Do you want to refresh your understanding of how ongoing Everglades restoration impacts the water quality off our shores?
Please join SCCF (Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation) on March 10 at 6pm for the Everglades Update Program at outdoor pavilion at the historic Bailey Homestead Preserve. This free, annual event is offered in partnership with The Everglades Foundation to help our community better understand the relationship between inland and coastal ecosystems in South Florida.
Don’t miss your opportunity to learn more about the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and the state of critical projects needed to restore America’s Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, and our coastal estuaries.
The program will feature an in-depth discussion on the science and current politics of Everglades restoration with Steve Davis, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer for The Everglades Foundation and Paul Julian, Ph.D., Hydrological Modeler for SCCF and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The discussion will be moderated by James Evans, Chief Executive Officer for SCCF.
The discussion will focus on key Everglades restoration projects, development of the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM), and Senate Bill 2508—the most recent attempt by the sugar industry to undermine the LOSOM process. There will be an opportunity for Q&A with the panelists.
We will also be livestreaming this event in real-time. Register at Eventbrite/sccf.
Meet the Moderator and Panelists
James Evans is Chief Executive Officer for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. He oversees operations and is responsible for carrying out SCCF’s mission to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems. James has more than 23 years of experience working in south Florida’s ecosystems, with expertise in water quality, environmental policy, marine biology, estuarine ecology, and environmental restoration. He served as SCCF’s Environmental Policy Director prior to becoming CEO in January 2022. He also spent 7 years as Director of Natural Resources for the City of Sanibel where he oversaw land conservation, ecosystem restoration, habitat management, environmental planning and code enforcement review within the department, water quality and water policy efforts.
Dr. Steve Davis is The Everglades Foundation’s Chief Science Officer. A native of Ohio, he earned a PhD from Florida International University in 1999 with research in Florida Bay and the coastal Everglades. Davis joined The Everglades Foundation in 2009 as a member of the Science Department, and he became a key voice in support of the organization’s mission to restore America’s Everglades. He draws upon his 25 years of Everglades science and teaching experience, including 10 years as professor of wetland ecology at Texas A&M University, to lead science, communication and outreach efforts focused on Everglades restoration, ecosystem health, and impacts of sea-level rise.
Dr. Paul Julian is a wetland biogeochemist and hydrologic modeler working as part of a partnership between the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and Conservancy of Southwest Florida. His work focuses on linking biogeochemical and hydrological processes on a landscape scale with an emphasis on wetland and lake ecosystems. He has been involved with Everglades restoration efforts and research for the past decade contributing to the evaluation of ecosystem restoration efforts.
