Pleased to announce that we have the following speakers for our event this fall. Going to be a fantastic day.
Mike Paletta:
"Michael Paletta has been keeping marine tanks since 1980 and reef tanks since 1985. During the past 30 years he has written over 200 articles on marine fish and invertebrates in both the US and Europe. His first book “The Modern Marine Aquarium” is an attempt to simplify marine fish keeping for the beginning hobbyist while at the same time incorporating advances that have been made due to reef keeping. His second book “Ultimate Marine Aquariums” illustrates how far the hobby has come in the past 15 years. In this book are examples of just about every type of reef tank using different methodologies and technology. Michael has enjoyed speaking at over 150 marine societies and national conferences in North America, Canada, South America and Europe. Michael has appeared on both local and national radio shows to discuss the hobby and to help new hobbyists become successful. Currently Michael has 300, 90. 75, 40 and 26- gallon reef tanks of various types set up in his home. He has helped in the set up of over 200 tanks throughout the U.S, including several tanks over 4,000 gallons in capacity. Michael is currently writing a weekly blog on ************ and has done over 20 videos for American Reef. Michael also acted as a consultant with the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Pittsburgh Zoo Aquarium. Michael has B.S. from Dickinson College and a Master’s degree from Yale University. Michael has also been a technical consultant for several equipment manufacturers and online companies. Michael is currently employed in sales in the biotechnology field"
Laura Birenbaum:
"Laura has been devoted to her career in the reef aquarium industry for over 13 years and has been a fish keeper for most of her life. In addition to her internship at the Steinhart Aquarium, Laura has worked on many sides of the trade including aquarium retail, wholesale and manufacturing. Laura co-owned a reef aquarium shop in Bellingham, Washington while earning her B.S. in Marine Biology at Western Washington University. She also is presently the Vice President of the Long Island Reef Association.
Laura enjoys conducting experiments in the reef hobby with a focus of research on the mortality rates of dry shipped marine invertebrates and coral. Laura is the proud Owner and Co-Founder of ReefGen, a wholesale coral and fish aquaculture company in Riverhead, NY. Together with her business partner, Justin Credabel, they propagate a diverse selection of coral frags in collaboration with the Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center"