Register 20 Seats Remaining

Life Lab: SAVe Our River Grasses: Submerged Aquatic Vegetation

with Soraya Aidinejad, St. Johns Riverkeeper

This Life Lab continues an eight-part 'Conservation Series' at Jacksonville Public Library (running May through June). Life Lab is a one hour program featuring local, trained professional professionals offering FREE help on a variety of topics aimed at improving your daily life. Grow your own garden or small business and take control of your health, career, and personal finances.

Join St. Johns Riverkeeper to better understand the importance of our rivers' grasses and what we are learning about how we can save them. You will hear from Ecological Science Director, Soraya Aidinejad, about submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and its importance to the health of the St. Johns River. She will highlight Riverkeeper's SAV Expedition that began in 2023, including key results and findings from the past three years, as well as plans to expand this work during the final two years of the expedition. She will also share information about the enclosure initiative launched last spring and the findings from that effort. 

St. Johns Riverkeeper's Mission: To defend the St. Johns River and advocate for its protection.

Soraya Aidinejad was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL. She is a Jacksonville University alumna with a B.S. in geography with a specialization in the environment. She has always been passionate about the river – growing up on the St. Johns left her weekends filled with river-based activities such as kayaking, boating and fishing. Before coming to St. Johns Riverkeeper, Soraya was an environmental specialist at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in Panama City. Her primary job was as a wetlands evaluator within the Compliance Assurance Program. Her secondary job at FDEP was as a Stormwater Management Inspector. After her time working at the state, Aidinejad moved back to Jacksonville to work at a private environmental company where she worked as a biologist doing various job functions such as tree surveys, wetland delineations, wetland reviews with jurisdictional agencies, invasive plant control, and wildlife assessments. Soraya looks forward to continuing efforts to protect the river in finding new and constructive ways to preserve and monitor the health of the St. Johns from emerging threats for future generations to come.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities with funds from The Mosaic Company. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or The Mosaic Company.

 This is an 8-part series consisting of a variety of library programs on conservation and the environment with the Duval Audubon Society, North Florida Land Trust, and the St. Johns Riverkeeper.

Register to save your seat. Registration must be completed two hours prior to the start time. A library card and PIN are required for registration. If you do not have a card, click HERE to obtain one.

All registered seats will be forfeited at 5 minutes before the program start time and made available to waitlisted and walk-in attendees. Registered attendees arriving after this time will be seated if seats are available.

Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request. Please allow 1–2 business days to process. Last-minute requests will be accepted, but may not be possible to fulfill. Please ask for Learning Services at (904) 255-2665 or email JPLPrograms@coj.net.

Upcoming events