The April meeting of the Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club will feature an in-depth discussion of Cephalopods by Dr Rick Batt. Cephalopods include mollusks such as squid, octopus, and Chambered Nautilus – all survivors of more than 500 million years of change. Nautiloids, Ammonoids, and Ammonites have proven invaluable in both the dating and correlation of rock sequences and the interpretation of ancient marine environments.
Dr Batt grew up in western New York State, near Niagara Falls. He started collecting and studying modern seashells and fossils when he was five years old. Batt earned four degrees in geology and spent most of his nearly 30 years of teaching geology at Buffalo State College. He was also involved in researching the geologic history of Niagara Falls and its gorge, and visited elementary, middle and charter schools to promote science to students using the topic of dinosaurs. He authored and illustrated a Middle-School level science book entitled “What do you Mean, Dinosaurs didn’t live in Hawai’i?” Today, Rick is retired and lives in Cape Coral, where he curates his collection of more than 7,000 specimen seashells, as well as fossils and other specimens of scientific interest.
The Sunday, April 13th meeting takes place at the Sanibel Recreation Center, 3880 Sanibel Captiva Road, Sanibel and the public is welcome. A silent auction begins at 1:30 PM in the Osprey Room, and the meeting begins at 2 PM in the Pelican Room. Club members will receive a Zoom link for the meeting by email and can join the meeting via Zoom if unable to attend the meeting in person. The Zoom portion of the meeting begins at 2 PM.
The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club awards grants from the proceeds of its annual shell show. Grants are given towards education and research in the fields of conchology and malacology, as well as for conservation and water quality projects, primarily in Southwest Florida. For more information about the annual show, or to join the club, please visit the shell club’s website at http://sanibelshellclub.com.
