January 2010 Speaker

Our January presentation will be "A Land Born of the Sea - The Natural History of Volusia County."  Although we travel across this beautiful land we call Volusia County every day, we seldom stop to observe the signs around us that give us hints of an ancient past - of the processes that sculpted our landscape. This program will highlight how our geology set the stage for land we see today. We will investigate the origins of the St. John's River and why all the lakes in Volusia are on the west side of the county. We will see which ancient creatures left their stories behind. We will look at why our plant and animal communities are located where they are today. We will see our home landscape as a moment in a cycle of continuing change.

Presenting this program will be Michael Brothers, the Manager of Exhibits, Aquariums, and Public Programs for the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet, Florida.  Mr. Brothers has over 30 years of experience in museum administration in city, county, state, and private non-profit museums. He is the former Executive Director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach and has served as Executive Director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon, Georgia, the Curator of Education and Statewide Services for the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee, and, for ten years, as the Curator of Science at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach. He has organized major exhibitions including The Great Asian Dinosaur Exhibition from the Russian Academy of Sciences for the museum in Daytona Beach and Mysteries of Egypt from the Canadian Museum of Civilization while in Macon, Georgia.

Mr. Brothers has a Master’s Degree in Natural Resource Management and also served for nine years as visiting associate professor at Florida State University in the Museum Studies Program teaching Museum Studies.  He has extensive natural resource and natural science interpretive experience including specializations in the bird life and flora of Central Florida, and has lead natural history tours throughout Florida, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Everglades, the Galapagos Islands, Kenya, Machu Picchu and the Amazon.

Mr. Brothers is currently working on The Birds of Volusia County, a summary of the avifauna of our area.

Come and bring a friend.  This will be an extremely interesting presentation.


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