Dr. Craig Huegel has degrees in Wildlife Ecology (B.A. in Zoology and M.S. Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, PhD, Animal Ecology, Iowa State University) and picked up a minor in Botany.  Currently Adjunct professor at The University of Tampa and St. Petersburg College. Dr. Huegel has had a life-long interest in butterflies, pollinators and wildflowers.  He has written 6 books on native plants and wildlife since coming to Florida in 1985. He is the author of two blogs on Florida native plants and how to use them.   The interest in creating landscapes that support pollinators is increasing rapidly. With that, is an increased interest in native plants – especially in wildflowers. While all of this is encouraging, there are still a lot of misconceptions about wildflower “meadows” in general, and many such efforts to create them fall short of their full potential. In this talk, Dr. Huegel will discuss what some of those misconceptions are as well as ways to make a pollinator garden reach its full potential.  You can check out his blogs at: www.hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.comwww.werenofences.blogspot.comwww.ourkindoffolk.com

Dr. Minno has a Ph.D. in zoology and more than 35 years of professional experience as an interdisciplinary scientist.  He is currently a Water Resource Coordinator with the Suwannee River Water Management District in Live Oak, Florida. Marc and Maria Minno also work on plant and butterfly projects throughout Florida via Eco-Cognizant, Inc., their home-based consulting business. In addition to his many years of experience with wetlands, Dr. Minno is keenly interested in conservation biology and has conducted field research throughout the US and in Central America, South America, Caribbean, Europe, and India.  Since 2011 Dr. Minno has been working with biologists in Cuba to better understand the ecological relationships of imperiled butterflies in southern Florida.   He has authored (and coauthored) six books, and six book chapters on butterflies and plants.  Bring your books for an autograph!

Join Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation and NABA Tampa Bay on a butterfly walk to continue our monthly monitoring of butterfly species at Violet Cury Preserve in Lutz at 1802 Sinclair Hills Road.  This will be free for NABA members; fee for non-NABA members is $5.00.  Please bring payment morning of event. Plan for the outdoors, heat, mosquitoes, no-see-ums, getting feet wet if you don’t wear the right shoes to avoid it. Bring plenty of water to drink. Come join us to help monitoring populations of butterflies in this beautiful park. This event is subject to change due to weather. 

Bring the children in for a fun, nature filled afternoon.  Constance Nye and Alycyn Culbertson will be here reading their fantastic stories, signing their books and doing activities with the kids from 1:00 – 3:00 PM. Both books are available for purchase in the gift shop. Constance Nye, author of “Can he keep it?”, will be reading her story about catching and keeping wild creatures. This story helps kids figure out the answer to the question, “Can I keep it?” for themselves. Alycyn Culbertson, author of “Look What Happened While I was Sleeping”, will be reading her story about butterfly gardening and metamorphosis. You never know how life can change until you open your eyes after a nice long rest.