Roy R. Lewis III oral history interview

Roy R. Lewis III is an environmentalist with 50 years of experience in Florida ecological preservation and restoration, most of those focusing on the preservation of Tampa Bay. Lewis remembers his early life as a junior naturalist growing up in Daytona Beach and rural Jacksonville, Florida, collecting snakes and lizards and exploring the local wildlife. He was educated at the University of Florida, where he made the decision to change his major from medicine to biology. Lewis completed his graduate education at the University of South Florida in 1966 and soon, through the Save Our Bay group, initiated experimental research on the condition of a very polluted Tampa Bay. He conducted groundbreaking studies on the mangrove and seagrass populations in the bay and was successful in his methods to acquire support from the federal and state level for these projects. Lewis continues his interview sharing his history of environmental activism, the work he\u27s done with Hillsborough County commissioners, protecting the wildlife preserve islands in Florida, and the connection between seagrass and mangrove habitat and fisheries management