Speaker Bios:
 
Dr. Gary Mitchum is presently a Professor of Physical Oceanography and the Associate Dean in the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida. After receiving his PhD from the Department of Oceanography at the Florida State University in 1984, he spent 11 years in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii, first as a postdoctoral researcher and then as a member of the research faculty and as the Director of the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center. He came to the University of South Florida in 1996. His research interests emphasize short-term climate changes, ranging from interannual variations such as ENSO, to decadal processes, to the long-term sea level rise problem. He has also done work on continental shelf dynamics, mesoscale eddy interactions with mean flows, internal tide generation and propagation, physical controls on fisheries variables, and storminess changes in the southeastern United States. Although he has used many types of data in his research, he is especially interested in analyses of tide gauge and satellite altimetric data, and notably proposed and developed the presently accepted method of estimating errors in altimeters via comparisons with the global tide gauge network.
  
John E. Palenchar is a Florida native and was raised in Brevard County, Florida. After working for years in Florida’s booming construction industry John changed his career path when he earned both his Bachelor and Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida. John’s research focused on spatial, temporal, and financial modeling of water supply. Shortly after graduating John went to work in the Domestic Wastewater Section of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) where he worked with local governments providing technical assistance on wastewater management issues and assisting in development of FDEP guidance documents and policies.
 
He began working at the local level when he started with the City of Largo as an Environmental Control Supervisor responsible for the Environmental Services Department’s regulatory programs. Then, less than two months after joining the City of St. Petersburg as the Environmental Compliance Manager, John was made interim Director of Water Resources amidst a highly publicized series of sanitary sewer overflows and of a loss of public confidence in the Department. John was made permanent Director in February of 2018. As the Water Resources Director John has been influential in turning the course St. Petersburg’s Water Resources Department, focusing on strategic and integrated planning. He has been central in coordinating with the Public Works Administration and the Engineering and Capital Improvements Department and has been a principal communicator and driver during a pivotal time in the history of St. Petersburg’s Water Resources Department.

Meal options are:

1905 Salad & Cuban Bread

Option 1: Pollo Salteado:

Boneless pieces of tender chicken sautéed in a hot skillet with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, green peppers, Spanish onions, fresh mushrooms, potatoes, chorizo and red wine. Served with yellow rice.

Option 2: Roast Pork “A La Cubana”

Generous slices of roast pork with a delicious marinade. Served like back home in Cuba with black beans, white rice and platanos.

Option 3: Corvina Russian Style

Boneless fillet of Corvina, breaded with seasoned Cuban bread crumbs and grilled. Garnished with lemon butter sauce, hard boiled eggs and parsley. Served with yellow rice

Option 4 - Vegetarian “Cubana”

Yuca, black beans, white rice, platanos, tostones and sautéed fresh vegetables.

Dessert: Flan