1996

I did my thesis research on the limnology of ponds in the Kissimmee Prairie. I first became acquainted with the Kissimmee Prairie during the summer of 1996. I was contemplating graduate school at the University of Central Florida and needed something to study for my thesis. I remember sticking my head in Dr. Stout's office door and asking if he had anything to study for a thesis in Limnology. He said he would check around and get back to me.

A few weeks later I had nearly forgotten all about it when my home phone rang. It was Dr. Stout with news that he'd secured funding for a study at Audubon's Ordway-Whittell Kissimmee Prairie Sanctuary. Excited at the prospect I looked in the index of Ecosystems of Florida and found an entry for the area. There were only a couple sentences and I knew I was onto something special as there hadn't been a lot of work done on the Kissimmee Prairie.

I sent a letter to Dr. Paul Gray, then manager of the Sanctuary, and he set up my first tour of the area by swamp buggy. The area was beautiful beyond words. The lack of trees allowed views that led many miles to the horizon. The shear remoteness of the area gave it a "wildness" that is long gone along the coast near Cocoa Beach where I've lived my entire life. The size of the area (12 square miles) made me wonder if I'd ever be able to find my way around.

The next step was to get my major professor Dr. Osborne there to see the place. Paul set up another swamp buggy ride and showed us several isolated ponds and we decided I would study the zooplankton there, with a brief characterization of the water chemistry. Of course, my main interest in ecology is at the landscape level. I was interested in what the water chemistry was like and how the soils affected it. Thus began my study of the Kissimmee Prairie, which set me on a path to a Master’s Degree and eventual employment in the Manned Space Program.