ayers portfolio
TRANSCRIPT
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Neil AyersEnvironmental Studies, FGCU [email protected]
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Table of Contents
Resume 3Personal Definition of Sustainability 4
Letter to the Editor 7
Definitions 8
Thoughts on becoming an Environmental Major 10
Service Learning 11
Theatrical Review, A writing Sample 18
The magnificent Frigate Bird 22
Regional Water Resources Management Research at FGCU 24
Statement of Future Goals 26
A letter on my behalf 27
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Neilson Ayers
1422 Loma Linda Drive Fort Myers, Florida 33919
239.274.3301 [email protected]
EDUCATION
Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL Expected Graduation May 2013
Pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environmental Studies
4.0 Cumulative GPA Relevant coursework: Introduction to Environmental Policy, Environmental Biology, and
Conservation Strategies for a Sustainable Future
For Senior Project in Environmental Studies class, conducted a study entitled Regional WaterResources Management Research at Florida Gulf Coast University
Edison College, Fort Myers, FL 2007
Associate of Arts Degree with Honors, 4.0 Cumulative GPA
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE EXPERIENCE
Lee County Environmental Laboratory, Field Technician, Fort Myers, FL May 2011 Present
Collect field samples for lab analysis, including groundwater, surface water (marine, estuarine,fresh), drinking water, wastewater, wastewater sludge and rainwater.
Operate, maintain and calibrate YSI datasondes, Hach turbidity meters and CL2 kits, LiCor PARapparatus and other instrumentation used in field data collection.
Estero Bay Aquatic & Buffer Preserves, Environ. Specialist, Ft. Myers Beach, FL Oct. 2001 - June 2009
Performed seagrass monitoring in Estero Bay and Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves Assisted with FGCUs oyster bar restoration projects Member of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, including manatee capture for FWRI Acted as liaison for and with the Lee County Marine Law Enforcement Task Force Exotic plant and animal control, including supervising exotic tree removal crews; supervising
humane trapping and transporting of feral hogs
Participated in fire management and prescription burns Responsible for computer and network operations Hurricane Coordinator, supervised three hurricane evacuations of staff, documents, office
equipment and field equipment
Assisted with wading trips, kayak paddles and other public outreach programsBIA, Big Cypress Indian Reservation, Wildfire Fighter/Tech., Big Cypress, FL Feb. 1996 - July 1996
Performed wildfire firefighting and prescription burning. Operated heavy equipment, off-roadvehicles, fire equipment, etc. Drove and operated Class 6 fire engines in initial fire attacks.
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
U.S. Army,Artillery Officer, United States and Vietnam May 1967 Sept. 1969
Performed combat and command duties as Forward Observer, Fire Direction Officer, BatteryExecutive Officer in US and in the Central Highlands of the Republic of South Vietnam.
OTHER RELATED EXPERIENCE
Big Cypress National Preserve, Maintenance Worker, Ochopee, Florida July 1996 October 1996
General maintenance responsibilities, including construction, concrete pouring and sitepreparation, drywall, painting, air conditioning, electrical, etc.
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Personal Compost or Fertilizer Initiative!
Hypothesis:
One of my personal sustainability interests involves the yard around my house. In
some ways I am pleased with it, since I have planted a number of trees, mostly natives
but some interesting fruit trees as well (like jackfruit). But one thing that has always
annoyed me about my property and lot is that it is composed of sandy, shelly fill, like a
lot of houses in South Florida. Growing common garden plants like tomatoes, which was
easy in other places I have lived, requires heroic effort and liberal use of chemical
amendments.
Composting of some type is the obvious answer, but I have always been
disinclined to do it. I didnt want to deal with piles of compost, I didnt want to manage
my household waste anymore than is necessary.
But, recently, I started an experiment in composting which I could describe (but
not in this 100 words) and now Ive got a tomato plant thats pushing five feet high and
lots of tomatoes hanging from it.
I need to take this small experience (2x4 feet) and scale it to my yard. I want to
generate topsoil, and I want to do it with a minimum labor, muss and fuss, nor appear too
crazy to the neighbors.
I am telling myself I can do this.
Results and Conclusions:
After a couple of months, the results are in, and I discovered a basic flaw in my
hypothesis. That would be that as a personal initiative, it works but it does not scale. In
other words, I can enrich and even create soil on a small scale from my household waste
stream, but Im not going to create a second green revolution. I just dont generate a big
enough amount of garbage, trash, waste or whatever you want to call it.
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On the other hand, I am moving the health of my yard in the correct direction, for
as I slowly amend it, it slowly becomes more productive. It is also justifiable to state that
by whatever incremental amount I enrich my yard; I also incrementally reduce my formal
municipal waste stream, generating a small but real efficiency.
The scaling effect, to be achieved, will therefore not be accomplished by me
doing more of the same, but rather in having more people doing the same as me. That is
another challenge. Ours is a culture comprised of subdivisions full of houses that seek to
imitate English lawns and gardens of gentlemen, not sharecropper plots. Much of our
society has a vestigial but persuasive memory of our earlier generations experiences as
farmers, farm hands, sharecroppers and tenet farmers. They lived desperate lives indeed.
Paul A. Samuelson pointed out in 1948 that a farm worker was one of the lowest paid of
all workers. It is estimated that two-fifths of the 2 and one half million farm laborers
received less than $250 per year including keep! [and that it] represents
heartbreakingly low wages, considering the length of the working day and it exertions
involved (Samuelson 77).
A field trip to Immokalee reveals that Florida Ag still represents a substandard
way of life compared to that of most of us. Its no wonder few people aspire to amend
soils one way or the other. We need a fresh paradigm, one of a subdivision of prosperous
homeowners surrounded fabulous vegetable gardens and free range chickens. But now
Im outside the scope of my personal initiative, but the thought is one I can port over to
my letter to the editor
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Works Cited
Samuelson, Paul A.Economics: An Introductory Analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1948. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. Print.
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Neil Ayers
1422 Loma Linda Drive
Ft. Myers, Florida, 33919
The EditorThe Tallahassee Democrat
277 N. Magnolia Drive
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
To The Editor:
There are two national issues that I have been thinking about with increasing frequency, one is
the possibility of a potentially crippling rise in energy costs; second is a trending away from our nation
being an industrial and manufacturing based economy toward some other type of economy whichremains unexplored or understood. What would I do if gas really did go to $15 a gallon? What would I
do if unemployment didnt creep down but crept up, not so much for myself but for my community?
What if we dialed back the calendar 100 years, to a time when most Americans made (had to make)
their livelihood on farms? Where would I be? Where would you be? Not going to happen, many say,
but thats hoping for the best and thats not a plan.
So I decided to do a land use survey of my own property. Its my little piece of the American
Dream and Im pretty content. In terms of appearance, its pretty good. The grass and the trees and the
shrubs are all in the right places and it all fits in with the esthetics of my community. But in terms of
sustainability and productivity it is a desert. When I drove around a little, I realized that I was hardly
alone, because from the most modest subsidized housing areas to the gated communities, all I saw was
a barren land, no matter what the landscaping.
It was always so. Not so long ago 20 million home gardens supplied America with 40% of its
produce. During World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt rammed the concept by an obstinate U.S.D.A, and
Victory Gardens, also known as Food Gardens for Defense, became a part of daily life in the home front.
Make no mistake, these Victory Gardens could be a lot of work, and when the war ended Victory
Gardens went away (and by the way, the country experienced food shortages that year!)
Im not saying our precious Bahia and Floratam grass should be banned, Im suggesting that it
wouldnt hurt to look around and understand the potential of your own real estate and to explorealternatives. And I urge you to keep an open mind when fellow citizens and community leaders offer
alternatives to our individual land uses, and to more comprehensive community schemes to ensure our
childrens prosperity.
Truly yours,
Neil Ayers
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Sustainablity Definitions
When we talk about our hopes to make out world a better place for the humancommunity, we also are talking about making the world better for everybody elseout there. But we need to know meaning of words that are almost the same butvery different:
Conservation:Conservation is an economic strategy which encourages the wise use ofcurrently available natural resources, with somewhat less concern about what thefuture will bring. Conservation is associated with Gifford Pinchot, who stated thatConservation is first of all a recognition of the right of the present generation tothe fullest necessary use of the resources with which this country is blessed,which is a shorter-term world-view than that of Sustainability
Preservation:Preservation is the concept that certain parts of the planet are of such estheticexcellence that they should not be marred by the scars of human development,but rather be preserved in their natural state indefinitely, serving as naturalshrines to the wonder of nature. John Muir is often associated with the modernPreservationist movement.
Environmentalism:Environmentalism shares many of the same concerns as the above philosophies,except that it takes a non-anthropocentric (or biocentric) view of these issues.Human esthetics and economic concerns are secondary to the health andprosperity of the overall ecosystem. To paraphrase Aldo Leopold, whose ideasdovetail nicely with modern Environmentalism, this philosophy is about thinkinglike a mountain, not thinking like a man (or woman).
Sustainability:Sustainability is a strategy to cope with the increasing stresses that humans areplacing upon planets ecosystem. These stresses have increased dramatically inrecent (~ 100) years. Trend lines show dramatic increases in demand forenergy, food, fresh water and other natural resources. These trends suggest thatthe planet at some time in the future will be unable to fulfill these needs, to the
detriment of the human species. Sustainability is the name we give for to thecollective tasks of lessening our burden upon the planet so we may continue toexist and prosper perpetually.
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Check Out Sustainability:
Brown, Lester Russell.Eco-economy: Building an Economy for the Earth. New York:
W.W. Norton, 2001. Print.
Daily, Gretchen C., and Katherine Ellison. The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to
Make Conservation Profitable. Washington, DC: Island, 2002. Print.
Ehrlich, Paul R., and Anne H. Ehrlich. One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the
Human Future. Washington: Island, 2004. Print.
Lorey, David E. Global Environmental Challenges of the Twenty-first Century:
Resources, Consumption, and Sustainable Solutions. Wilmington, DE: SR, 2003.
Print.
Pimm, Stuart L. The World According to Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2001. Print.
Smil, Vaclav.Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties.
Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2003. Print.
Speth, James Gustave.Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global
Environment. New Haven: Yale UP, 2004. Print.
The State of the Nation's Ecosystems: Measuring the Lands, Waters, and Living
Resources of the United States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.
Wiebe, Keith Daniel.Land Quality, Agricultural Productivity, and Food Security:
Biophysical Processes and Economic Choices at Local, Regional, and Global
Levels. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2003. Print.
Wilson, Edward O. The Future of Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Print.
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What I learned as anWhat I learned as anWhat I learned as anWhat I learned as an
FGCUFGCUFGCUFGCU Environmental MajorEnvironmental MajorEnvironmental MajorEnvironmental Major
Attending FGCU as an Environmental Studies major was one of the best moves of my
life. Its curriculum is designed to not only to teach the sciences, but also policy and how the
concepts of environmentalism and sustainability fit into our society. The major encourages
(and sometimes forces) students to think critically, even about issues taken as axiomatic by
most environmentalists. I enjoyed discussions with my professors, lecturers and fellow
students on some of the most relevant issues of our time. For me, the most valuable courses
were those which examined policy rather than science. I thinks this is because most of the timeI feel as though the real issues are not within science communities, for in most instances I think
the scientific establishment does a good job of reaching consensus within itself on major issues,
such as global climate change, for example.
The real challenge is implementation of science-based policy. At this point, peoples
politics, religions, special interests and long-held biases present a surprisingly formidable
barrier. Learning about the genesis of such monumental milestones such as the Clean Air Act,
Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act has given me a sense of what can be accomplished
and the political strategies required to bring successful policy to fruition.
The Environmental Studies curriculum takes seriously not only the development of
individual student, but also the importance of working in groups and teams to achieve a goal.
As Steve Pinker has pointed out, nothing important in science is done by individuals acting
alone any more. As for policy, modern democracies preclude the individual from creating
broad policy. The real world is not and probably never has been a place where a great
intellectual achievement is the work of a single mind. Even Einstein and Newton admitted to
standing on the shoulders of giants. A student cannot succeed in this curriculum as the lone
wolf; the courses are designed and delivered to teach teamwork. There are few things more
important in life than knowing your own strengths and weaknesses when working with others,and students in Environmental Studies learn of their own strengths and limits.
In conclusion, I would like to say that there are a lot of majors out there, from fashion
merchandising to pre-med. I feel fortunate that I discovered the one that was right for me.
And I have had the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of like-minded souls, and I look
forward to working with them as colleagues in the future.
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Service Learning: Marco Island Cleanup
For my Foundation of Civic Engagement class, I joined a group to do a Beach Cleanup and
Beautification project. It took place on Marco Island South Beach. It proved to be a lot of
work and a lot of fun.
I felt reasonably satisfied with the outcome of the project. As expected, the end project
morphed to a degree from the original proposal, but I felt very comfortable with the eventual
outcome in that it remained focused on the original intent, which was to improve in some small
incremental way a particular ecosystem. The project in its final form consisted of two rather
different activities, but both related to the proposed goal. The clean-up portion was the most
straight forward conceptually, but the more difficult to organize and to provide logistics. The
second portion, a pair of custom painted recycling containers might best be described as an
outreach effort to heighten the awareness of the beach visitors, but they also had an added
benefit of recharging the attitudes of some of the business and local government staff. In all, I
felt that whatever shortcomings the project execution suffered, they were perhaps more due to
the constraints of trying to work with both within the framework of a universitys semester
schedule and the timelines of a municipal government. Due to some scheduling difficulties, I
felt that we were not able to fully engage the student body of FGCU, but at least I have idea how
to deal with that (primarily a little longer range allowed in the planning stage).
After the initial proposal, I was a little uncertain how to proceed. The team member who
really came up with the idea worked in the area (Marco beach) and was enthusiastic, but didnt
seem to know exactly how to move forward. I had some past experience in this type of activity,
but not in Marco, and didnt know the mood of the local community. Through the help of
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SeaGrant, I hooked up with the Environmental Specialist for the City of Marco Island, Nancy
Richie. She invited our team to come to their next Beach Advisory Committee (BAC), and so
we did. Attending this meeting was, in my opinion, the single best thing we did as a team. As a
result of the meeting, we had the full support the city government, also the Friends of Tigertail
Beach, the most important environmental volunteer group in the area, and sponsorship by
Publix.
The recycling cans we made were in
response to the citys need for some colorful
containers with a positive message (i.e., not a
list of NOs at the front of the beach!). The
fact that the cans were so enthusiastically
received is because the cans were something
they wanted when we first talked. I give us an
outstanding for this component, because we did
everything right:
A. We approached the local leaders through a respected intermediary, SeaGrant.
B. We got dressed up and attended a meeting of the appropriate governing group, Marco
Island BAC. We made a good impression, stated our goals. Other members of the
meeting were (surprisingly to me) very supportive. I did not expect that their
interests would align as tightly with ours as they did.
C. We listened to what they wanted, and made it part of our plan.
Nancy Richie likes her new recycling cans
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In the beginning, we started with one team member, me, calling some people in the
community of government. I called the local SeaGrant agent, Joy Hazell, whom I knew from
work, and she put me in contact with the Collier SeaGrant agent, who put me in touch with the
local government contact, Nancy Ritchie at Marco. These communications were by email and
telephone. Another team member, Josh, went more through the local business community,
getting some level of support from his own employer as well as the management of several
beachfront hotels. We prepared a flyer for posting and intended to use a class email roster to
raise interest, but some scheduling changes made us hold back on the email and delay the flyer
distribution, for fear of having students showing up at the right place at the wrong time. The
same scheduling issues kept us from placing ads in local papers, another appropriate
communication tool for this type of activity.
Other communities we communicated with included the volunteer group Friends of
Tigertail Beach and local sponsors who offered their assistance as a result of the BAC meeting.
In this regard, the BAC meeting proved to be our most powerful communication tool. What with
the proliferation of electronic social and professional networking, I sometimes forget that old-
fashioned meetings and face time with the interested parties is invaluable. Certainly it was in
this case.
As a non-traditional student, this course comes at a time in my life when I have an
interest in academic study to enhance my experience and knowledge rather than the latter
enhancing the former. Obviously the goals of this project related to my Environmental major.
Although I have a lot of practical experience in a lot of areas and ecosystems in Southwest
Florida, until now I had no experience at Marco Island. So, regarding Marco Island and South
Beach, I learned something every day I was down there. In any discipline involving human and
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nature phenomena, you can never know everything and there are always fresh factoids, if not
new concepts. Its impossible to predict which one of todays tidbits of information is
tomorrows missing piece of the puzzle, but Im already chock full of tidbits. Im really
relying on FGCUs academic program to provide an intellectual framework of which
happenstance has not provided.
On Marco Dunes: what its all about
On the following pages is the flyer I made for the event and an article on the event
published in the Marco Eagle:
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The City of Marco Islands Beach Advisory Committee sponsors monthly Beach Sweeps where
local government employees join with select volunteers to walk Marco Beach from the South
Beach entrance to the beginning of Tiger Tail Beach to the north. This two mile beach walk is an
excellent opportunity for Environmental Majors to familiarize themselves with one of Southwest
Floridas most important Beach ecosystems, and how local government responds to the stresses of
development upon significant ecosystems. Plus, its a day at one of the worlds premier resort
beaches. Its worth checking out.
Marco Beach Sweep
Toward a Sustainable Future
F G C U E N V I R O N M E N T A L S T U D I E S
Marco Island Beach
and dunes
SundayMay 22, 2011Marco South Beach9:00 AM
Call Neil at:239.246.1702or email :[email protected] reserve
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Bernardo Bezos and Neil Ayers on South Beach
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I also belong to the Beach Advisory Committee and we want to get this beach clean
and keep it that way, he said. In an area where the economy depends on our
beautiful beaches, thats important.
Graduate student April Olson is majoring in environmental studies. The real estate
professional has seen firsthand how urban sprawl can impact the environment and
with the overgrowth of high rises in the background it was easy to see why she was
impassioned to help with this weekends clean up. Olson says instead of complaining
about how people cause environmental damage, she wanted to do something to
change it.
My degree is a combination of policy and science, and Im interested in smart growth
in green cities among other things, she said. I said when I turned 40 I would pursue
what Im passionate about, and this is it.
For Neil Ayers, it was a family affair. His wife of 30 years Patty Loverock, a reading
teacher at Fort Myers High School pitched in to help.
I believe in pristine beaches and love the coastline, so I want to support the FGCU
effort to keep this environment exquisite, she said.
The Ayers brought along family friend Bob Deane who knows all too well what a little
litter cam become if left unchecked. Deane lives near Lake Erie and is a teacher in
London, Ontario.
I have seen the degradation and pollution on a major scale at Lake Erie to the point
where you couldnt even go in, and its important to everyone, especially to the
seasonal visitor to see the beaches here in good shape, he said.
The South Marco Beach Access is located on South Collier Boulevard on Marco
Island and is open from 8 a.m. to sundown. Parking for the beach access is located
on Swallow Avenue across from South Collier Boulevard. To volunteer for a beach
clean-up or other beach service, contact the City of Marco Island at (239) 389-5003.
2011 marconews.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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3/30/2012mhtml:file://F:\2Nstuff\fgcu\con_strat\PHOTOS South Marco beach clean-up a laborious n...
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On the following pages is a theatrical review of a play put on by FGCUs Theatre Lab inthe spring of 2011.
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Ayers Suit My Heart
Neil Ayers
Professor HartleyIDS3300
Suit My Heart
Suit My Heartis a multimedia presentation by the FGCU Theatre Lab
performed at the FGCU Arts Complex, directed by FGCU faculty member
Michelle Hayford, PhD. The production is a collaboration between Theatre
Lab and Footsteps to the Future, a Ft. Myers-based nonprofit established
to help young women transition from Floridas child foster care program to
successful adulthood.
As the organizational website points out, Foster care children age
out of the system at age 18 and lose most government support services (par 2). While a
program intended for children cannot necessarily be criticized for not being supportive of young
adults, the transition can be difficult, stressful and often tragic. As the founder of Footsteps
notes in the plays program, roughly 50% of these young people will fall prey to crime, drug
and alcohol abuse, homelessness or unwanted pregnancies in their adult lives (1). The title of
the play Suit My Heart, comes from a local poet, B. Brodowsky, according to same program,
who writes Miming was never the best profession for my heartnoI think love would suitmy heart better (1). The excerpt is evocative of ee cummings i carry your heart, except that
the romantic poignance of i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart) is superseded by an equally
compelling cry of a heart devoid of love denied.
Suit My Heartconsists of a seemingly unending series of 18 sketches featuring song,
dance, mime, brief dramatic episodes, monologues and multimedia (including clever buzzing
text) to call attention to the plight of not only transitioning teens but broken homes, dysfunctional
families and general hardships that many young people face while growing up. In aggregate, its
moral might be that the thing these children need most is love; and providing that missing love is
the best resolution for their troubled lives.
Suit My Heartis one of a series of civically engaged works performed by the Theater
Lab. Its sketches were inspired by interviews of young women in and out of foster care, as well
as their mentors and advocates (TheaterLab 2). It presents the adult workers of Floridas foster
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Ayers Suit My Heart
care programs as being nearly as victimized as their clients. It draws attention to the fact that
there is a quasi-Catch 22 aspect for the agents of Floridas Department of Children & Families,
in which the only way you can really care for these children is to not care, because if you care
you wont last long. It is a revolving door of compassionate newcomers who burn out,
surrounded by a of cadre insensitive apparatchiks. Not a glowing account of a system. And it is
a system that appears to becoming only more stressed rather than less by the current
political climate of Florida.
As a civically engaged work, Suit My Heartneeds to be evaluated twice, once for its
artistic merit and once again for its cultural impact. Works that succeed on both counts are few
and far between. (Think of Dickens Oliver Twist, Twains Huckleberry Finn, or Upton
Sinclairs The Jungle as examples. Think of a work like Griffiths Birth of a Nation as well,
glorifying a cause less than noble. There needs to be a degree of critical thinking involved when
assessing artistic works of social commentary.) Suit My Hearts greatest assets artistically are
the passionate performances of its young actors. In scenes which often lack dramatic context,
their performances project and interpret the emotional significance of each scene. When they are
given the opportunity, such as in the scenes between the sister and brother (Brother Sister 1,2,3)
and sister and sister (Sisters 1,2), their performances convey an intensity and empathy for their
character that makes the audience hunger to know more of their lives. Even when reduced to
holding hands and swaying to the easy rhythms of sympathetic sounds, they convey an honest
sincerity in a scene that with lesser talents (and less passion) might easily descend into farce.
There is a bit of a tendency for the playwright to obfuscate her
message, but this is compensated by her excellent program notes in the
role of director. Prose may be her forte. It would be interesting to watch
these young talents tackle a dramatic script worthy of their gravitas and
urgency of the message.
Feiffer
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Ayers Suit My Heart
Works Cited
Feiffer, Jules. "A Dance to the Loss of Innocence." Comic strip. Village Voice [New
York] 2 Dec. 1959. Print.
FGCU TheatreLab. TL002: A Performance Constellation: Suit My Heart. Ft. Myers:
FGCU TheatreLab, 2011. Print.
FootSteps to the Future - Program for Girls Aging out of Foster Care. Web. 12 Apr.
2011. .
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On the next page is a poster assignment on the Magnificent Frigate Bird.
During my research, I came across this description of the bird; Id like to share it:
When the morning light gladdens the face of nature, and while the warblers are yet waiting, in silence
the first rays of the sun, whose appearance they will hail with songs of joy, the Frigate-bird, on extended
pinions, sails from his roosting place. Slowly and gently, with retracted neck he glides, as if desirous of
quietly trying the renovated strength of his wings. Toward the vast deep he moves, rising apace, and
before any other bird views the bright orb emerging from the waters. Pure is the azure of the heavens,
and rich the deep green of the smooth sea below; there is every prospect of the finest weather; and now
the glad bird shakes his pinions; and far up into the air, far beyond the reach of man's unaided eye, he
soars in his quiet but rapid flight. There he floats in the pure air, but thither can fancy alone follow him.
Would that I could accompany him! But now I see him again, with half-closed wings, gently falling
towards the sea. He pauses awhile, and again dives through the air. Thrice, four times, has he gradually
approached the surface of the ocean; now he shakes his pinions as violently as the swordsman whirls his
claymore; all is right; and he sweeps away, shooting to this side and that, in search of prey.
-John James Audubon, Birds of America, volume VII, page 13
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Regional Water Resources Management Research at Florida Gulf Coast University
was the title of my senior research project.
The poster on the next page was presented at the Southwest Florida Regional Watershed Council on 19
November 2011.
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Future goals and plans:
The highest duty in the World is the proper ordering of the World
-Attributed to Flavius Stilicho, Master General of Rome (Magistar mililtumus) (ca. 359 408) by R.A. Lafferty in his
history The Fall of Rome, perhaps the Roman poet Claudian as his source. Lafferty did not cite (unlike Gibbon, who
arguably invented the practice) so a scholarly citation cannot be had.
History is clear, however, that Stilicho believed the Roman Empire to be a manifestation of
Gods will (and his god was the God of Christ and the Holy Spirit). But the words also describe
my sense of Sustainability perfectly and absolutely.
It is a mission statement for me.
It is worth mentioning that Stilicho was betrayed by his emperor, Honorius, and that Rome fell,
and that a millennium of civilization ended, and that a millennium of darkness followed.
I would like to be one of the people who find the way to avoid the on of darkness. But if we
fail, there is this consolation:
Earth - The Pale Blue Dot
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you everheard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident
religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of
civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer,
every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the
history of our species lived here - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
Carl Sagan, from "Pale Blue Dot"
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