Anyone with GIRS available to to a talk at teh May 10th EIAA meeting?

What exactly are you looking for? I would be happy to prepare something.

 

Yeah I know Marti pretty well actually. They just decided that the Cell Bio final exam is going to be the morning of the 11th. Let me get back to you at the end of the week and let you know where I'm at, I'd really enjoy putting something together and meeting some new people.

As for now, I'm just bumpin' this thread to see if there's anybody else interested?

Talk to ya soon Craig!

-Andy

 

I'd be more than happy to host a Q&A type thing, but I don't have time to put together a new presentation... Plus I did a presentation last year, so it would probably be kind of redundant...

 

If I am able to make it, I would like to prepare a talk about the added importance of responsibility, ecology, and conservation that is attached to the marine aquarium hobby. I think it's one of the up most important factors to consider when entering salt water, and it can often be over looked because it's not always obvious. Almost everybody has a story about a coral or a fish they should have never bought because they were unable or unready to care for it, and that problem is particularly important when considering that 97% of the fish we keep were wild caught. There is a broad array of problems attached to that issue of course, the challenges facing would be breeders with disinterested brood stock or pelagic larvae, from environmental groups and humane societies position on the topic, to how marine aquariums are segue for educational opportunities and conversations that might never otherwise impact visitors, friends and family.

I really hope I can get some stuff out of the way this week so I can make this meet happen!

 

I could probably help out too Andy. My calendar looks free that night.

Another idea might be to have the members submit questions and topics they would like to hear more about and come prepared to answer that stuff.

--AJ

 

So is it the kind of a situation where they don't know enough to know what to ask?  Are you recommending really basic overview, kind of a a little bit on multiple things, or a deep dive on a particular topic? 
--AJ

 

Sounds perfect...Andy is a wealth of knowledge.

--AJ

 

Remember who your audience is.  These are normal aquarium keepers, not even advanced in marine.
If you make it sound like a college lecture, no one will ever set up another tank again

 

I don't think anything I say will have a significant effect on peoples choices to set up or not set up a reef aquarium. Honestly, I'm not particularly keen on everybody keeping reef aquariums to begin with, it takes a specific type of person, one that's thrifty, responsible, and dedicated to their live stock. I place that and awareness of ecological issues threatening reef systems around the world above all else.

Although to be clear, the content I had in mind focused more on the challenges of breeding marine specimens, discuss the best entry level specimens, highlight some of the discrete needs of corals and more challenging species of fish, and maybe highlight some of the challenges facing the image of the hobby that have surfaced recently. To be perfectly blunt, it is entry level, normal aquarium keepers, who aren't serious about meeting the needs of their animals that are responsible for the volume of animals imported annually. Responsible for a majority of deaths among imported fish which allows activists like Robert Wintner, Ed Sayers, and Wayne Pacelle to say thing like, "90% of all saltwater fish die within the first year." Which is unfortunately true among the masses.

Know your enemies, study their arguments, and approach the challenge in a new light.

 

That would be awesome AJ! Dude if we can approach it together, I'm totally down, I've got the weekend prior off, I'll study and work on stuff then and to hell with the rest of it.
Did you want to cover GIRS in general among the group, or did you want to help me pound out specific elements of the curriculum I had in mind? PM me for later!