Florida is an interesting place, existing at a crossroads of incredible development and population growth while still having profound and incredible biodiversity. Florida’s Nature Coast, Everglades National Park and Fakahatchee … Read more
Finding Home Again in Florida’s Changing Climate with a Hammock and Hope
I bought a hammock just a while back. A normal thing to do, all things considered, but the real importance was what it symbolized for me—recreating home and finding resilience … Read more
Listening to the songs of the Longleaf pines
I am a child of Florida, born and raised, and plan on being a Floridian until the end. I love all the varied and wild ecosystems of my home state, … Read more
The Other Day in Florida: How A Journey to the Gulf Coast Inspired the Modern Conservation Movement
As I drove north along Florida’s Nature Coast just the other day, I pondered the legacy of John Muir’s journey of over 1000 miles that led him to the Gulf … Read more
Sea Turtle Conservation and the Familial Bonds Shaped by Nature
People gaze at me with a puzzled expression when I explain that a nesting loggerhead sea turtle helped build our family. It is the truth. On a darkened, windswept beach along … Read more
You’ve Heard of Bigfoot… What About Florida’s Skunk Ape?
I yearn to believe that even as Florida’s population crests 23 million people there still might be pockets of wilderness, deep or remote enough, to provide habitat for creatures not … Read more
Shining a Light on Conservation (Not the Beach): How Coastal Communities are Working to Save Sea Turtles
Our DaRin Butz Foundation National Wildlife Federation internship provided the opportunity to learn directly about the effects of coastal light pollution and to see those impacts firsthand. While participating in … Read more
Connecting to Wild Florida and the Gulf in an Era of Climate Change
Florida has always been a land of profound changes. Seas have naturally risen and fallen over thousands of years, greatly expanding and contracting the peninsula. A key difference now is … Read more
On the Anniversary of the Largest Oil Spill in U.S. History, Gulf Wildlife are Again at Risk
The Gulf Coast in the late spring and early summer of 2010 was unrecognizable. Oil slicks covered miles of open water, tar balls washed on to beaches (where they’d be … Read more
Happy Manatee Appreciation Day!
Manatees have always held a special place in my heart. My love for these mammals started when my elementary school teacher and I adopted one through Save the Manatee Club … Read more
