Speakers
Craig Pittman is a native Floridian, a best-selling author, a popular podcaster and an award-winning journalist. He spent 20 years covering the environment at the Tampa Bay Times and now writes a weekly column on the environment for the Florida Phoenix. He's the author of seven books on what he calls "the most interesting state," and the co-host of the "Welcome to Florida" podcast.
Chris Meindl has been a geography professor at USF St. Petersburg since 2003, and he has directed the university's Florida Studies Program for more than a decade. His book Florida Springs: From Geography to Politics and Restoration recently won a gold medal from the Florida Book Awards and the American Association of Geographers Globe Book Award for Public Understanding of Geography.
Cynthia Barnett is an environmental journalist and author of four books including Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, and The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans, both named one of the best books of the year by NPR’s Science Friday. She is the director of Climate and Environment Reporting Initiatives at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications.
Gary Mormino is the Frank E. Duckwall professor emeritus at USF St. Petersburg and has taught at USF since 1977. His books include The Immigrant World of Ybor City, Land of Sunshine State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida, and Dreams in a New Century: Florida’s Turning Point. He received the Lifetime Achievement in Writing award from Florida Humanities in 2012.
After spending more than 25 years in marketing communications, native Baltimorean Deb Carson completed her undergraduate degree from Eckerd College, and seven years later, her master’s in Florida Studies from USF. Ten years later, Carson transformed her master’s thesis into a book Becoming FLO, A Mostly True Story. She is currently working on a couple of new book projects.
Julie Buckner Armstrong is a Professor of English and the 2024-2026 Duckwall Professor of Florida Studies at the University of South Florida. She has authored and edited multiple publications related to civil rights and racial justice, including, most recently, Learning from Birmingham: A Journey into History and Home (University of Alabama Press, 2023). She is currently co-editing, with Thomas Hallock and Benjamin Brothers, a two-volume anthology of Florida literature.
Thomas Hallock has authored or co-edited a half-dozen books, mostly about Florida, early America, and the environment. His most recent publication is Happy Neighborhood: essays and poems, about staying married and raising a child here in St. Petersburg. A forthcoming edition of translated poems, The Epic of Florida: Selected Poems by Juan de Castellanos, Bartolome de Flores, and Alonso Gregorio de Escobedo, is set for publication in 2026. Tom is a professor of English at USF, native plant gardener, city-nature adventurer.
Taylor Hagood is professor of American literature at Florida Atlantic University. His publications include Faulkner, Writer of Disability (winner of the C. Hugh Holman Award for Best Book in Southern Studies) and the biography/true crime, Stringbean: The Life and Murder of a Country Music Legend.
Royal C. Gardner, the Hugh F. Culverhouse Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson University College of Law, is an internationally recognized expert in wetland law and policy. He served as lead counsel on amicus briefs on behalf of aquatic scientists and scientific societies in Clean Water Act cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. His recognitions include a National Wetlands Award for Education and Outreach, and his institute is the recipient of the American Bar Association’s Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy.
A 7th generation Floridian, Kim’s love of geography, particularly Florida geography, has inspired her life’s work in public service. Evidenced by stints at the National Geographic Society, the State of Florida and several counties, she spent years dedicated to education, disaster recovery, and economic development. All along, natural resource protection and restoration have been a particular focus.
Andrew "Andy" Huse is Curator of Florida Studies in Special Collections at the University of South Florida Libraries, where he has worked for more than 25 years. A librarian, archivist, and historian, he enjoys exploring Florida's culture in his research and writing. His books include The Columbia Restaurant, From Saloons to Steakhouses: A History of Tampa, and The Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers, with Barbara Cruz and Jeff Houck.