Mike Brittsan is Curator of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and his involvement with Project SECORE and its efforts to help conserve and restore coral reef communities. SECORE is named for its focus – SExual COral REproduction – and was organized to study the successful collection, fertilization,
settlement and rearing of a single species, Elkhorn coral, in captivity.
Ramon Villaverde received his Bachelors of Science in ecology and zoology from the University of Akron in 1997. He started his professional career as a Maintenance Scuba Diver at SeaWorld of Ohio, transferred over to the Aquarium Department and started his career as an Aquarist. He worked at Discovery Cove in Orlando FL and SeaWorld of Orlando for 4.5yrs. He has worked at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for the last 6 years as a Senior Aquarist. He is also an SDI Instructor at Aquatic Adventures of Ohio.
Mike & Ramon will kick-off the presentations on Friday evening with Aquatic Conservation Projects At the Columbus Zoo.