A Texas Parks & Wildlife Department video, opened the new “Your Area’s Knowledge” Winter Lecture Series with stunning photography, wide sweeping aerial footage of our beloved coast and covered an array of informative topics including the impact of historical and recent hurricanes, coastal fisheries monitoring & replenishing efforts, water quality & sampling and the projected impact of climate change to our natural resources here on the Gulf. A nice number of winter Texans as well as Port O’Connor residents braved the blustery north wind on Thursday, Jan 8th to attend the kick-off of the series and were rewarded with a warm welcome & lively discussion. The lecture series is provided through a collaborative effort of the Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce, Texas Sea Grant and the Calhoun County Extension Office in the backroom of the Port O’Connor Community Center each Thursday at 1:00 pm through the end of February. We hope that you will join in on these fun and informative sessions. For those who missed the showing of The State of the Gulf: America’s Sea video you can view it in segments or in its entirety at http://www.texasthestateofwater.org/video.php

Your Area’s Knowledge Winter Lecture Series

Thursdays 1:00 pm POC Community Center Backroom

Jan 15: “Oysters”—Nicole Pringle, TPWD

Jan 22: “Local Watershed Information”—Stephanie Shelly, GBRA

Jan 29: “Why Water Matters to the Bay (inflows)”—Leslie Hartman, TPWD

Feb 5: TBD — Madeliene Cantu, NRCS

Feb 12: “Seagrasses”—Colt Cook, TPWD

Feb 19: “The Invasive Lionfish”—Leslie Hartman, TPWD

Feb 26: TBD — Aaron Adams & Andy Gosnell, TPWD