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The WFSU Ecology Blog

  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
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    • EcoShakespeare
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    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
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      • Oyster Reef
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        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
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Oyster Reef Ecology | On the ReefSalt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass

One month of production

by Rob Diaz de Villegas June 6, 2010
by Rob Diaz de Villegas June 6, 2010 0 comment
Roberto Diaz de Villegas WFSU-TV

A little more than a month ago, I had just finished a documentary. It’s one of those things where you put a lot of work in and then it’s just done, and you think you’ll have some time to tie up some loose ends.  I had been so busy finishing the program that I was only peripherally aware that the Deepwater Horizon oil rig had exploded and that possibly the greatest ecological disaster in our nation’s history was unfolding.  I didn’t know that my next project was already lining itself up, and that it would take up most of my working hours for months to come.

A month after I first stepped into a salt marsh (and got stuck in mud and fell onto my rear), oil is just starting to reach Florida.  Tarballs are as close as Grayton Beach, and you have to wonder how much longer it’ll be until the sites we’ve been visiting in St. Joe’s Bay and Alligator Harbor will be affected.  Oystermen in Apalachicola are scrambling to harvest as many oysters as possible, and those who can are canceling hotel and rental reservations across the panhandle.

We should be going back “in the grass” and “on the reef” this week.  Weather got in our way last week as Dr. Kimbro had to call off location scouting in Alligator Harbor, and it’s been stormy all weekend (Dr. Kimbro’s first post will come tomorrow, along with some video of the first day of his study).  Hopefully we can get some favorable conditions, I’d like to see these places as they are as much as I can, while I can.

NOAA nearshore projection 6-5

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Alligator Harborcoastal ecologydeepwater horizon oil spillFlorida State UniversityFSU Coastal and Marine Labmarine biologymarine ecologyoyster reefsalt marshscienceSt. Joe BaySt. Joseph Bay
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Rob Diaz de Villegas

Rob Diaz de Villegas is a senior producer for WFSU-TV, covering outdoors and ecology. After years of producing the music program OutLoud, Rob found himself in a salt marsh with a camera, and found a new professional calling as well. That project, the National Science Foundation funded "In the Grass, On the Reef," spawned the award winning WFSU Ecology Blog. Now he spends time exploring north Florida's forests, coasts, waterways, and the endlessly fascinating ecosystem that is the backyard garden. Rob is married with two young sons, who make a pretty fantastic adventure squad.

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What we are doing “In the Grass”
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What we are doing on the reefs

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iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

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My Garden of a Thousand Bees features renowned wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn, who, with the world in lockdown during the summer of 2020, turned his exceptional macrophotography filmmaking skills on his own tiny backyard and the surprising number of wild bee species that live there.

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