Karen Bjorndal, Director of the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research, was our special guest speaker for November.  This was actually a joint venture with the Gator Club of Jacksonville.  Manny Granados, Gator Club and JHS member, arranged to get Karen Bjorndal as a speaker to satisfy both organizations' monthly meetings.  See bottom of page for Dr. Bjorndal's bio.

Dr. Bjorndal gave an outstanding presentation on the research that has and is going on, mostly with the Green Sea Turtles.  Her presentation catered to all ages.  She had a lot of information that the younger people could digest and enjoy, as well as a few intricate graphs that the experienced people could relate to.

Here are a few links

Dr. Karen Bjorndal was named the 2003 Teacher/Scholar of the Year, "the highest honor bestowed upon a faculty member by the University of Florida."  The award is given annually to a faculty member who demonstrates excellence in both teaching and scholarly activity.  Bjorndal received her PhD from the Zoology Department at the University of Florida in 1979 under the direction of Dr. Archie Carr.  She returned to the Zoology Department as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research in 1987 and was promoted to Professor in 1996.  Her major research areas are the nutritional ecology and productivity of sea turtles and the roles of sea turtles in their ecosystems.  She has edited six books and written over 120 scientific papers.  She served as Chairman of the Marine Turtle Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature for 12 years and has been active in international sea turtle conservation.  She teaches an undergraduate course on evolution, ecology and behavior for non-science majors and graduate-level courses in nutritional ecology and sea turtle biology.