Hurricane Erika

We prepared for the worst. And then nothing happened!





It's much better to have prepared and not needed to, then have needed to and not prepared. It was kind of a good exercise, because it's been 10 years since there's been a storm here. Hopefully that's it for the season!

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Salt Warriors race

Team Rookery, back at it again.





Definitely enjoyed the local microbrew after the beach run.





Somehow I ended up in the background of the photo in the newspaper!

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Dogs at the beach

I snuck the dogs on to the beach for a quick sunset walk. It's actually really silly the dogs are not allowed on the beach here.





I figured no one would be around with the impending storm, but a few people stopped and told me that I was breaking the law. I pretended like I don't live here!

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Chicago!

I met Charley in Indiana, spent a few days with his family in Elkheart, and headed to Chicago. We walked along the lakefront.





And went to Wrigley Field!





Our seats were pretty good- we were directly behind the cameramen that broadcast on television.





Even though the Cubs lost the game, we had a great time.





Walking around the city is just gorgeous.





A quick selfie on the bridge, on our way to Josh and Ann's wedding.





It was at the courthouse, so we couldn't resist this pic!





Charley toured me around the city that night, along the Riverwalk. This was my first real visit to Chicago, besides super-long layovers in the airport where I tried to see the city in a short time. He was a great tour guide since he used to live there.





It was colder at night that I was expecting. Kind of fun to wear a jacket!

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Florida Master Naturalist Program

This is one of my favorite programs to teach! The field trips are so fun. Here is us at Keywaydin Island.




And back at the Environmental Learning Center, learning how a sea turtle can escape a shrimp trawl net if there is a TED (turtle excluder device) installed. One student even demonstrated the path of the turtle, by crawling through the net!


On another field trip, we pulled a trawl net and identified the critters.


We caught baitfish, sea stars, sponges, and a variety of baby fish. The students squirmed, screamed, and laughed as they handled the animals. It's always fun to share this cool stuff with adults. Great class!

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Leadership Collier gatherings

I've missed a few events with my classmates while I was away this summer, so it was nice to catch up over happy hour.



I'm part of the Environment Day planning committee which is in charge of organizing next year's event. We had a meeting at the Botanical Gardens to finalize the agenda. Such great people!

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Last teacher workshop

After months of traveling to my colleagues' Reserves, I am happy to finally host them at my site. They traveled from St. Augustine, Apalachicola, and Texas.


The workshop was great! 15 teachers came from around Florida (and even one from Alabama!) Having a shark biologist on staff is an easy way to get teachers excited.


Teachers had fun making food pyramids with styrofoam cups. When in Rome!

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FMB with the girls

I rarely go to Ft. Myers Beach, but we made a day of it! Brittany, Lesley, Romy, and I had a blast at the rugby tournament and subsequent bar crawl. Great times!

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