Ocean Expert Exchange: Florida’s Goliath Grouper

On April 4th, Dr. Bob Ellis of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shares details of Florida’s goliath grouper populations, including their ecology and the ongoing research being done to help study and manage them.

Ocean Expert Exchange webinars delve into marine science, technology and conservation topics with subject-matter experts. Co-hosted by ANGARI Foundation and the Scientist in Every Florida School initiative, Ocean Expert Exchange events welcome audiences of all ages and include a brief presentation on the featured topic followed by Q&A with the audience. Event livestreams are accessible via Zoom (recommended – registration required) and YouTube.

SPEAKER BIO: Dr. Bob Ellis is a marine ecologist interested in the forces that shape fish communities and regulate biodiversity in the ocean. His goal is to improve our understanding of how anthropogenic influences modify the way species interact with each other and their habitats. Dr. Ellis’ past research focused on groupers as a model for studying things like population dynamics, species interactions, and movement ecology. Dr. Ellis earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California Santa Barbara, a Master of Science from Louisiana State University and a Ph.D. from Florida State University. For the past eight years, Bob has worked as part of the Marine Fisheries Biology section at the Florida Fish & Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida where he researches reef fish ecology to assist in the sustainable management of marine fishery resources. Much of his work involved the use of acoustic telemetry, and ongoing projects include estimating discard mortality of hogfish, reproductive and movement ecology of cobia, and building long-term data sets to better understand tropicalization of Gulf of Mexico habitats due to climate change.