17 Jul Conserving Florida’s Fisheries and Supporting Women in Science
Join us on July 15 when BPW welcomes Kerry Flaherty Walia, a Florida native and a marine fisheries research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Kerry has over 17 years of experience studying fish communities associated with estuarine and coastal habitats. Her research has covered many topics of interest to fisheries managers, including describing habitat use and pathways of connectivity between juvenile and adult life stages of popular sportfish, documenting changes in fish communities associated with red tide events, freshwater inflow, and seagrass habitat, and determining catch-and-release mortality rates for Gray Snapper, Red Drum, and, most recently, Hogfish. She has been very active in the American Fisheries Society, including planning their international annual meeting in Tampa in 2017 and serving as Florida chapter president. In addition, she also serves as vice-president for the recently formed non-profit group, Women of Fisheries, Inc., that supports women in fisheries science.