Protecting Shorebirds at the Second Chance Critical Wildlife Area
August 6, 2020
1:00 - 2:00 PM EDT
Breakfast with the Birds Lecture Series
Join us to understand how scientific research and community volunteers have increased protection for nesting shorebirds in Southwest Florida.
During this one-hour webinar you will have the opportunity to ask live questions of the presenters. Presentations will cover:
  • How shorebirds are protected by the award winning volunteer group Team OCEAN
  • What a critical wildlife area is and how they are established in Florida
  • How long-term monitoring was key to influence policy change

About the Speakers
Adam Dinuovo has been the Shorebird Monitoring and Stewardship Program Manager for Audubon FL since April 2015. He has worked on seabird and shorebird research projects from coast to coast for the past 20 years. Projects have included American Oystercatchers in SC, Piping Plovers in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Atlantic Puffins and Arctic Terns in ME. Prior to his arrival in Florida, he was the Research Coordinator for the California Least Tern and Western Snowy Plover Program at San Diego Zoo Global and the Sanctuary Manager for National Audubon’s Project Puffin in ME.
Brad Cornell is the Southwest Florida Policy Associate for both Audubon Western Everglades and Audubon Florida, a joint position he has held since summer, 2005, and for the regional organization since 2001. He works on land use, wetlands, coastal habitats, and Western Everglades restoration to protect and recover imperiled species, especially the Florida Panther, migratory and nesting shore and seabirds, Corkscrew’s Wood Storks, and Marco Island’s Burrowing Owls. He has degrees from Oberlin College and the University of Texas at Austin and played trombone for the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra for ten years prior to joining Audubon.
Keith Laakkonen is the Director of the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Naples, Florida. He is responsible for administration and supervision of the 110,000-acre Reserve which focuses on research, education, and coastal stewardship. Current priority efforts at the Reserve include watershed restoration, maintaining native biodiversity, and research and monitoring. He also serves as the state’s Regional Administrator for aquatic preserves in Southwest Florida, with oversight for field offices and staff in Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor and Estero Bay. Keith holds a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida and recently completed his Master’s Degree, focusing on sea-level rise policy in Florida, at Florida Gulf Coast University.   
Join us for the entire series. Online events now through October. http://rookerybay.org/events/solutions
For more information call 239-530-5972 or email friends@rookerybay.org