The Calusa Herpetological Society Of Southwest Florida

Thursday, July 6, 2023 - 7:00 pm

Speaker Information: The speaker for this month is Rick Bauer from The Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. His talk is titled: Spatial Ecology of the American Alligator on a Developed Barrier Island in Georgia. 

Rick Bauer is the supervisor for Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve with Lee County’s Parks and Recreation department. In addition to managing the facilities and educational programs, he is also responsible for all the land management activity for the preserve. Rick has a master’s degree in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Davidson College. His master’s thesis examined the prevalence and spatial patterns of heavy metals and polychlorinated biphenyls in aquatic reptiles around an EPA Superfund site in southeast Georgia. During graduate school, Rick helped develop research programs with collaborators investigating American alligators in coastal Georgia and American crocodiles in Costa Rica. Prior to graduate school, Rick served as a research technician at the Jekyll Island Authority’s Georgia Sea Turtle Center for 3 years. There he was responsible for coordinating the field aspects of the American alligator research programs. Additionally, he also worked on projects that involved studying populations of Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, box turtles, diamondback terrapins, and gopher tortoises. He has also worked for the University of Missouri and Missouri Department of Conservation on the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) examining the effects of timber harvesting strategies on reptiles, amphibians, birds, and small mammals.

  After the meeting, you are invited to join us at a nearby restaurant (announced at the meeting) for more herp discussions and camaraderie over food and drinks. See you there! $5.00 for non-members per meeting or buy a year membership ($25 individual) or ($30 family/business). The address of the Calusa Nature Center is 3450 Ortiz Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33905.