NAME:
Mr. Fernandez
SCHOOL:
Terrace Community Middle School
CLASS:
7th Grade Biology
SCHOOL PHONE:
813-987-6555
Mr. Eric G. Fernandez is native to Tampa and has been a Hillsborough County
Science teacher for four years. He was selected as one of Hillsborough
County’s 2008 Prism Science Teacher of Excellence Award winners. Mr.
Fernandez is a research zoologist and conservation biologist active in the
field for the last 20 years. He is presently in the dissertation phase of
his Ph. D through the United Nations Environmental
Program’s “Interuniversity Doctorate Programme in Management, Access, and
Conservation of Biodiversity”. His ongoing research focuses on manatee
grazing and its impact on seagrass beds in the Placencia Lagoon, Belize.
Mr. Fernandez has been active with the United Nations Convention on
International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the
Convention on Biological Diversity since 1990. His areas of research and
interests include protected areas development/management, coastal systems,
sustainable use of faunal/floral resources, community/ natural resource
interaction past/present, national vs. international conservation
legislation, paleontology, archaeology, ethnology, systems evolution, and
environmental education/outreach. Animals and plants of special interest
and past research include reptiles/amphibians in general, crocodiles, sea
turtles, iguana, basilisks, snakes, manatees, seagrasses, marine
macroalgaes, and nitrogen fixing bacteria/fungi.
Mr. Fernandez has participated in the conservation effort in Europe,
North/South America, Africa and parts of Asia. He has worked extensively in
Honduras, Guatemala and Belize in the fields of paleontology, zoology and
conservation.
Mr. Fernandez has a Bachelors degree in Zoology with a minor in
Anthropology, from the University of Florida. A Masters Degree in
Conservation, Management and Access to Faunal and Floral Resources from the
Unversidad Internacional de Andalucia. He is a PADI Rescue Diver with many
years of scuba experience. He loves outdoor activities such as hiking,
canoeing, boating, diving, archaeology, paleontology, field research, and
most anything that will get him filthy and deep into the wilds.
To gain an understanding of how scientific knowledge is acquired and apply
this understanding in an inquiry based, "hands on" lab and field research
based content rich course in biology.
