Facing Florida’s Future

Interested in learning about important Earth system issues – air, water, land, and life – affecting the future of our state? Look no further than the past as the Florida Museum of Natural History presents three talks with scientists sharing how their work with fossil shells, shells from archaeology sites, and shells of modern-day help us understand today’s environmental challenges.

Shells: Sentinels of the Sea

The people who lived on the Florida Gulf Coast thousands of years ago left their permanent mark on the landscape in the form of shell heaps, both large and small. Dr. Carla Hadden, Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Georgia Center for Applied Isotope Studies, uses mollusk shells excavated from these archaeological sites to learn about the coastal environment thousands of years ago, as well as the people who lived there.

Speaker

Dr. Hadden is an environmental archaeologist specializing in zooarchaeology, archaeological chemistry, and radiocarbon dating. Carla currently manages the radiocarbon dating sample preparation laboratory at the Center for Applied Isotope Studies and serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Radiocarbon. In 2019, she co-chaired the organizing committee of the 9th International Symposium on Radiocarbon and Archaeology. Carla’s research uses geochemical analyses of shells, and faunal teeth and bones from archaeological sites to study human impacts on the environment, as well as human adaptations to climate change, in eastern North America during the Late Holocene.

Virtual Webinar

Carla will present live via Zoom from her lab at University of Georgia’s Center for Applied Isotope Studies.

Shell Series Talks

Carla is the second of three speakers in this Shells series. Our Facing Florida’s Future program will continue bringing speaker series in collaboration with community partners. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive notification and registration links for upcoming Shell webinar November 20.

Partners

The Shell Point Retirement Community is our collaborator for the Shells series co-hosted by the Randell Research Center and the UF Thompson Earth Systems Institute.