To celebrate the achievements of Reef Relief, we cordially invite you to our annual meeting on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, at Margaritaville Beach House Key West (2001 South Roosevelt Blvd). Doors will open at 5:00 PM for cocktail hour, programs will begin at 6:00 PM including a brief presentation recapping Reef Relief’s effort during the year 2025, and presentations by guest speakers on sponge restoration and sea turtle research.
A cash bar and free hors d’oeuvres will be available throughout the evening, along with an opportunity to renew your membership and purchase Reef Relief merchandise, where you can receive 20% off for being a member. We hope to see you at the Reef Relief Annual Meeting! If you are unable to attend in person, we will host the event online via Zoom for those out of town. If you are interested, please email [email protected].
Presenters:
Shelly Krueger
Shelly Krueger is the Monroe County Sea Grant Extension agent with the University of Florida. Shelly has lived in Key West since 2013. Shelly has a BS from Georgia Tech, a MS from Savannah State University in marine science, and she is working on her PhD in sponge restoration aquaculture. In 2019, Shelly wrote the Sponge Habitat Restoration module for the UF/IFAS Florida Master Naturalist Program special topics course Marine Habitat Restoration. As an Extension agent, Shelly Krueger provides science-based education focused on water quality and Florida Keys natural resources.
Presentation:
Sponges are animals that are among the most visible residents of the hardbottom habitats typical in the nearshore waters of the Florida Keys. Sponges are essential for healthy ecosystems because they continuously filter large volumes of water while feeding on phytoplankton, viruses, and bacteria. Sponges also transform water chemistry by cycling nutrients and provide essential nursery habitat for spiny lobster, stone crab, and bonefish. The loss of such an important component of nearshore habitats has prompted calls for sponge restoration. Join us on January 7th to learn more about sponges and sponge restoration in the Florida Keys!
Kristen Hart
Kristen Hart obtained her Ph.D. in Ecology at Duke University in 2005, and a Master’s of Environmental Management from the same institution in 1999. Kristen has been a Research Ecologist with the USGS since 1998, working out of the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Davie, Florida. Her research occurs across several U.S. National Parks and protected areas and focuses on the conservation and population ecology of rare, threatened, and endangered species, particularly sea turtles. She will present key trends documented from her long-term studies of sea turtles within Dry Tortugas National Park and the Florida Keys.
Presentation:
Dry Tortugas National Park’s seagrass meadows and coral reefs provide regionally important foraging habitat for several species of imperiled sea turtles, and the isolated sandy beaches on the islands of the Dry Tortugas are some of the most active sea turtle nesting areas in the Florida Keys. Dr. Hart’s field team has been researching the spatial ecology of sea turtles occurring in these areas annually since 2006, using both in-water and nesting beach captures. Join us to hear research summaries from thousands of captures of turtles over the past two decades and to visualize local “hotspots” where several hundred satellite-tracked sea turtles reside.