Disney comes through again!! I recently received word that the Disney Conservation Fund has awarded me another year of funding! This news could not have come at a better time. This money will allow me to focus both on manatee behavioral and baseline health research...Read More

Mamiwata art exhibition

(painting by Moyo Ogundipe, 1999, image courtesy of NY Times)

Aside from real manatees, I'm also fascinated by the Mamiwata spirit that many people believe is embodied by the manatee. Mamiwata is depicted as a woman, mermaid, seductess, even women's labor union organizer...Read More

Posters are ready to go!Manatee informational posters in French that I created with Aimee Sanders, a graphic design and outreach speacialist working in Gabon, are now printed and ready to be distributed! These posters were created with funding from my USFWS Wildlife Without Borders grant...Read More

I received word last week that I have been awarded a grant from Save Our Seas Foundation for manatee tagging in Gabon! I am very excited, I've been working to raise money for this for the past 3 years!! The award will fund 2 GPS...Read More

Thanks!I arrived back in Florida last week and am still catching up with myself. It was a productive but exhausting 6 months in Africa! I am looking forward to unpacking for alitte while and focusing on the next steps for work in Africa, which is...Read More

Gabon: Fernan Vaz surveysUnfortunately the first 3 days at Olako were an exercise in frustration. The lodge manager could not seem to organize a boat to take me out on the lagoon and just kept putting me off. The boat drivers were unwilling to talk...Read More

Gabon: Port Gentil to Olako LodgeI’m back in Libreville after 2 weeks working on Fernan Vaz Lagoon. There was no internet there, so here’s my update…I flew from Libreville to Port Gentil on 13 February. On Valentine’s Day I woke up in Port Gentil and...Read More

Gabon: Fernan VazOn Friday evening I'll take a short flight south from Libreville to Port Gentil, a large town on the coast of Gabon. Saturday morning I'll take a 4 hour boat ride south from Port Gentil and it will snake along inland river channels...Read More

New articleSave the Manatee Club asked me to write a short article about my work in Africa, and it just came out on their website (click here to see it). They produced French manatee coloring/activity books and "Sauvon les Lamantins" stickers for me to use...Read More

Senegal: Lac de Guiers and Tocc Tocc ReserveAfter the manatee captures I went to northwestern Senegal, to Lac de Guiers. This huge lake is situated south of the Senegal River in an agricultural area near the town of Richard-Toll and it provides water for many...Read More