December 6, 2024 – Speaker: Rich Pierce

Bio:Richard Pierce has been keeping fish for as long as he can remember. His interest in all things aquatic led him to study Marine Biology, culminating with a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. He has worked in two public aquaria and in two retail aquarium stores. He currently maintains roughly 1,000 gallons in 100 aquaria in his fish room. Since his largest aquarium is 65 gallons, most of his fish are small. Although he keeps and breeds all kinds of fish, killifish, wild-type livebearers, and characins are of particular interest.In addition to fish keeping, Richard enjoys photography, especially photographing fish and macro photography. He has won awards in both the American Killifish Association and NEC photo contests, and now chairs the annual NEC photo contest. He has spoken at many aquarium societies throughout the country and enjoys meeting other aquarists and visiting their fish rooms.
Richard has been an active member of the Tropical Fish Society of Rhode Island since 2003 and is currently their Breeder’s Award Program Chair. He is also active in the American Killifish Association, serving two terms on the Board of Directors, including three years as Chairman. He has also been an editor of the Journal of the AKA since 2010. He is currently President of the Northeast Council of Aquarium Societies, as well as President of the Southern New England Killifish Association (SNEKA).

Crafton Volunteer Fire Department
8 Stotz Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15205

*** Doors open at 6:30 PM; meeting starts at 7:30 PM ***

Breeders Award Program (BAP) and Aquatic Horticulture Awards Program (AHAP) will be accepted.

Support your club and potentially win prizes donated by our sponsors. Support our sponsors by visiting their web pages listed on this web site.

50% of the winnings go to a participant, 50% goes to club to help pay rent for facilities.

There will be a mini-auction. Sellers will receive 70% of sales. 30% goes to club to help pay for expenses and supplies.

There will be plenty of time to mingle with members and guests throughout the evening.