The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning have a free Zoom presentation about conservation fisheries on Tuesday, January 25.
The presentation is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., and it will feature Conservation Fisheries, Inc., a nonprofit organization preserving the Southeast’s aquatic biodiversity, a press release said. The presenter, Pat Rakes, is co-director of Conservation Fisheries.
“He will explain the role and mission of CFI as well as its history, pictures of the hatchery, field work, and fish as well as cooperators in this important effort,” the press release said.
Rakes has been studying rare fishes since he began his master’s degree project at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1982, focusing on the distribution and life history of the Barrens Topminnow, the press release said. This work laid the foundation for efforts that continue today. Rakes and J.R. Shute founded CFI just after finishing graduate school projects.
“Both are in awe of how it has grown since then,” the press release said.
“Years of maintaining aquaria have led to an appreciation of the art and science (the ‘wet thumb’) involved in keeping fish alive, healthy, and able to reproduce,” the press release said. “The rewards of co-directing CFI have not been monetary, but rich in constant learning, studying the life history, ecology, reproductive biology, distribution, and taxonomy of rare fish in Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The snorkeling that was a novel technique for monitoring rare fish 30 years ago never gets old.”
This program is co-sponsored by Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning. The program is free but please register to receive your Zoom link at www.utarboretumsociety.org. This program will be recorded, and closed captioning is available. Please contact Michelle Campanis at mcampani@utk.edu with any questions or registration issues.
In accordance with the University of Tennessee guidelines for COVID-19 precautions, programs are currently being presented online. Though the UT Arboretum Society’s educational programs are not on-site activities, the UT Arboretum Society is pleased to bring the public some great online options, the press release said.
To learn more about the Arboretum Society or for questions on this program, go to www.utarboretumsociety.org.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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