Institute
Dr. Mark Butler is a marine biologist who has spent over four decades working in the Florida Keys. In spring 2025 he retired from his position as an Eminent Scholar and the Walter and Rosalie Goldberg Professor of Tropical Ecology at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Prior to that, he was an Eminent Scholar and Professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia and a recipient of the “Outstanding Faculty Award” from the Commonwealth of Virginia, the state’s highest faculty honor. The Florida Keys have been the home base for his research about which he has published nearly 200 scientific articles and book chapters, the majority of those on the undersea ecology of the Florida Keys. Many of his studies have focused on Caribbean spiny lobsters and shallow-water sponges, but his research has spanned a range of topics, including: the restoration of coral reefs and hard bottom communities, the effects of plankton blooms and Everglades restoration on shallow-water communities, underwater soundscape ecology, the ecology of octopus, and more. He and his wife now live on a ranch with their Great Dane in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Coastlines and Oceans Division, Florida International University – Institute of Environment
Jim Fourqurean is a distinguished university professor of biological sciences and an associate director in the Institute of Environment, leading the Coastlines and Oceans Division. He has been on the faculty at Florida International University in Miami since 1993. He is a marine and estuarine ecologist with a special interest in benthic plant communities and nutrient biogeochemistry. He and his students address many aspects of ecological and biogeochemical processes in coastal plant communities, including carbon and nutrient cycling, plant-plant interactions, plant-animal interactions and the structure of food webs. His laboratory has extensively used seagrass ecosystems as models for addressing general ecological questions.
Over the last 10 years, Dr. Fourqurean has been helping translate the science of carbon dynamics in coastal ecosystems into actionable policy and climate change mitigation strategies. He is one of the lead scientists in the International Blue Carbon Working Group and he also serves as a scientific representative to the International Blue Carbon policy Working Group. These groups have been successful in bringing the importance of carbon cycling in coastal ecosystems for climate change mitigation into the spotlight and helped influence the inclusion of coastal ecosystems into national greenhouse gas inventories.
Fourqurean received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Virginia and completed a postdoctoral fellowship working on the Tomales Bay LMER program at San Francisco State University. He was recently elected as the next president of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, the world's largest association of scientists and resource managers whose work concentrates on the coastal environment.
Dr. Fourqurean's laboratory investigates biogeochemical cycling, ecological competition and food web structure in shallow water coastal marine ecosystems, with an emphasis on seagrass meadows and mangrove forests around the world and the cycling and sequestration of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus.
University of South Florida
Dr. Lucas Griffin is a marine ecologist and assistant professor at the University of South Florida. His current research focuses primarily on the movement ecology, conservation, and management of recreationally important marine species in the southeastern U.S., with an emphasis on applying science to fisheries policy and conservation.
U.S. Geological Survey
Kristen Hart completed her Ph.D. in Ecology at Duke University in 2005. She had previously earned a Master’s of Environmental Management (M.E.M.) at Duke in 1999. Kristen has been a Research Ecologist with the USGS since 1998, working in several US National Parks and protected areas in the Southeast (Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, Biscayne National Park). Her focus is on population ecology of rare, threatened, and endangered species, including several species of sea turtles. She also works on invasive species issues in the Everglades, in particular those involving development of control tools for the Burmese python. Kristen works out of the Davie Field Office of the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center. projects. Kristen has utilized several tools in her research, including genetics, matrix modeling, field experiments, capture-mark-recapture, various types of telemetry, and acceleration data-logging devices. She has substantial experience with both rare and endangered species and their conservation.
Florida Sea Grant
Shelly Krueger is Extension faculty at the University of Florida and the Florida Sea Grant agent in the Florida Keys since 2013. Florida Sea Grant is a UF-based program that supports research, education and extension to conserve coastal resources and enhance economic opportunities for the people of Florida. Shelly has a BS from Georgia Tech and MS from Savannah State University in marine science. Shelly is also a PhD student at UF School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, majoring in sponge restoration aquaculture. As an UF/IFAS Extension agent, Shelly provides science-based education focused on water quality, sponge ecology, Sargassum, and coral reef disturbances, primarily stony coral tissue loss disease, coral bleaching, and aquatic invasive species.
Florida Gulf Coast University
Michael Parsons is a Professor of Marine Science in the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University and Director of FGCU's Vester Field Station. In addition to his teaching duties focused on marine ecology, Parsons has built a successful research career, receiving over $20 million of extramural funding to study harmful algal blooms and ecosystem health. His work has been cited over 3,500 times in the scientific literature, demonstrating the quality of his work. In addition to working with other researchers around the state to find solutions to our algal bloom problems, he was appointed to the Blue-Green Algae Task Force by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2019 to work to reduce the impacts of harmful algae in our region.
University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) - Department of Natural Sciences
Dr. Ritchie has studied microbes associated with corals and coral reef organisms for over 30 years. Her research interests include coral and coral invertebrate diseases, the influence of climate and oceanic pH changes on host-microbe dynamics, and the role of beneficial microbes on corals and other marine organisms. Current research focuses on the role beneficial bacteria may play in wound healing in elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) and their potential as a source of novel antibiotics for human therapies. Dr. Ritchie also facilitates research on Pritchards Island, an uninhabited barrier island situated in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Activities include diversity monitoring of flora and fauna, loggerhead sea turtle monitoring and research, and the search for probiotics for sea turtle nesting success.
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
William Sharp is a Research Administrator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. He directs the FWC’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Restoration Research Program located at its South Florida Regional Laboratory in Marathon, FL. He has served in this capacity since 2010. He began his career at the lab in Marathon in 1991 as a spiny lobster researcher. Beginning in 2005, he spent four years as a Fisheries Management Analyst and Administrator for the FWC’s Division of Marine Fisheries Management in Tallahassee FL before returning to the Marathon lab in 2009 to assume his present duties. He is a native of the Tidewater area in southeastern Virginia where he grew up along the shores of Chesapeake Bay. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Old Dominion University.
University of Miami - RSMAS
Dr. Manoj Shivlani is an environmental scientist and senior lecturer specializing in the social and policy dimensions of coastal and marine resource management. His focus areas include stakeholder theory, socio-ecological systems, fisheries socioeconomics, and international ocean management. His recent research has evaluated the effects of extreme events on fishing communities, the medium-term impacts of COVID-19 on small-scale fisheries, the determination of limits of acceptable change in marine managed areas, and the development of marine preserve management plans. Dr. Shivlani teaches courses in ocean policy, international ocean law and governance, marine protected area theory and management, and marine social science theory and methods.