Author Archives: Lexie Beach

View Vintage Jewelry at LoveIntoSustainedAction.com, now through Sept. 4. All donations benefit The Lisa Jo Randgaard Fund, an unrestricted endowment fund at STC.

On May 2, 2012, Lisa Jo Randgaard passed away suddenly from a rare and chronic congenital heart condition. She was 43 years old. Heartbroken when their youngest child died, the family turned to fundraising for endangered sea turtles to channel grief into positive action. Lisa was dedicated to the cause, in part through the education she received from Sea Turtle Conservancy; she admired the animals’ great strength, yet related personally to their vulnerability. The family honored her passion and established The Lisa Jo Randgaard Fund, STC’s first member-initiated endowment fund. They were committed to make donations of their own and to cover all costs of their fundraising projects to ensure that 100% of ALL MONEY RAISED goes to Lisa’s Fund.

Jenny, Diane, and Linda – Lisa’s Mom and two older sisters – began by hand sewing “Lisa’s Fundanas,” raising over $10,000, shipping 334 of these sea turtle bandanas across the country, and to Puerto Rico, Canada and Europe! The overwhelming support led Diane to learn cold-process soapmaking, and the family launched “Flippery When Wet” natural soap bars, with pure essential oils. Available only on their website, LoveIntoSustainedAction.com, over 1,000 bars have shipped, to date. In addition to Lisa’s unrestricted endowment fund, the family directed personal funds to dedicate in July 2016 the eco-friendly Lisa Jo Randgaard Building for staff housing and offices at STC’s research site in Tortuguero, Costa Rica. In four years, the Randgaards have raised $90,000, with a renewed commitment moving forward.

In October 2016, Jenny passed away, and the torch is now in the hands of Linda and Diane. They have created an online Pop-Up Vintage Jewelry Fundraiser that runs until Sept. 4. As Linda explains, “These special pieces belong to our family and this is another way to ensure that Lisa’s legacy shines bright. We know Mom approves, and we remain forever ‘Three Sisters United’ in our quest to protect endangered sea turtles.”

Visit LoveIntoSustainedAction.com to view jewelry.

The Sea Turtle Grants Program (STGP), funded by the sale of Florida’s Helping Sea Turtles Survive specialty license plate, recently awarded $362,564.95 to 29 different projects benefiting Florida sea turtles as part of the 2017-2018 grant funding cycle.

Each year, the Sea Turtle Grants Program distributes money to coastal county governments, educational and research institutions and nonprofit groups through a competitive application process. The sea turtle specialty license plate is also the primary source of funding for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Marine Turtle Protection Program.

The following organizations received grants for their approved projects for the 2017-2018 cycle:

• Loggerhead Marinelife Center: All-Terrain Vehicles for Beach Monitoring on a High Density Nesting Beach
• Friends of St. Joseph State Park: UTV for St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Sea Turtle Surveys
• Museum of Discovery and Science: MODS Sea Turtles Schools/Community Education
• Florida Atlantic University: Incubation Temperature Effects on Sea Turtle Hatchling Fitness
• Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve: Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) Incubation Temperatures on a Florida Panhandle Beach, USA
• Clearwater Marine Aquarium: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Nesting Patrol ATVs
• Florida State University: The Effects of Local Climate Change on Caretta caretta Hatchling Output
• Florida State University: Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Coastal Construction: Implications for Marine turtle Nesting Grounds in Florida
• University of Central Florida: Diet Characterization of Green, Loggerhead, and Kemp’s Ridley Turtles in Florida, Year 2
• University of Central Florida: Identifying Genetic and Pathogen Drivers of Firbropapillomatosis in Florida’s Juvenile Green and Loggerhead Sea Turtles
• University of Florida – Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research: Reclaim Our Coasts: Improving Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat in Florida
• Hidden Harbor Marine Environmental Project (The Turtle Hospital): Scientific-Grade Deep Freezer for Blood Plasma and Research Samples
• Gulf Specimen Marine Lab: An Audio Tour of Sea Turtles: Sounds and Stories
• Sea Turtle Conservancy: Sea Turtle Conservancy’s Statewide Lighting Workshop: Code Enforcement, Planners, Builders, City/County Officials
• Gulf World Marine Institute: Heaters for Rehabilitation of Cold Stunned Sea Turtles
• Gulf Specimen Marine Lab: Improvements to Quarantine System
• University of Florida: Establishing Circulating Red Blood Cell Volume and Plasma Volume Reference Intervals for Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Green (Chelonia mydas) Sea Turtles
• Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program: Providing Sea Turtle Educational Experiences for Students in Coastal, Low-Income Schools
• Friends of the Marine Science Center: Marine Science Center Anesthesia and Surgery Equipment Upgrade
• University of Florida – Whitney Laboratory: Development of an Improved Scoring methods and a Simple Blood test to predict Rehabilitation Outcome of Fibropapilloma-Afflicted Sea Turtles
• Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center: No Hooks Left Behind
• Florida Atlantic University: Investigating Aspects of Chelonid Herpesvirus 5 Pathobiology in Green and Loggerhead Sea Turtles
• Mote Marine Laboratory: Enhanced Surgical Monitoring, Surgical Tools, and Supplies for Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital
• Friends of the Marine Science Center: Acquisition of an Ultrasound at the Marine Science Center Turtle Hospital
• Loggerhead Marinelife Center: Promiscuity in Marine Turtles: Evolutionary Push for Population Stability?
• Inwater Research Group: Long-Term Monitoring of Sea Turtles in Florida’s Big Bend
• Inwater Research Group: Characterization of Marine Turtles within Biscayne National Park
• Inwater Research Group: Dark Sky, Dark Beaches: A Statewide Lighting Program for Classrooms
• Inwater Research Group: Continued Monitoring of Florida’s Main Adult Green Turtle Foraging Site

The sea turtle plate is the number two overall selling specialty tag in Florida, and the number one environmental specialty plate. By purchasing the sea turtle specialty license plate, Floridians are voluntarily funding important programs to save endangered sea turtles and their habitats.

To learn more about the Sea Turtle Grants Program and the “Helping Sea Turtles Survive” specialty license plate, please visit www.helpingseaturtles.org.