Scientists’ Society of Southwest Florida Dinner Meeting

Thursday April 23, 2026

Heritage Palms Golf and Country Club

10420 Washingtonia Palm Way

Fort Myers, FL 33966

Social hour 5:15 pm, cash bar

Meeting/Dinner begins at 6:00 pm

Dinners and meetings are open to all interested individuals, member or not.

Reservations are required. Pay by credit card using the link or QR code below (strongly preferred) or send a check for $34 per person to Treasurer, Scientists’ Society of Southwest Florida, 11557 Riverstone Lane, Fort Myers, FL 33913-9237. The PayPal links below allow you to use Visa, MasterCard or your PayPal account if you have one.

Reservation Deadline:

Sunday, April 19 

Menu: Taco Buffet - “Build Your Own”. Hard shells and soft tortillas, rice, beans, pulled chicken, shredded pork, ground beef, chips and queso. Toppings: lettuce, tomato, onions, pico, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and shredded cheese.        Desert - cupcakes 

Directions: Use the main entrance off 6 Mile Cypress Parkway.

Program:

Annual Student and Teacher Recognition Dinner

Mason Huffman and Solar Car team

Speaker: Mason Huffman

12th Grade Student Duel Enrolled at FGCU & Cape Coral HS

Mason Huffman and his team members will share the story behind the Cape Coral Solar Car Team, which he founded in spring 2024. He and his team will update us on their design changes and improvements that were made this year. Mason will also reflect on the challenges and successes the team experienced. Finally, he will provide insight into their participation in the FGCU SunChase competition, offering a firsthand look at the lessons learned, obstacles overcome, and achievements celebrated along the way.  

Mason plans to major in mechanical engineering at FGCU. Mason has been an active participant in science fairs, winning the grand award at both regional and state levels. Raised in Southwest Florida, he has dedicated several years to volunteering at FGCU Mathletes Circle, Whitaker Center outreach events, and the Immokalee Foundation Summer Camp.

His research collaborations with FGCU mathematics professors include analyzing the sources of gravitational waves and exploring the mathematics behind piano tuning. He has presented his research at both undergraduate and graduate conferences, including the FGCU Aspire Conference and the national Joint Mathematics Meetings.

Beyond his academic pursuits, Mason is an accomplished pianist studying under Dr. Michael Baron. He has won multiple awards in regional and state piano competitions. Additionally, he is the founder of the Cape Coral High School Solar Car Team, demonstrating his passion for engineering and sustainability.

Click here to make reservations 

Some Highlights From Past Events 

March '26

Electrical Power Grids and the Law

Speaker: Thomas Burgess

MS Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, JD, Law degree Case Western

The electric grid is a complex network of interconnected devices – once called “human's most sophisticated machine”. The grid operates in synchronism continuously with myriad types of devices and owner/operators to provide reliable electricity. We will cover the various components of the grid, and how they function to provide electric power, focusing on the transmission system and the generation resources. Then we will cover the building blocks of how this magnificent machine operates in North America, and recent legislative and regulatory policy initiatives have altered some of these building blocks and affected reliability and security of the grid. We will address what happens when the interconnection and synchronism of the grid are disrupted. Further we will talk about the changes needed to tackle the burgeoning demands of the AI revolution and the consequences of some climate change initiatives. We’ll touch on the varia in the way that different grids around the world operate, which leads to a review of issues that affect these grids from a security and reliability perspective. 

Thank you for attending last year's Annual Student and Teacher Recognition Dinner!

Thank you for joining us for our Annual Student and Teacher Recognition Dinner! We had a record turn out with members, students, families and other guests. 

Students had their Science Fair Boards set up viewing, and discussed their projects with attendees. 

And from last year.

Highlights from Past Programs...

March - Sleep Apnea and Parkinson's Disease 

The Society members and guests enjoyed an informative and engaging event with a presentation on Sleep Apnea and Parkinson's Disease with guest speaker, Robert Schmidt. Sleep apnea can be either central apnea, where the brain fails to send a signal to the chest, and the patient “forgets” to breathe, leaving the body’s cells starved of oxygen. The second type of apnea is obstructive apnea, where the airway is constricted, and the air fails to make it to the lungs. About 80% of the apnea patients have obstructive apnea. Proper titration of Parkinson’s patients is infrequently achieved, making a continual observation of the patent using a smartwatch and phone much more accurate than evaluating a patient in the doctor’s office every six months to two years.  Home sleep testing diagnostics save US healthcare payers over $600 million and allow the patient to live a more normal life. 

January - Drifting Continents: A Scientific Revolution

The society is grateful to Dr. Peter H. Ranelli, Retired US Navy Captain for his wonderful discussion on drifting continents. In 1912 Dr. Alfred Wegener, a German meteorologist, proposed that the Earth's landmasses once formed a super continent, Pangea, which slowly drifted apart to form the seven continents of today. Geologists of his time rejected Wegener’s idea that the continents could move. Dr. Wegener started a scientific discussion that lasted over sixty years. The debate resulted in a unifying framework of the Earth’s geologic processes and an understanding of how the Earth’s surface evolves. Plate Tectonics explains how mountain-building, volcanoes, and earthquakes occur and aids in reconstructing past continents and oceans. This talk will follow the rising recognition of the puzzle fit of the continents, the opposition of the geologic community and the geophysical and oceanographic research that confirmed Dr. Wegner’s theory.

Dr Ranelli has over 45 years’ experience in oceanography and meteorology, Naval operations, and maritime activities. He completed a 25-year career in the US Navy, specializing in operational oceanography and meteorology, retiring with the rank of Captain. He has extensive experience in underwater systems including autonomous underwater vehicles, underwater acoustics for anti-submarine warfare, physical oceanography and meteorology, and operational environmental support. Dr Ranelli has a Master's Degree with Distinction in Meteorology and Oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Doctorate in Oceanography from the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College.

December - The Science Behind the Scenes

The society is grateful to Sarah B. George, Ph.D., Executive Director Emeritus, Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, for her wonderful presentation! We explored museum-collections-based research, from building evolutionary trees and providing the foundation for models of climate change impacts, to mapping the history of the human family, including a discussion of a recent Nobel prize winner’s work. 

Sarah George is a biology graduate of the University of Puget Sound, Fort Hays State University, and the University of New Mexico, where she completed her Ph.D. in evolutionary genetics of small mammals. She started her career in museums as an undergraduate and worked continuously as a scientist and then administrator in museums for 43 years.  At the University of Utah, Sarah and her team of staff and board members designed and built the new home for the Natural History Museum of Utah, the award-winning Rio Tinto Center, which opened in 2011. As a museum professional, she has been active nationally and internationally, serving on the boards and as an officer for museum organizations including the Association of Science Museum Directors and the Association of Science and Technology Centers. In 2016, she was awarded the Governor’s Medal for Excellence in Science and Technology for the State of Utah.

November - Ornithological Diversity in Ding Darling

The Society is grateful to Toni Westland, BS, Supervisory Ranger for her wonderful presentation about Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. 

Westland joined the staff of Ding Darling in 2002 as environmental education specialist. She transferred to the refuge from a position as environmental educator for the Corps of Engineers at the Lake Okeechobee Waterway, which she began in 1998 as a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Points with a major in natural resource management, emphasis on environmental education. She has received many awards for her service, including a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Regional Director's Award for her curriculum design and proactive approach to resolving student transportation problems to the refuge. In 2018, she received The Wildlife Society's Florida Chapter's 2018 Outstanding Educator Award. 

October - Identifying Natural Compounds As Anti-Cancer Agents in Metastatic Breast Cancer

The Society members and guests enjoyed an informative and engaging event with Dr. Lindsay Rhodes, who conducts molecular research on breast cancer and heads the Florida Gulf Coast University’s new Masters program in Biology. Dr. Rhodes shared background information about the various types of breast cancer, with a focus on the triple-negative subtype that is aggressive and highly metastatic.