HBOIF Celebrates 6th Annual Love Your Lagoon Gala

Since its inception, Dean Mead has sponsored the annual Love Your Lagoon gala hosted by Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation (HBOI Foundation). The gala raises awareness of critical issues facing the Indian River Lagoon and serves as the Foundation’s primary fundraiser.  Proceeds support ongoing research and outreach efforts.

The gala took place on Friday, February 3, 2017, and honored Diane Dunmire Barile, former Florida Institute of Technology professor. Barile was one of the first people to identify the need to address issues facing the Indian River Lagoon back in the late 1980s.

Michael D. Minton, Dean Mead shareholder and Chair of the firm’s Agribusiness Industry Team, is Chair of the Foundation. Having served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2009, Minton is also active on the Foundation’s Governance Committee and the Nominating Committee.

“Having been involved with Love Your Lagoon since its inception and the establishment of the Indian River Lagoon Observatory, I feel a great sense of pride as Chair of the Foundation to see how far we have come in raising the visibility of the needs of the Lagoon,” said Minton. “The Indian River Lagoon is the life blood of all the communities along the Treasure and Space Coasts and its health and vitality impacts us all!”

In addition to Minton’s leadership, this year’s Honorary Host Committee was an extraordinary group of professionals including Dean Mead attorneys, Laura Minton Young and Robert J. Naberhaus III, as well as Honorary Judge Michelle L. Naberhaus of Brevard County.

To learn more, go to: http://www.hboifoundation.org/p/50/love-your-lagoon-dinner

View photos from the event here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0l0imtqzjb212hz/AABa6jIJQMVgxJRY_lZyi2dza?dl=0

Indian River Lagoon Symposium 2017

The theme for the 2017 Indian River Symposium was Indian River Lagoon: An Estuary in Peril. Triggered by the resurgence of blooms and fish kills in the northern IRL and by the impacts of large discharges from Lake Okeechobee and cyanobacterial blooms in the south, this year’s symposium theme sought to capture all relevant research going on in the lagoon. The public was invited to attend the forum on Friday, February 10, 2017.