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Pinellas County and UF/IFAS are offering a series of free classes to help you recognize and rid your
yard of invasive plants. You can also pitch in by signing up for an upcoming workday at local parks and preserves. Here's a sampling of what's ahead, with links to registration and additional information:
Monday, Feb. 22, 6:30-7:30 pm
Florida Invasive Species
Tuesday, Feb. 23, 6:30-8:30 pm Alien Invaders in Home Landscape
Tuesday, Feb. 23, 5-6 pm Florida-Friendly Landscaping and Invasive Plants
South Community Library, St. Pete *
No registration necessary
Saturday, Feb. 27, 10:30 am-12 pm
Invasive Species: Butchers of Backyard Biodiversity
Sign Up for Volunteer Workdays:
Monday, Feb. 22, McKay Creek Greenway, Largo, 8 am-12 pm
Register here
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Lionfish Harvesting and Handling Workshop
6:30 pm-8:00 pm
Manatee County Agriculture and Extension Service Kendrick Auditorium
1303 17th Street West,
Palmetto, FL 34221
Lionfish are invading the Gulf of Mexico at an alarming rate, and these voracious predators have a negative impact upon native fish populations. If there is a bright side, it is that Lionfish are actually quite tasty. Putting them on the menu is one way to slow the growth of the population. Come to this free workshop for an overview of Lionfish biology, history of the invasion and brief demonstration on how to harvest and handle these invasive fishes.
Register Here
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And more about Lionfish...
Salty Topic Speakers Series
A Thorny Matter: Lionfish Invasion
Thursday, March 3, 7-8 pm
Weedon Island Preserve
1800 Weedon Island Dr. NE, St. Petersburg
Lionfish were introduced by aquarium hobbyists to waters off the southeast coast of Florida in the 1980s. Over the past ten years, these beautiful, ornate fish have rapidly spread across the entire tropical western Atlantic, from North Carolina to Venezuela, throughout the Caribbean and the Gulf
of Mexico. Dr. Chris Stallings, USF College of Marine Science, will review the history of the invasion, discuss the biology and ecology that has allowed them to be so successful, highlight some damaging impacts they can have, and finish with what scientists are doing to combat the problem.
Register here
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National Geographic Live Tampa Speakers Series
National Geographic Live
and the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts brings its new season of adventure and exploration to Tampa. Here is your chance to meet extraordinary explorers and photographers in compelling, lavishly illustrated presentations. These accomplished individuals are documenting our world's natural beauty and cultural richness, while pushing the frontiers of human knowledge.
Stranger in a Strange Land 
Tuesday, Feb. 23, 7 pm
A veteran National Geographic photographer whose career has spanned four decades, Jodi Cobb takes audiences on a moving and humorous journey as she chronicles her public-and private-path from young photojournalist to world-renowned photographer.
Exploring Mars 
Tuesday, March 22, 7 pm
A mechanical engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Kobie Boykins has worked on the systems that keep the Mars Science Lab, Curiosity, moving around Mars. Join him for a look at what Curiosity and other Mars rovers have discovered-and are continuing to discover-on the red planet.
Purchase tickets here
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From the producers of Journey to Planet Earth:
Dispatches from the Gulf
Documentary on Deepwater Horizon Spill Premiers at Mahaffey Theater
Monday, February 29
Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg
7 pm -- Documentary
8:15 pm --
Panel discussion featuring researchers and first-responders, including local scientists appearing in the documentary.
The 2010
Deepwater Horizon
oil spill was the largest in U.S. history, releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Dispatches from the Gulf
, narrated by Matt Damon, shares the first-hand accounts of scientists responding to the spill and fishermen and others impacted by the devastation.
Don't miss this chance to see the documentary and the live panel discussion afterwards, as scientists and researchers discuss what they've learned and ongoing efforts to assess the spill's impacts.
Admission is FREE!
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Do Your Part to "Swat" Mosquitoes:
Drain and Cover!
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Photo: University of Florida
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Tips from area health departments to reduce the threat of mosquito-borne illnesses such as the Zika virus:
- Get rid of mosquito-breeding containers. Destroy or dispose of tin cans, old tires, buckets, unused plastic swimming pools, or other containers that collect and hold water. Do not allow water to accumulate in the saucers of flowerpots, cemetery urns, or in pet dishes for more than two days.
- Keep your rain gutters cleaned out. Rain gutters can get clogged with leaves and debris, which impede the flow of water. Not only is that bad for your roof, it creates an ideal habitat for mosquito larvae, which need water to grow into adults.
- Repair broken screens on windows, doors, porches, and patios.
- Maintain the water balance (good chemistry) of swimming pools. Empty plastic swimming pools when not in use.
- Regularly rinse out any bromeliad plants in your yard with a garden hose. The average bromeliad can be expected to produce around a hundred mosquitoes per year. That may not seem like much, but if you have ten or twenty plants in your yard, that's several thousand mosquitoes!
- Cover up - always wear socks and shoes, long pants, and long-sleeved sleeves. Use insect repellents on bare skin and clothing/ Always use repellents according to the label.
- Take special precautions when a warning is in effect. When a mosquito born disease warning is in effect, stay inside during the evening hours because mosquitoes are most active at that time.
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Sign up for the Great American Cleanup!
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Photo: Keep Manatee Beautiful
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Volunteers are needed to pick up litter at shoreline locations around Tampa Bay during the Great American Cleanup in March and April. Start times vary from 8 am to noon, depending on location. The event is family-friendly and open to all ages.
The Great American Cleanup is the nation's largest community improvement program taking place annually from March 1 through May 31, involving an estimated 2.8 million volunteers across the country.
Dates, registration and site information:
Hillsborough County --
Saturday, March 5
Pinellas County -- Saturday, March 12
Organized by Keep Pinellas Beautiful (with several sites coordinated by Tampa Bay Watch).
Register here
or
here
.
Manatee County -- Saturday, April 16
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 The mission of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program is to build partnerships to restore and protect Tampa Bay through implementation of a
scientifically sound, community-based management plan. TBEP is a partnership of Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties; the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater; the Southwest Florida Water Management District; the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
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