Some cool U of I people

This trip to Belize is winding down until September.

Before I leave, I want to take stock and introduce you to a couple of people working on this project who have U of I roots.



This is John Cheeseman, professor of Plant Biology at the University of Illinois. Here he is checking out a red mangrove that was planted in a farm effluent outlet last November. John visited last week and gave a rousing lecture at a mangrove conservation workshop that I hosted in Placencia. I can still hear the cheering....

Some one once asked how do mangroves absorb nutrients from effluent water when they're planted on the banks of the canal. That's a good question. Here's the answer. Check out those roots! That's pretty impressive root development for a 7 month old plant, eh?



This is Linda Thornton, one of my favorite people in the world. Linda manages Aqua Mar Shrimp Farm and is the owner of Cardelli Shrimp Farm. Linda as lived and worked in the shrimp aquaculture industry in Belize for decades. If you want to know anything at all about shrimp, ask Linda. She knows. She's also one of the toughest, and most accomplished people I know...AND...she has been a stalwart supporter of efforts to improve the environmental sustainability of shrimp farming...AND...she is a proud graduate of the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois.

Go Illini!