Liao Lab welcomes Glenn Greenwald

Please welcome Glenn Greenwald to Whitney Laboratory! Glenn Greenwald joined the Liao Lab last week as a part-time laboratory technician, where he is working on the snook and red drum movement projects. These projects utilize surgically-implanted acoustic tags and strategically-placed acoustic receivers to monitor the movement patterns of snook and red drum between local tidal creeks, tidal rivers, ocean inlets, and the ocean.

Born-and-raised in South Florida, Glenn became intensely interested at a young age in that region's flora, fauna, and ecosystems - especially the fishes, amphibians, and reptiles. Many of his best early days were spent exploring the Florida Everglades, Big Cypress Swamp, Florida Keys, and Biscayne Bay. He became an active member of the South Florida Herpetological Society at the age of seven, and this early exposure to the scientific world encouraged him to study "ichths and herps", rather than to just simply collect them. Glenn graduated from Florida International University (FIU) with a BS in Environmental Studies. During his years in Florida, Glenn worked as a underwater service/salvage diver, newspaper reporter, magazine reporter, water quality chemist, and teacher.

A few years after graduating from FIU, Glenn relocated to California to better-pursue career opportunities in ecology (and also to better-pursue surfing). Glenn graduated from San Diego State University with an MS in Biology/Ecology. For his master's thesis, he worked in the Stuart Hurlbert lab, where he conducted field studies and experimental microcosm manipulations to determine the effects of salinity variation on coastal lagoon plankton assemblages.

After relocating to California - and also during several intermittent years in Colorado - he worked in wildlife and fisheries ecology for private companies, government agencies, universities, and also ran his own ecological consulting company. For seven years - concurrent with his ecological consulting activities and several grad school years - Glenn worked part-time for the University of California, Santa Barbara, Marine Science Institute as a laboratory assistant and research associate. This work involved monitoring the effects of thermal discharge from a nuclear power plant upon coastal marine fish populations, with a focus on sciaenids (drums/croakers). Concurrent with other work activities, he also taught at a community college in California for three years.

Prior to returning to Florida in 2015, Glenn worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in California for 18 years, as a fish & wildlife biologist, fisheries biologist, and wildlife refuge manager. His projects with the USFWS were rather diverse, and included monitoring of fishes, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates in coastal estuaries; genetic studies of native rainbow trout populations; salmonid population monitoring in streams; salmonid fish passage restoration; conducting flora and fauna field inventories; wetlands habitat creation and restoration; wetlands delineation; abnormal amphibian monitoring studies; imperiled avian species monitoring; wildlife rescue; vegetation and wetlands mapping with GIS; invasive plant control; endangered species recovery planning/coordination; endangered species study permit preparation; environmental document preparation; and grant writing.

Glenn is very excited to now be working at the Liao lab with his two favorite fish species - common snook and red drum. When not working at the Liao lab, he has been involved with several ecological consulting projects to control invasive/non-native plants and habitat restoration in local coastal hardwood hammock and coastal dune scrub communities. Much of his off-work time involves trying to improve his wildlife photography and image editing skills, working-out, biking, hiking, fishing, and rowing.

Along with his artist-wife, Sandra, and their two (extremely spoiled) formerly-feral cats, Glenn resides in the Flagler County Hammock. Sandra and Glenn often work in their pollinator gardens, watch wildlife in their backyard and adjacent pond, and continually attempt to decide what types of organic, fair-trade chocolates taste the best.