In January 2006 I traveled with Project Piaba on a two-week expedition of the Rio Negro and its Brazilian rainforest. On assignment for TFH magazine, I returned with over 3,000 photos and dozens of stories. I came thinking I knew what the issues were, but I left with a different perspective. The hope amidst all this is the work of Project Piaba and the role of aquarium fish collecting as an incentive to preserve the rainforest.

• appropriate for both aquarists and general audiences.
• digital presentation

In Bermuda I stayed with people in their homes and let them tell me about living on their island. So while in Australia I ditched the asphalt paved tours and climbed the dirt trails of authentic rain forest. In addition to my wonderful experiences, I discovered how to travel authentically.

• this talk and its lesson works well as a lead in to my upcoming Brazilian talk (The Real Amazon Rainforest and Its Hope).
• available 2006.
• appropriate for both aquarists and general audiences.
• digital presentation

Within the hobby, some aquarists excel at breeding challenging species. How do they do it? What are some of their "best practices"? What are some of the qualities commonly found in these "master breeders"?

• developed in conjuction with Randy's two-part article in TFH (Jan-Feb 2005) titled "Pulling the Trigger."
• a refreshingly different approach to looking at the art of breeding fish.
• digital presentation

A journey through the life as an aquarist... Every aquarist starts with just one tank, but why do so many end up with a room full of dozens of them? Randy explains how he, with a room crammed full of tanks, rediscovered the reason for being an aquarist -- the reason for getting his hands wet.

• A story-based, message-oriented talk.
• very appropriate for banquet talks and audiences with spouses and non-aquarists.
• this talk and its message was featured in the July 2004 editorial of TFH magazine.
• this talk is very tailorable to a wide variety of audiences.
• digital presentation

Photos and commentary illustrate the general pattern of the scattering strategy as practiced by the characins (tetras, pencilfishes, et al.) and cyprinids (barbs, rasboras, danios, et al.).  The aquarium is ill-suited for the scattering strategy. So the focus of the talk is on what the aquarist must do to enable the successful breeding and rearing of tetras, barbs, rasboras and other fishes we call scatterers.

• one of the few -- if not "only" -- talks on breeding scatterers that is currently available to aquarium societies.
• very detailed slides, including macro photography of egg-to-fry development.
• digital presentation

Once upon a time Randy tore down his fishroom and started over. Being a software engineer, he decided to conduct the reconstruction according to the engineering practices in which he had been trained. Randy narates as photos document the project from tear-down to a finished-looking room. In the end, he discovered a new concept: Just as a fish tank can be transformed into an aquarium, so can a fishroom be transformed into an aquaria room.

• works well in all situations -- for aquarists of all interests, for events with non-aquarists present.
• slide-based

The title and content were based on Randy's series in TFH magazine (1999-2001). The content spans three areas:

• understanding the group of fishes called characins (including the tetras),
• the characin keeper and the challenge of keeping these fishes (not all are a beginners' fish),
• the challenge of breeding them (most are not beginner fishes!).

When all is said and done, the audience should understand that there is an art to characins.

• one of the few -- if not "only" -- talks on characins that is currently available to aquarium societies.
• slide-based

In the first part of the presentation, Randy illustrates the challenges of photographing fish that constantly move behind glass and water. The second part, subtitled "beauty captured," Randy shares and comments on the beauty that he has been able to capture with the lens.

• Because this talk deals more with the pragmatic challenges that face the aquarium photographer (and not with technical details like equipment), the presentation is quite accessible and interesting to non-photographers as well.

Randy is developing presentations for the professional world. These topics center on creativity -- the act of making things and making things happen.

• the timeless way we create
• qualities of those who excel

Think outside the box: If you are involved in the planning of a non-aquarist event and it could use a presentation along these lines, please contact Randy.