DFWMAS meeting - SATURDAY, Nov 7 2009
October 21st, 2009 by mlevenson 0 Comments
Date: Saturday, November 7, 2009
Club meeting: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. - be on time!
Where: Grapevine Convention Center Google Map
(817) 410-3459
1209 South Main Street
Grapevine, Texas 76051
Refreshments are available at the GCC.
Speakers: Brian Plankis and Eric Borneman.
Schedule
1:00pm - Introduction by DFWMAS
1:15 - 2:00: Brian Plankis - “How can the Reef Stewardship Foundation and Hobbyists Work Together to Protect Coral Reefs and Contribute to Sustainability?”
2:00 - 2:45: Eric Borneman - “Breeding Corals- what has been accomplished so far, and how the ornamental trade can contribute to and be affected by future coral breeding efforts.”
2:45 - 3:30: Fundraising Raffle and Questions
3:30 - 4:00: RSF Annual Meeting: Paid RSF Members Only
Raffle Prizes will be listed soon.
About Brian Plankis: Brian is the President of the Reef Stewardship Foundation and holds a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston, a MS degree in Educational Technology and a BS in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from Purdue University. Brian was the original founder of Project DIBS and one of the founding members of the Reef Stewardship Foundation. His research interests includes integrating emerging technology into science education, ocean literacy and environmental literacy, sustainability initiatives, and online community development.
Brian entered the aquarium hobby with freshwater tanks and spent seven years keeping freshwater fish while breeding various species of live bearers and angelfish. He set up his first saltwater tank, a 29-gallon, in 1999 and currently keeps a 100-gallon breeding system. He also has spent over 200 hours volunteering for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois and the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network in Galveston, Texas.
His aquarium interests include fish breeding, invertebrate identification and reproduction, coral propagation and reproduction. Many important issues facing the hobby today interest him, including: educating new hobbyists, the hobby’s effects on natural reefs, the humane treatment of animals, and research on live rock hitchhikers and invertebrates.
When he’s not involved with any of the above activities, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Christine, their daughter, Serena, and playing a variety of sports.
About Eric Borneman: I am a coral reef ecologist from the University of Houston. My primary research areas are coral diseases, sexual reproduction of corals, restoration of Caribbean acroporids and ornamental trade issues. My research involves determining the role of apoptosis in coral diseases, notably in white band disease and other white syndromes. I am a project leader and on the scientific advisory group of SECORE, an international group of aquarists and researchers working on the sexual reproduction of corals and focusing on multiple aspects of threatened species conservation. I am also the science advisor of The Reef Stewardship Foundation, a group whose mission is to foster a diverse stewardship community that protects coral reefs through collaborative action, research, education and aquaculture initiatives. The Reef Stewardship Foundation is a non-profit group utilizing collaborative research, ocean literacy programs, classroom education and aquaculture as conservation tools.
For eighteen years, I have been extensively involved in marine ornamentals and am considered an internationally renowned expert in the field of coral husbandry. I received the “Aquarist of the Year” award for contributions to the field of coral husbandry in 2002, and have written two books on the subject, including the acclaimed book, Aquarium Corals. I have contributed many articles, reports, papers and book chapters to both the scientific and the international aquarium communities spanning twelve years, and I have lectured worldwide on the subject of coral husbandry. I began diving coral reefs at the age of twelve and have been fortunate enough to see coral reefs before their decline in the 1980’s, but unfortunate enough to have witnessed their remarkable and tragic decline in what seems like the blink of an eye.
