🔔 Please Sign In Ahead!
Katie will be away this Thursday, so please check in online before the meeting if you can. It will make the morning easier for Nolan, who has graciously agreed to fill in. Be kind to him—and if the iPad acts up, ask him about sports while it sorts itself out!
Tomorrow’s Speaker: Dr. Sean Powers
Dr. Sean Powers currently serves as Director of the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of South Alabama and is a Senior Marine Scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.
Dr. Powers research lab, personnel, and graduate student are located in the Shelby Center for Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Dr. Powers grew up in New Orleans and received his Bachelors of Science at Loyola University and a Master of Science degree from the University of New Orleans. He then moved to Texas to pursue his Ph.D. in biology and oceanography from Texas A&M University.
Dr. Powers joined the faculty at the University of South Alabama and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in 2003.
Dr. Powers’ research focuses on the ecology of marine fish and invertebrates, particularly those that support commercial and recreational fisheries.
The ultimate goal of his research program is to provide scientifically sound information to direct conservation and restoration efforts of marine fisheries and habitats.
He has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, many in leading journals in the field (Science, Ecology, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, PLOS One); Served as PI or Co-PI on over 28 million dollars in extramural grant funding; advised 14 graduate students (7 PhD. And 7 MS); and engaged a variety of groups including national non-governmental organization (NGOs), regional conservation and sportsman groups in an effort to develop sustainable management practices for marine resources.
Research Interests
Two of the major problems impacting marine ecosystems are the overharvest of fisheries species and loss or degradation of marine biogenic habitats. According to current estimates, over two-thirds of the world’s fisheries are fully or over-exploited with only three percent of overfished stocks recovering.
While poor management strategies and destructive harvest practices have contributed greatly to this decline, natural and anthropogenic changes in environmental conditions have also affected fisheries. Chief among these latter factors is the destruction and/or degradation of important habitats for fish, particularly juvenile stages, resulting from coastal development, declining water quality, and pollution as well as natural perturbations.
The fisheries ecology lab conducts research on a wide range of species from oysters to sharks and in a variety of locations from Alabama to Alaska.
Research projects conducted by Dr. Sean Powers and Dr. Mark Albins, graduate students and research associates in this research group are designed to
- quantify the relationship between fisheries species and marine habitats
- improve sustainable management of marine fishes and shellfish
- develop fishery independent methods to assess trajectories of fisheries populations
Because fishing pressure disproportionately targets higher trophic levels and larger individuals (i.e., fishermen want to catch the big fish) large, predatory species are particularly vulnerable to overharvest. These large predatory species can often exert a high degree of control on their prey populations (smaller fish and invertebrates) thus transmitting the effects of overharvesting throughout the food web and potentially affecting other economically important species (e.g., crabs, oysters, scallops).
In the Fisheries Lab, we perform experimentation and very larger-scale field surveys to detect and quantify the effects of changes in top-down control (predator to prey). From a marine resources management perspective, information on these types of effects as well as the response of fisheries species to habitat loss is critical for effective conservation and restoration of marine finfish and shellfish populations.
Student of the Month and RYLA
We will also recognize our Student of the Month and welcome local participants in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program. The students will share their experiences and what they learned about leadership, service, and working with others.
We hope you will join us in celebrating these young people and the teachers and families who support them.
Taste of Rotary Updates
First Friday Art Walk: Raffle Ticket Volunteers Needed!
We’ll be selling raffle tickets at First Friday Art Walk this Friday, October 2, starting at 5:30 p.m. If you can spare some time to help, we’d love to have you join us. It’s a fun way to connect with the community—and your chance to perfect your raffle ticket sales pitch!
Wine Raffle Tickets
Members may pick up wine raffle tickets from David Harbison or Tim McGuire. Please connect with them soon to get your tickets and help support our club’s largest fundraiser!
Admission Ticket Buy-Back Program
As in past years, the club may have an opportunity to buy back Taste of Rotary admission tickets from members to sell to the public or provide to event sponsors. While there is no guarantee that tickets will be needed, interested members should email Noah Funderburg at pronoah@me.com.
Names will be added to a list, and members will be contacted on a first-come, first-served basis if tickets are needed. Members whose admission tickets are purchased back will instead be charged for 15 raffle tickets.
Noah is out this week while recovering from COVID. Next week will be the final opportunity to pick up tickets at a club meeting. After that, all remaining tickets will be mailed to members.
Help Us Find Sponsors!
Taste of Rotary’s success depends on the involvement of every Point Clear Rotarian. We are asking members to identify local businesses, organizations, professional contacts, and community partners that may be interested in sponsoring this year’s event.
Sponsorships benefit the Point Clear Rotary Foundation and help fund scholarships, youth leadership opportunities, and grants for organizations serving our community.
Use the button below to download the sponsorship form and share it with prospective sponsors. Every conversation and connection helps expand our community impact!
⛳ Save the Date: USSU Eagles Golf Classic
Mark your calendars for Monday, November 9, as the United States Sports University Eagles Golf Classic returns to the beautiful Steelwood Country Club. This annual tournament brings together alumni, friends, community partners, and supporters for a day of golf with a purpose.
Every swing helps make a difference. Proceeds from the tournament directly support student scholarships, providing financial assistance to deserving students while advancing USSU’s mission of preparing the next generation of leaders in sport through innovative education, research, and service.
Whether you’re interested in registering a foursome, becoming a sponsor, or simply supporting the cause, your participation helps invest in the future of sport.
📅 Date: Monday, November 9
📍 Location: Steelwood Country Club, Loxley, Alabama
To learn more, register a team, or explore sponsorship opportunities:
Science and faith may do different things along their search for Truth, but like the water that flows between low and high tide, we need them both. To judge one without the other is to forsake half the wonders we are meant to experience.
— Rachel G. Jordan, If the Ocean Has a Soul: A Marine Biologist’s Pursuit of Truth through Deep Waters of Faith and Science
Upcoming Speakers:
October 8 – Herb Kaiser presents Scott Rikard from Auburn University Shellfish Lab on Dauphin Island
October 16 – David Hanafourde hosts Emily Cantin from Shepherd’s Place at FUMC
October 22 – Grayson Glaze, University of South Alabama Real Estate Program Director and Professor of Real Estate
October 29 – Craig Helms, Speaker TBD
November 5 – Tom Hogg – Presents Speaker Hunter Simmons, Director of Planning for the City of Fairhope
November 12 – Mary Shannon Hope, Speaker TBD
November 19 – Scott Douglass – Presents Holly Murray, Director of Youth Sailing at Fairhope Yaucht Club
November 26 – No meeting: Happy Thanksgiving
Check out the speaker page here:
📋 Club Member Directory
Per member request, we’ve included a list of current club members below. This list can also always be found and updated in DACdb for your convenience.
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