2024 Presenters
Keynote Speaker - Paul Spitzer
Paul began his CT osprey-DDT studies in 1968, as a Wesleyan U. CT undergrad, and protege of Roger and Barbara Peterson.
His experimental egg switches between the MD Chesapeake and coastal CT publicized the osprey's plight with DDT.
The 1970's decade, he was a doctoral student of Tom Cade at Cornell, and wrote his thesis on ten years of NYC-to-Boston population data, as DDT residues passed from the coastal system and ospreys began their recovery. He predicted the worldwide explosion that followed.
He came to the MD Eastern Shore in 1982 to begin a comparative osprey population study, and has lived here happily since then. He has spent considerable time in VA waters, Mathews Co. and beyond.
Michael Academia
Michael Academia, M.Sc. Biology - William & Mary, won the 2022 William Andersen Award at the International Raptor Research Conference for his research involving ospreys and the localized depletion of Atlantic menhaden in the Lower Chesapeake Bay. He is very passionate and dedicated to ospreys and citizen science. He has produced scientific articles regarding osprey diet composition, ecology, demographics, predator-prey relationships, and citizen science.
Below are a few of his articles of osprey research:
Food Supplementation Increases Reproductive Performance of Ospreys in the Lower Chesapeake Bay
Use of Nest Web Cameras and Citizen Science to Quantify Osprey Prey Delivery Rate and Nest Success