Guest Speaker: Steve Burton, Director – Stranding and Population Assessment Team, FAU Harbor Branch

The St. Lucie Audubon Society is pleased to welcome Steve Burton as our featured speaker for this month’s general membership meeting.

Steve has served as Director of the Stranding and Population Assessment Team at FAU Harbor Branch since 2010. His team responds to marine mammal strandings and conducts monthly boat-based photo identification surveys in the Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean between Sebastian and Jupiter Inlets.

With a Master’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and a Bachelor’s degree from Hawaii Pacific University, Steve has spent more than 27 years working with marine mammals—including his early career as a dolphin and sea lion trainer in Haw

Guest Speaker: Diane Goldberg, SLAS Conservation Chairperson
Topic: Native Plants for Birds

Join us for Diane’s engaging lecture on how native plants can attract a stunning variety of birds to your yard—no feeders required! Expect samples and inspiration for transforming your yard into a bird-friendly haven. Don’t miss this opportunity to see how native plantings can bring nature to life right outside your door.

We are delighted to welcome Rob and Cindy Adams of Adams Ranch, a 4th-generation Florida cattle ranch established in 1937, as our first guest speakers of the 2025–2026 season! We also look forward to our annual Adams Ranch Tours beginning in January 2026.

Adams Ranch is dedicated to sustainable and natural practices—using only natural breeding, calving, weaning, and growing methods, with no antibiotics and no added hormones ever. Their beef is known for being healthy, tender, and flavorful, with all steaks aged a minimum of 21 days. The Adams family even transformed their original 1940s cracker cowboy house into a retail beef shop, where the community can purchase their high-quality, all-natural beef. The ranch is also proud to be Global Animal Partnership certified.

Beyond cattle ranching, conservation is at the heart of Adams Ranch. Through conservation easements with partners such as Conservation Florida and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, they protect vital native habitats like dry prairies and hammocks. These efforts safeguard water quality, preserve wildlife corridors, and provide essential habitat for species such as the Florida grasshopper sparrow and the Florida panther.

Rob and Cindy bring with them a wealth of knowledge not only in ranching but also in land stewardship, carrying forward the family’s legacy of sustainability and conservation while contributing to the preservation of Florida’s natural heritage and the Everglades.

Adams Ranch Website

Adams Ranch Tours (2026)

·         Saturday, January 24

·         Saturday, February 21

·         Saturday, March 21

Membership Meeting, May 1, 2025, 7 p.m. Oxbow Eco Center

Dr. Edie Widder is our guest speaker.  She will be joined by Ms. Michelle Martin. 

Dr. Edie Widder is a deep-sea explorer, bioluminescence expert, and CEO/Senior Scientist at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA), a nonprofit she co-founded in 2005 to protect ocean ecosystems. Renowned for capturing the first deep-sea video of a giant squid in 2012 (and again in 2019), her pioneering work has been featured by the BBC, PBS, Discovery, and National Geographic. She’s received numerous honors, including a MacArthur “genius” grant, the Explorers Club Citation of Merit, and the inaugural Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration. Her 2021 memoir, Below the Edge of Darkness, was hailed by The New York Times as “a thrilling blend of hard science and high adventure.”

At ORCA, Dr. Widder leads efforts to find science-based, results-driven solutions to ocean conservation challenges. ORCA, based in Vero Beach, FL, focuses on developing innovative technology, collecting actionable water quality data, and engaging the community—especially young citizen scientists—in marine conservation. Learn more at www.TeamORCA.org.

Via Zoom: Join Zoom Meeting on April 3rd at 6pm

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting

Meeting ID: 845 9007 9130

Passcode: 419983

March 6, 2025 Tim Moore, FAU Harbor Branch

 Title: Impacts of Environmental Shifts on Coastal Ecosystems

 Dr. Tim Moore has been involved with studying the Earth for 35 years using ocean color remote sensing, and  has been part of NASA Science Teams on satellite missions since 1996.  His areas of interest spans from ocean to inland lake research on regional and global scales, and includes the Great Lakes, the Indian River Lagoon, and Lake Okeechobee.  Using satellite-based tools and field observations, Dr. Moore studies water quality trends that include harmful algal blooms, phytoplankton dynamics in community structure, succession, and ecological roles in the environment. He received his Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1989, his Master's degree from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island in 1996, and his Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire in 2008.  He has been working at FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute as a Research Associate Professor since 2019.  

John Nelson, creator of The Audubon Moment, will be presenting on the wildlife he encountered in Alaska.

Speaker:  Barbara Pierzakowski - EagleWatch Volunteer Coordinator of Martin and St. Lucie counties

Barbara was born in California and grew up in New Jersey where she lived until 1988. She eventually moved to Maryland with her husband and then to Alabama in 1993 and retired to Florida in 2015. She and her husband now reside in Palm City, Florida

When she was a child, she received a "Brownie” camera and became interested in taking pictures outside her home. In 1981, her interest was renewed and bloomed when she acquired a new digital Mavica camera. She is currently a hobby wildlife and still life photographer.

She discovered a pair of Bald Eagles near her home in Palm City, which surprised her because she was under the impression they only lived in Alaska. Barbara is now a dedicated Eagle Watch Volunteer Coordinator for Martin and St. Lucie counties and devotes her spare time following eagle pairs as they nest.

ALSO, GRACE STOCK AWARDS WILL BE AWARDED TO THREE STEM STUDENTS FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING PROJECTS

Speaker:  Dr. Jim Masterson - Assistant Research Professor FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.

Dr. Jim Masterson is an Assistant Research Professor at FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, Florida.  As part of the university instructional faculty, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in marine ecology, biodiversity, aquaculture and the
natural history of Ihe Indian River Lagoon.  His research interests include marine predator-prey dynamics and coastal ecosystem health. He has a keen interest in facilitating and expanding the use of telepresence as a tool to allow K-12, college and public audiences to participate in global at-sea scientific expeditions in real-time.

He has previously served as Director of the FAU Harbor Branch Ocean Discovery Visitor Center which provides visitors with a close-up look at the research being undertaken at FAU Harbor Branch.  Jim received his B.S. in Ecology, Ethology and Evolution from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and received his Ph.D. in Marine Ecology from Florida Institute of Technology.

Speaker: John Nelson

John Nelson retraces James Audubon's explorations throughout Florida, from Jacksonville to Key West and examines some of his paintings that were produced as a result of this trip.  Learn how Audubon created his painting and the resulting engravings that have been considered the Gold Standard for Ornithological Illustration.