October 2011 Speaker

Our October speaker will be Mr. Charlie DuToit, a recently retired biologist from Tomoka State Park.

Charlie is originally from the New England area. He came to Florida in 1976 and attended University of Florida where he earned an MS in plant ecology in 1979. His research project was "Recreational Carrying Capacity of Ichetucknee Springs."

After graduation, he took a position as a field biologist with Florida State Parks where he worked at different parks and preserves, in different areas of the state, for 30 years, retiring in 2009. His primary interests were in wetlands. He started at Ichetucknee, where he mostly worked underwater. He then waded through the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve for five years - habitat for the Florida Panther and tropical orchids. In the later years of his career, he worked on the restoration of disturbed tidal marshes in the Tomoka Basin State Park in northeast Volusia County. This was a multi-year project, supported by SJR Water Management and USFWS and afforded him the opportunity to know the saltmarsh in flood and in drought, in summer heat and in winter cold.

After retirement from the state, Charlie put together a PowerPoint program titled "The Seasons of the Tomoka Marsh" to share his experiences in this interesting and beautiful natural habitat. It is this program that he will present at our October meeting.

Come and bring a friend. Free cookies!