How is restoration improved by research on alligators and crocodiles?

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Biographies

Frank J. Mazzotti Frank J. Mazzotti is an Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Everglades Research and Education Center, University of Florida. He has over 25 years experience researching and teaching issues relating to wildlife and their habitats in South Florida. A major focus of Dr. Mazzotti's research and education programs has been evaluating the effects of human activities on crocodilians and their habitats. Dr. Mazzotti has conducted field research projects for several agencies including USNPS, USCOE, USDOE, USFWS, FDOT, SFWMD, Broward County and Florida Power and Light Company. In addition to crocodilian research, monitoring and modeling, recent projects have involved integrating cross taxa wildlife sampling, vegetation sampling and GIS based species habitat modeling to assess effects of human activities on ecosystem integrity and to form the basis for management decisions. Current projects focus on developing long term, science based, GIS/GPS integrated, research and monitoring programs to evaluate ecosystem restoration and management efforts in South Florida.

Kenneth G. Rice Kenneth G. Rice is a wildlife biologist with USGS-Biological Resources Division, Florida Caribbean Science Center, Restoration Ecology Branch based in Homestead, Florida. The primary focus of his current research concerns the population ecology of the American alligator in southern Florida as it relates to restoration of the Everglades Ecosystem. Dr. Rice has been involved in cooperative research with many agencies and other organizations including the University of Florida, University of Georgia, USNPS, USFWS, USEPA, SJWMD, FLGFWFC, GADNR, and the government of Ecuador. His past research has involved crocodilian research and management, wildlife monitoring and population modeling. Currently, he is using radio-telemetry and population modeling to address questions concerning alligator population dynamics and restoration.

H. Franklin Percival Dr. H. Franklin Percival is Unit Leader of the Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, USGS-Biological Resources Division and Associate Courtesy Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida. He has worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service and USGS-BRD as a wildlife research biologist in Washington, DC; Laurel, MD; and Gainesville, FL for 26 years. His principal research interests lie in wetlands wildlife, particularly waterfowl and alligators. He has conducted long term cooperative projects on various aspects of alligator biology and the concept of ranching crocodilians. Current projects include impacts of contaminants and other factors on alligator populations in severely polluted lakes in north central Florida and movements, habitat use and thermoregulation of alligators in the Everglades. He also has a special interest in administration within the wildlife profession and champions multi disciplinary and interagency research programs.

Laura Brandt and Frank Mazzotti conducting an alligator survey Laura A. Brandt Laura A. Brandt has been working in South Florida since 1983. She has worked on projects examining individual species population dynamics, distribution of vertebrate species in relation to habitats, mapping of vegetation using GIS, modeling current and predicted future species distribution on a landscape scale, and analysis of landscape patterns. Dr. Brandt has been involved both as a researcher and coordinator in large scale multi-disciplinary research involving agencies such as SFWMD, USFWS, FGFWFC, USCOE, and USGS-BRD. Her research has included work on population dynamics of alligators and crocodiles, patterns of landscape change in relation to agricultural development and water management, and the spatial patterns and ecological role of alligator holes and tree islands in the Everglades. Dr. Brandt is currently the Lead Wildlife Biologist at A.R.M. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

Graduate Students

Mark Campbell holding hatchling Mark Campbell After receiving his baccalaureate degree in Biology at Muhlenberg College, Mark worked as an analyst with an environmental testing company in south Florida. He then began part-time work with Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission where he learned about the Everglades and its wildlife. In pursuit of addition schooling he met Dr. Frank Mazzotti by volunteering to assist with a state-wide vegetation mapping effort at the University of Florida. Shortly after, Dr. Mazzotti offered Mark an opportunity to conduct a study on Everglades Alligator Holes while supporting his graduate research. Mark now looks forward to a exciting and challenging career in natural resource management and research, and plans to investigate natural systems of Colorado.

Mike Cherkiss and Julie Pennington measuring a crocodile Michael Cherkiss  Michael Cherkiss attended the University of Florida as an undergraduate. While there he learned and practiced a variety of sampling techniques for surveying for wildlife. In addition, he worked as a field technician on a Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle radio tracking and habitat use project, based out of Cedar Key, FL. He later earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology in 1996. Continuing his education under Frank Mazzotti within the department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation as a master's candidate, he will graduate this summer with a Master of Science degree "Status and Distribution of the American Crocodile in Southeastern Florida". Michael intends to put both his educational and field experience to use while pursuing a career in the field of wildlife ecology and management. Email: Mcherkiss@aol.com.

Stan Howarter   Stanley R. Howarter received a B. S. in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University in the redwoods of northern California in 1996. While living in northern California he worked for two summers as a field biologist conducting surveys for marbled murrelets (an endangered seabird which nests in old growth forests) and point counts for forest birds. Determined to work with alligators, he moved to Florida in the fall of 1996. He quickly found a position with the Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit studying alligators in the Everglades which led to a graduate assistantship at the University of Florida. Stan is now finishing up his M.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and hopes to continue working with crocodilians after graduation.

Stan Howarter using a boat mounted null combiner antennae to locate an alligator

Cory Morea  Cory Morea attended the University of Florida and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology with a minor in Forestry in 1996. He was employed by the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida during the summer of 1996 studying species composition in wetland habitats associated with Orange Lake, Florida. In October 1996, he was hired by the Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit as a field technician to work on an American alligator project in the Everglades and became a graduate student on the same project in the fall of 1997. He will graduate this summer with a Master of Science degree "Home Range, Movement, And Habitat Use Of The American Alligator In The Everglades".

Stan Howarter and Cory Morea with tracked gator

Michelle Palmer  Michelle Palmer grew up in South Florida, and despite the urban sprawl of her environment, she developed an appreciation for nature and wildlife. After graduating from Coral Springs High School, Michelle decided to leave South Florida to pursue a college education in a different habitat. This led her to the University of Rochester in upstate New York, where she majored in Ecology and Evolutionary biology. After receiving her degree in 1995, Michelle once again found herself in South Florida, although this time she was a far removed from the urban sprawl as she participated in an internship in the wilds of the Everglades. While working for a wildlife biologist in Everglades National Park, her employer put her in touch with Dr. Frank J. Mazzotti who was looking for graduate students to work on a ecological study of Everglades alligator holes. This leads Michelle to the present, where she is diligently writing her thesis at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Matthew Chopp and Michelle Palmer measuring an alligator hole in WCA 3A

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