With the beginning of the new year, the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium on Sanibel announced four new trustees, whose terms began on Jan. 1. They are Evan Barniskis, Dr. Megan Davis, Dr. Melissa May and Sarah McClure.

The end of 2023 also saw the closure of service for four trustees, whose terms had reached their maximum duration. They are Fran Peters with seven years, Mark Anderson with seven years, Arlene Mowry with seven years, and Scot Congress with six years, including three years as president.

“The collective positive impact of this group cannot be overstated,” museum Executive Director Sam Ankerson said. “From the campaign to create the aquariums, to the pandemic, to a post-pandemic institutional resurgence and then Hurricane Ian, these individuals led us with forward-looking optimism through the peaks and valleys. Scot’s three-year tenure as president is extraordinary and unprecedented for this organization. We’ll miss them as trustees, and we thank them.”

Barniskis is associate vice president and aquarium director at the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota, where he oversees all aspects of the aquarium’s operations and has worked in progressive roles since 2006. He holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Richmond and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida. Barniskis has served over 17 years as a volunteer sea turtle nesting patroller and served on the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce board of directors, including chairmanship.

For more than 40 years, Davis has been studying the queen conch life cycle and innovating ways to save the species. Research professor and director at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Queen Conch Lab, she is an expert on queen conch aquaculture, or farming, and has designed, implemented and operated community-based queen conch hatcheries throughout the Caribbean. Davis and her team are currently involved in projects in Florida, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Curacao, Jamaica and several other Caribbean nations.

PHOTO PROVIDED Evan Barniskis

May is assistant professor of marine biology and member of the Coastal Watershed Institute and Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Maine in 2017, then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at California Polytechnic State University before joining FGCU in 2020. May has authored publications on metabolomics, feeding physiology and ecophysiology of intertidal mussels related to temperature and salinity stress. She teaches oceanography, marine ecology, invertebrate biology, and cellular and molecular physiology.

McClure splits her time between her primary residence in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and Captiva, having owned homes on the island for many years. She has been active in a variety of nonprofits, institutions and government roles, including as a city commissioner and mayor in Bloomfield Hills. McClure has also served on the Cornell University Council, co-chaired the university’s 35th Reunion Capital Campaign and is a member of the Detroit Historical Society board of trustees. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and economics from Cornell and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

PHOTO PROVIDED Dr. Megan Davis

PHOTO PROVIDED Dr. Melissa May

PHOTO PROVIDED Sarah McClure

BAILEY-MATTHEWS NATIONAL SHELL MUSEUM & AQUARIUM From left, Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium outgoing trustees Fran Peters, Mark Anderson, Arlene Mowry and Scot Congress.