As researchers, scientists, and land managers, we are learning more every year about gopher tortoise ecology and the measures that need to be taken to conserve gopher tortoises, other upland species, and their habitats. We do an effective job talking to each other, but we need to be able to translate our knowledge into information that decision-makers and the public can understand or, more importantly, can use to bring about necessary changes.
Because of this need to communicate more effectively, this year’s conference will focus, in part, on outreach, public involvement, and education programs in addition to traditional meeting topics. We hope you will join us to learn more about the gopher tortoise, its conservation, and practical, proven methods for conducting outreach and education programs.
Friday, October 2: Effective Education and Outreach
Conference sessions will feature presentations and posters about effective outreach, public involvement, and education programs that are focused on gopher tortoises and upland conservation, as well as on methods and programs from other disciplines that can help improve outreach and conservation efforts.
Saturday, October 3: Ecology and Habitat Conservation
Conference sessions will focus on traditional meeting topics, such as gopher tortoise ecology, commensal species ecology, and upland habitat conservation efforts.
Hotel: This year's meeting will be held at Paramount Plaza (2900 SW 13th Street, Gainesville, FL 32608; 877-992-9229). The rooms are $79/night for the GTC meeting and must be reserved by September 8, 2009. Please use the group code "GTC" when making your reservation.
Saturday Evening Social: Join us for an evening of fiddle music and barbecue in Austin Cary Memorial Forest(http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/Facilities/forest.html)! On Saturday evening, October 3, we'll be enjoying Hill's BBQ and the music of an accomplished young fiddler, Lee Staley, in the rustic setting of the over 2,000-acre forest, preserved since 1936 as a natural laboratory of the University of Florida for forest resource education, demonstration, and research.
Lee Staley, a senior at Eastside High School in Gainesville, began playing American and British Isles fiddle music at the age of seven. He has taken first prize in the youth division of the Florida State Fiddle Contest several times, most recently in May 2009. His teachers have included his father and other Florida fiddle players, and in 2006 he completed an apprenticeship with master Irish fiddler James Kelly of Miami.