Phil Chiocchio is SKA’s October 3rd speaker. Phil is a concerned citizen who would like to see a healthier Grand Canal and lived on Siesta Key in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is the Sub Committee Chair of the Sarasota Bay Fisheries Forum for Subtidal Habitats, Living Shorelines, Living Seawalls, and Mangrove Awareness. Since 1986 he has been a program content creator for the University of Florida’s Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants and the Department of Fisheries making over 800 scientific video programs.

He was an instructor at Ringling College of Art and Design for 17 years. In 2019 he initiated planting mangrove and spartina grass at Indian Beach Park on Sarasota Bay. His interests are in water quality, increased aquatic habitats and hosts a Facebook site called SeaBaybies.

Background information for the October 3 presentation includes An Ecological Rennaissance of the Grand Canal and Hydrography of the Grand Canal and Heron Lagoon.