News

What made you decide to start volunteering with Save the Manatee Club?

My husband Chris (also sometimes an SMC volunteer), dog Warren (not yet an SMC volunteer), and I did a mid-pandemic move from NYC to Florida. I had been involved with a great environmental nonprofit called Trees New York that was very NYC-focused, yet with broader-reaching implications. When I moved to the Tampa Bay area, I sought out nonprofits with regional roots whose impacts could be felt broader, and SMC rose to the top! Once I connected with Gina, the Outreach and Volunteer Specialist, I knew immediately it would be a good fit. My day job is fairly demanding and often involves travel, and she was willing to invest in me despite that, which meant a great deal!

Who is your adopted manatee, and why did you choose them?

Flicker! Being in Apollo Beach, she lives closer to me than some of the others, though that TECO plant is teeming with manatees in the winter, so finding her is no easy task! But secretly, I think Moo Shoo is the cutest, and I always open the adoption photo book to her page because I think she’s a great advocate for manatees!

Do you have any favorite moments or experiences while volunteering?

The best, as Gina says, is that everyone has a “manatee moment.” I love when we get these burly, tough-looking guys who stop by the booth and begin gushing about the first time they saw a manatee or how cool it is to see them out in the water. Then they call their buddies over, and the buddies start telling their stories—it turns out, everyone has a manatee moment; they’ve just never had a forum to share them!

Tell us briefly about your hobbies, interests, career, where you’re originally from, etc.

I grew up in northern New Jersey and lived in NYC my entire adult life. I’d never seen a wild manatee until I moved to Tampa Bay, and now I feel fiercely protective! I work as a consultant for a Big 4 public accounting firm, and I spend my time helping my clients get the best results for their people. When I’m not working or volunteering with SMC, I am hanging out with my husband, parents, and friends, likely trying to convince them to spend the day at Disney World drinking Champagne in Epcot’s France.