Submitted by the Friday Harbor Film Festival
Friday Harbor Film Festival is delighted to announce that Joe Gaydos will be the honored recipient of the 2019 Local Hero Award for his work as a Senior Wildlife Veterinarian and Science Director for the SeaDoc Society. The Local Hero Award is presented each year to a present or former resident of the San Juan Islands who has made outstanding contributions to our quality of life, impacting people, animals, the arts, health, or the environment. Gaydos will receive his award during the Festival’s Audience Choice Awards program on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at the San Juan Community Theatre.
A science-based marine conservation program of the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, the SeaDoc Society funds and conducts science and uses the information to help educate people about our marine resources and help improve management and policy decisions regarding the stewardship of those resources.
Gaydos’ research has focused on diseases that impact human and wild animal health in species like harbor seals, river otters, porpoise and killer whales. He also has worked on ecosystem-level issues including defining top principles for designing healthy ecosystems. He is currently serving on Governor Inslee’s Killer Whale Recovery Task Force for Washington State.
He co-authored the bestselling book, The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest (Sasquatch Books) that received the 2015 Nautilus Gold Award for the Environment books for a better world). His new book Explore the Salish Sea, which targets 5th and 6th graders, was released in April and is on the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association’s bestseller list.
The 2019 Friday Harbor Film Festival program is available at the FHFF office (10 First St., Friday Harbor) and on the Washington State ferries.
Please support the Festival by buying a FHFF Patron Pass ($500 + $26 processing fee) includes a tax-deductible donation of $300 to help support the Festival and provides access to all special events and a guaranteed seat for any screening, up to 10 minutes before showtime.
For more information about the film festival, visit www.fhff.org.
