SEAGRASS PRESERVES FOCUS OF APRIL CK AUDUBON LECTURE SERIES…APRIL 22

February 227, 2020

Cedar Keys Audubon welcomes everyone to the final presentation of this season: “Meet Your Local Aquatic Preserves” featuring Jamie Letendre on Monday, April 22, 2019, 5 pm, upstairs at the Cedar Key library.

Aquatic preserves protect the living waters of Florida to ensure habitat for bird rookeries and fish nurseries through the management of freshwater springs, salt marshes, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests. “Florida is fortunate to have 41 aquatic preserves, encompassing approximately 2.2 million acres. All but four of these are located along Florida's 8,400 miles of coastline in the shallow waters of marshes and estuaries. These waters are ours to enjoy and ours to protect.” Aquatic preserves, which are protected under the Aquatic Preserve Act established in 1975, are state managed lands with the primary objective to protect natural resources for future generations.

This presentation will focus on two of the 41 aquatic preserves. The presentation objective is to introduce the Aquatic Preserves and educate about these areas through an interactive discussion. Focal area examples include background and history, habitat descriptions, current monitoring programs and trends, as well additional ‘happenings’ in these aquatic preserves.

Jamie Letendre was born in Rhode Island, but grew up on the coast of Southeast Florida. From a young age, she had a passion for the outdoors. She solidified her roots in the environmental field as early as 14 years of age, where she began her environmental stewardship journey as a freshman in the Jupiter Environmental Research and Field Studies Academy at Jupiter Community High School. Upon graduation in 2005, she explored many science-related avenues through college courses and community opportunities, finally deciding on a

Bachelor’s program at the University of Florida in Gainesville. In 2011, Jamie graduated with honors from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with her Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. She relocated back to southeast Florida to work as an Environmental Consultant focusing on threatened and endangered species. An opportunity arose for her to diversify her experience, and she took a position with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in May of 2012 in coastal Georgia. Seizing yet another growth opportunity in October 2012, she landed locally – in Citrus County – working for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Aquatic Preserve Program.