The lecture will be held at the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium on Sanibel. Registration includes wine, beer, sparkling water, and snacks. Cost is $10 or FREE for Museum members.
The Queen Conch is an herbivorous marine snail with an iconic pink shell that was once ubiquitous throughout the Caribbean, but populations have been decimated by overharvest. Given the important role of conch in the ecosystems, cultures, and economies where they are found, the Queen Conch was recently listed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Since 2015, Dr. Kough’s team at Shedd Aquarium (Chicago) has used diverse methods to explore the conservation ecology of Queen Conch. In this talk, he will share how thousands of surveys on snorkel and SCUBA, computational modeling, monitoring of predation, and tracking of animal behavior have combined to build knowledge, prompt policy changes, and lead to a rosier future for a cherished species.
Andrew Kough, Ph.D., has been a Research Biologist at Shedd Aquarium since 2015. He earned his Ph.D. from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami.
2026 Season educational programs are made possible in part by gifts from Leslie Fleischner and Joan and Don Sherman