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2008 Conference
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Plenary Speakers
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CONFIRMED
PLENARY SPEAKERS
Tuesday Morning,
May 27
Organized by the Society of Wetland Scientists |
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Carl Hiaasen - Novelist,
Columnist, Reporter
Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a
regular column at the Miami Herald, which at one
time or another has annoyed just about everybody in
South Florida, including his own bosses. Somehow he
has managed to remain employed, and today his column
appears on most Sundays in The Herald's
opinion-and-editorial section (see
www.herald.com).
Tourist Season was Hiaasen's first solo
novel. GQ magazine called it "one of the 10 best
destination reads of all time," though it failed to
frighten a single tourist away from Florida, as
Hiaasen had hoped it might. Since then, Hiaasen has
published nine other novels, as well as two novels
for young readers, the newly released Flush
and Hoot, which was awarded a Newbery Honor.
The London Observer has called him "America's finest
satirical novelist." To prove that he doesn't just
make up all the sick stuff in his books, Hiaasen has
also published two collections of his newspaper
columns, Kick Ass and Paradise Screwed.
Hiaasen was selected by Vanity Fair as one of
their 2007 Global Citizens, the passionately
pro-environment new generation
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John Acorn - Naturalist, Writer,
Entomologist
Born
in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1958, John has been fascinated
with animals his entire life. He still lives in
Edmonton, with his wife, Dena, and their two young boys
Jesse and Benjamin. John is perhaps best known as the
writer and host of the television series "Acorn, The
Nature Nut," a family-oriented, how-to-be-a-naturalist
show. He also hosted “Twits and Pishers,” a travel show
for bird watchers, and is the video host for the
galleries of the Royal Tyrell Museum, where he is a
research associate. These days, John lectures at the
University of Alberta, and travels widely as a public
speaker. He finds time for the study and photography of
insects as well, and is an Associate of the E.H.
Strickland Entomology Museum at the University of
Alberta. John has written 16 books, including many
well-received field guides. John is the recipient of the
University of Alberta’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the
Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Awards
Foundation Prize for Excellence in Science and
Technology Journalism, two “Rosies” (as Best Host, in
the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Awards), and two
nominations for Canada’s national television award, the
Gemini. Both the Entomological Society of Alberta and
the Canadian Society of Zoologists have formally
recognized his contributions to public education. |
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Grace Bottitta, Manager of
Conservation Programs - Advocacy and Outreach,
Ducks Unlimited
Ms. Bottitta's
expertise includes wetland and waterfowl
ecology, waterfowl habitat management, securing and
administering federal grants, and cooperative conservation
at local, regional, and national scales. Before joining DU,
Ms. Bottitta worked for the National Park Service, the U.S.
Geological Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service. She
has experience in a variety of ecosystems including the
arctic, and Atlantic and Pacific coastal and estuarine
habitats. During Ms. Bottitta’s seven year career at DU she has implemented DUs conservation programs in New
England and most recently in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware
Bay watersheds. Currently, Ms. Bottitta transitioned into a
newly created role to implement DU’s expanded vision and
priorities in the Chesapeake and Delaware bays. This
position was created to further wetland conservation by
increasing DU presence and participation with audiences
necessary to advance DU’s mission throughout the Mid-Atlantic.
In her present position, Ms. Bottitta's responsibilities include partner
coalition development/relations, foundation stewardship,
outreach and communications. |
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Francesca Grifo - Senior Scientist and
Director of the Scientific Integrity Program at the Union of
Concerned Scientists
Francesca Grifo works to mobilize scientists
and citizens to defend the integrity of government science
from political interference. Previously, she directed
Columbia University’s Center for Environmental Research and
Conservation graduate policy workshop and ran the Science
Teachers Environmental Education Program. She was director
of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation and a
curator of the Hall of Biodiversity at the American Museum
of Natural History in New York. She managed the
International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups Program at the
National Institutes of Health and served as a senior program
officer the Biodiversity Support Program, a consortium of
the World Resources Institute, the Nature Conservancy, and
the World Wildlife Fund. She was a AAAS Fellow in the Office
of Research at the USAID. She edited and contributed to the
books Biodiversity and Human Health and The Living
Planet in Crisis; Biodiversity Science and Policy.
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