2013 Speakers & Presenters

CHAD ANDERSON

Florida Keys National Key Deer Refuge biologist Chad Anderson will offer festival participants tips on enhancing their photography skills during his wildlife and nature photography workshop from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, in the refuge on Big Pine Key. Meet at the visitor center in the Winn-Dixie Shopping Center off Key Deer Boulevard. Bring your camera, binoculars, drinks, and sun, rain and weather protection. The workshop is free with the $5 festival fee, but registration is required.

Chad Anderson is a seventh-generation Floridian who was born in St. Petersburg. The rapid development of Tampa Bay and the surrounding areas pushed him toward a career in environmental science. After years of kayaking and hiking, Anderson decided to start bringing a camera along. A passion grew instantly. Anderson is the administrator and founder of Florida Conservation Photographers, a nonprofit group dedicated to highlighting conservation issues, supporting science and raising funds for worthy projects. Check out Anderson’s photography at www.exposingfloridaphotography.net.

MARK HEDDEN

Mark Hedden will guide a group of up to 20 people to Dry Tortugas National Park on Sunday, Sept. 29. The all-day excursion costs $25 plus the fee for ferry passage, which varies based on residency and whether you have a federal lands pass. Reserve a spot with the festival at 305-872-0774 or flkeysbirdfest@gmail.com and make reservations for the Yankee Freedom ferry at 305-294-7009.

Hedden has lived in the Florida Keys for 20 years. He took up casual birding in his late 20s and soon realized he wasn’t interested in doing much else with his time. He has worked as a hawk trapper for the Florida Keys Raptor Migration Project (now called the Florida Keys Hawkwatch), meaning he has been either bitten or taloned by eight species of raptors, his favorite being the Peregrine Falcon. He has also worked as a hawk counter for the project, which drew less blood. Hedden wrote a weekly newspaper column about birds for six years, and has also written for BirdWatching Magazine, Birders’ World, Bird Watcher’s Digest, the Miami Herald and the Washington Post. He began guiding locally in 2003, and has guided many trips to the Dry Tortugas. He is co-owner of Caligo Ventures, which runs bird tours all over the world, but specializes in trips based at the Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad & Tobago, land of the Purple Honeycreeper, the Bearded Bellbird, the Scarlet Ibis and the Six O’clock Rum Punch. Hedden is also a writer-in-residence at The Studios of Key West.

DICK FORTUNE & SARA LOPEZ

Former keynote speakers South Florida photographers Dick Fortune and Sara Lopez of Through the Lens gallery return to this year’s Florida Keys Birding & Wildlife Festival to share their expertise with festivalgoers.

Bring your cameras and join Sara and Dick on Saturday, Sept. 28, as they host a photography tutorial, Photography in the Forest, at the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden. On Sunday, Sept. 29, Fortune and Lopez will lead a group of up to 20 people on a trip to Dry Tortugas National Park as they share some of the secrets of professional wildlife photography.

Dick Fortune’s outlook and thirst for adventure have given him a different perspective when looking through the lens. He has an uncanny eye for raw beauty that is more fine art than photography.

Sara Lopez’s intuitive sense of what is beautiful when she looks through the lens allows her to capture her subject’s essence as they come alive in her images. They have been recognized with numerous photography awards. Fortune and Lopez promote photographic practices that respect and protect wildlife by discouraging harassment, feeding or provocation of any kind. See their images online.

PETER FREZZA

Peter Frezza is Research Manager-Everglades Region at Audubon of Florida’s Tavernier Science Center.

The research being conducted out of the Tavernier Science Center is focused on Everglades Restoration initiatives and how modifications to freshwater flow are affecting plant, fish and bird life in the downstream coastal mangrove zone and Florida Bay.

Frezza will give a presentation on wading bird research at the festival’s opening event, which is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the Murray Nelson Government Center in Key Largo.

Frezza received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Resource Analysis from Florida Atlantic University in December 1998 and a master’s degree in Environmental Science from Florida Atlantic University in December 2000, where his studies focused on coastal processes and landscape ecology of southeastern Florida. He has worked as a biologist with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on the Sport Fish Restoration project. Upon finishing graduate school, he was hired by Audubon of Florida to work as a scientist at the Tavernier Science Center.

He has also been a part-time professional fishing guide since 1999.  He has an occupational business license through Monroe County to guide in near coastal waters of the Keys and a Commercial Use Authorization permit issued by Everglades National Park to guide chartered fishing and bird-watching trips in the national park.   

JOY TATGENHORST

Joy Tatgenhorst will be leading kayak tours around Curry Hammock State Park. Joy has been an Environmental Educator for 30 years with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, giving interactive programs on the coral reef to children of all ages. She holds a BS degree in Biology and Environmental Studies. She is a Native Plant society member and founder of the Keys subchapter of the Dade County Native Plant Society. She is also Monroe County Master Gardener since 1997. In years past, she was a partner in a kayak tour business in Marathon.

Currently Joy is on the executive committee of the Monroe County Environmental Education Advisory Council, founding member of the Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival since 1998, and sits on the City of Marathon’s Green committee for the past 6 years.

She volunteers every Saturday at the Incredible Fruit Stand in Marathon (MM50) to raise money for the Monroe County Education Coalition and the Wendy Tatgenhorst scholarship fund and many other worthy causes.

Hobbies include bird watching, gardening, yard farming, rescuing and adopting out abandoned pets.

JANICE DUQUESNEL

Janice Duquesnel has a bachelor of science degree in oceanography from Catholic University of America. She moved to the Florida Keys 27 years ago and for the past 18 has worked as a biologist for the Florida Park Service.

Janice’s career began as a district biologist working in the 24 state parks from Fort Pierce to Fort Taylor in Key West. However, in 2005, her position was transferred and she now works in the 10 state parks in the Keys, focusing primarily on the state parks from Windley Key south. 

Janice’s responsibilities are varied but consist of protecting the biological and cultural resources in both the upland and submerged resources of the parks.

She is leading several field trips in our Florida State Parks.