About

Mike Duever received his B.S. in Zoology from the University of Illinois and his M.S. in Zoology and Ph.D. in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia.  His professional interests since graduating have focused largely on wetland ecology and natural area restoration and management.  He worked for the National Audubon Society for 20 years, when he was based at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.   During these years he spent much of his time working at numerous sites in South Florida.  However, he also conducted long term ecological studies on the Okefenokee Swamp, coastal Louisiana marshes, a hurricane-impacted floodplain forest in South Carolina, and the Platte River in Nebraska and Wyoming, as well as on numerous other smaller projects around the country.   From 1994 to 2000, Mike worked for the Nature Conservancy on the Disney Wilderness Preserve, a large wetland mitigation project in central Florida.  He was primarily involved in wetland and pasture restoration on the site, and was responsible for the restoration monitoring effort.  For 11 years he was a senior environmental scientist with the South Florida Water Management District in southwest Florida where he represented southwest Florida in the District’s and Corps of Engineer’s efforts to restore the Greater Everglades ecosystem. During this period, he was the ecological lead for the District on the Picayune Strand Restoration Project and the Southwest Florida Comprehensive Watershed Plan.  Since leaving the District in 2011, he has opened his own environmental consulting company, Natural Ecosystems, where he has continued to be the ecological lead on the Picayune Project on a contract with the District, and has been conducting research and consulting on numerous environmental projects and issues in South Florida.