Marine Open Water Fish of the Florida Panhandle
There is a lot of blue out there… a whole lot of blue. Miles of open water in the Gulf with nowhere to hide… except amongst yourselves. Their blue colored bodies, aerodynamically shaped like bullets with stiff angular fins, can zip along in this vast blue openness...
Meet the Author: Rick O’Connor
Rick joined the University of Florida IFAS extension team in 2012 after 28 years in public education. He is the Sea Grant Extension Agent in Escambia County and his program focus areas are on estuaries and science literacy. His primary projects involve training...
Marine Bottom Fish of the Florida Panhandle
We continue our series on estuarine and marine fish and wildlife with fish who live on the bottom. The Gulf of Mexico is a huge ecosystem. With 600,000 m2 and an average depth of 6000 feet, there is a lot of “blue” out there for fish to find a home. But oddly...
Overcup Oak – The Best Native Landscape Tree You’ve Never Seen
Haunting alluvial river bottoms and creek beds across the Deep South, is a highly unusual oak species, Overcup Oak (Quercus lyrata). Unlike nearly any other oak, and most sane people, Overcups occur deep in alluvial swamps and spend most of their lives with their...
Meet the Author: Carrie Stevenson
Carrie Stevenson is the Coastal Sustainability Agent for the UF/IFAS Escambia County Extension Office, and has been with the organization almost 17 years. Her educational outreach programs focus on living sustainably within a vulnerable coastal ecosystem. She helps...
When is a Muscadine a Scuppernong?
When we moved to the Florida Panhandle in 1989 and bought a house in Wakulla County, my wife and I inherited a grape arbor that was planted by the original builder of the home many years previous. It consisted of three 4x4 posts with cross pieces at the top and a run...
It’s not Too Late to Prep Your Landscape for Storm Season
We’re now in the prime of hurricane season. Living in Florida, preparing for possible destructive storms is just part of life. So, it’s important to plan and take steps to protect ourselves, our homes and our landscapes. This time of year, we need to have a...
A Second Look at Dandelions
A Second Look at Dandelions Many of us have memories of spotting a dandelion as a child and immediately gravitating toward it, eager to hold it up by the stem and blow with all our might. If all the puffs of white disappeared, we were sure the dandelion would...
Barrier Island Mammals
You are probably not going to see them… but they are there. Mammals are fur covered warm blooded creatures. Beaches are hot, dry, sandy places. Just as in the deserts, it would make sense for island mammals to be nocturnal. We know of their existence by their...
Hey Man – It’s Scallop Season!
For some of us this is an annual gathering no different that Thanksgiving or Christmas. The family all knows the gig - “Kids get your things together - we’re heading to St. Joe!” For others, it is something we do when we can – the stars all align with work and we...