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‘Ding’ Darling lecture to cover global, local sea rise

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PHOTO PROVIDED J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge biologist Jeremy Conrad will address the impact of global influences on local water issues on March 15.

J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge Senior Biologist Jeremy Conrad will address climate change and sea level rise on a global and local level during two special presentations at the refuge on Sanibel on March 15 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. as part of the 2019 “Ding” Darling Friday Lecture series.

His “Sea Level Rise: Globally & Locally” program will draw possible correlations between recent water quality issues and global influences.

“While some of our water quality issues can be attributed to climate change, my discussion will focus more on a general description of climate change with a focus on sea level rise and our ecosystem’s responses to it,” Conrad said. “I will discuss local water quality issues and how the management of Lake Okeechobee may impact the resiliency of our coastal wetlands to sea level rise.”

Conrad joined the refuge staff in 2010. Before that, he served as an invasive species biologist at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach and earlier spent four years at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

HighTower/Thomas & Swartz Wealth Management sponsors the 11-lecture series with support from the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge. The free lectures are held on Fridays through April 12. The remaining schedule is listed below; some include book signings:

– March 22: Dusty “Wildman” Crum, Robbie and Geoff Roepstorff, and Mike Kirkland, “Pythons: The Hunters, the Science”

– March 29: Marine scientist Lauren Blickley, “Drastic Plastic – Turning the Tide on Plastic Pollution”

– April 5: Ornithologist Dr. Jerry Lorenz, “Flamingos & Spoonbills: Pink Canaries in a Coal Mine”

– April 12: Author Denege Patterson, “Five Islands Never Flooded: A Tour of the Islands of Pine Island Sound, Florida”*

*book signing to follow

Seating for the lectures is limited and available on a first-come basis. Early arrivals can save one seat and one extra one with personal items, then may explore the Visitor & Education Center or Indigo Trail before the lecture starts. Saved seats must be filled 15 minutes before lecture time.

For more information, call 239-472-1100 ext. 241 or visit dingdarlingsociety.org/articles/lecture-and-film-series. The J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge is at 1 Wildlife Drive, Sanibel.