Faculty

Dr. Phil Darby
Featured in a major BBC/NBC Nature Documentary

Dr. Phil Darby's groundbreaking research on apple snails and endangered snail kites was featured in "The Americas," a prestigious 10-part nature documentary series narrated by Tom Hanks and aired on NBC/Peacock. During spring 2022 and 2023, Dr. Darby collaborated with a BBC film crew, the same team that has worked with renowned naturalist David Attenborough, to capture never-before-seen footage of snail kites and apple snails in their natural habitat.

The filming involved extensive fieldwork and laboratory sessions, with the BBC crew working around the clock to document the intricate behaviors of these species. Dr. Darby played a crucial role in securing filming locations and providing the scientific expertise needed to capture this remarkable footage. Dr. Darby continued to consult on the film project through 2024-2025, assisted in designing the filming studio, collected the snails to be filmed, and provided details that supported the narration. He is credited as a scientific consultant for the episode.

The research was featured in Episode 6, "The Gulf Coast," which originally aired on March 16, 2025. This collaboration represents a significant achievement in science communication, bringing Dr. Darby's important conservation research to a global audience and highlighting UWF's contributions to wetland ecology and endangered species recovery.

Series Information:

• "The Americas" - 10-part nature documentary series
• Narrator: Tom Hanks
• Network: NBC/Peacock
• Available for streaming on YouTube TV and Peacock

Dr. Jacob Siedlik

Dr. Siedlik was appointed to the Florida State Advisory Board of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and is collaborating with the organization to host the Florida Regional Conference in November 2025 at the University of Central Florida.

Dr. Sarah Tominack

During Spring 2025, Dr. Tominack, in collaboration with UWF Continuing Education, launched Explore Trips, a pilot program engaging fifth-grade students in scientific exploration of plant biology. Nine fifth-grade classes (approximately 150 students) from S.S. Dixon Elementary in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties participated in hands-on field trips where students learned how plants adapt to their environments through experiments and observational field studies conducted on the UWF campus.

Dr. Victoria Bogantes

Dr. Bogantes was invited to participate in an International Taxonomic Workshop in Roscoff, France, funded by the Senckenberg Research Institute. The workshop focused on marine invertebrates collected from the Aleutian Trench at an extraordinary depth of 6,000 meters in the hadal zone. Preliminary analyses indicate the likely discovery of several new, undescribed species from this poorly understood realm