Notes From an Environmentalist; Burmese python invade Everglades.

Notes from an Environmentalist

                        Burmese Pythons

On March 9^th I received a delightful telephone call from Steve Leatherman. We hadn’t seen each other since I was studying horseshoe crabs in Pleasant Bay and he was studying dune grass at the Cape Cod National Seashore, forty years ago!

I remember being particularly impressed that his students discovered they could mimic a winter storm by burying dune grass under four feet of sand and it could still grow up through the sand and sprout healthy and green the next year -- something to remember when we use dune grass to shore up dunes and stabilize barrier beaches. 

Steve went on to direct the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University. He also became known for his annual listing of the ten best beaches in the world and picked up the moniker “Dr. Beach”.

Now he is teaching environmental science at FIU, and his most recent research has focused how thoroughly Burmese pythons have invaded the Everglades and what to do about it.

He has also written Neverglades, a novel based on his experiences capturing these reptiles that are rapidly devouring every mammal in Florida including full-grown deer.  Attached is one of his research papers. I look forward to reading more of his work on his own substack in the near future: