VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: Lisa Littleton

By Megan Maynard

This month, meet STPS volunteer Lisa Littleton.

Lisa has quickly acclimated to Florida since moving here in 2014 after growing up in central Ohio. With her parents now also full-time Florida residents, she says she has no reason to leave. Her work as a health-care IT consultant and project manager involves frequent travel, installing EMRs (electronic medical records) in hospitals. She’s quite grateful to be able to currently work from home in Cocoa Beach.

Shortly after her move to Florida, she picked up scuba diving and finds herself diving in Jupiter, the Keys, and with friends as often as she is able. She fondly shares having traveled to Isla Guadalupe to cage dive with great white sharks and also the Bahamas to dive with hammerhead sharks. Her next highly anticipated trip will be to Isla de Mujeres to swim with whale sharks. Nothing makes her happier than seeing a healthy, thriving sea turtle swim by during a dive. Her other hobbies include watching rockets launch from her backyard, photography, and taking courses to become a Florida Master Naturalist.

While researching Florida, it did not take long until Lisa stumbled upon the Sea Turtle Preservation Society. She became involved in the night walks in 2015 and nesting surveys thereafter. Soon she took on more responsibility; currently she serves as the secretary on the board of directors and is in her third year listed on the FWC Marine Sea Turtle permit to conduct nesting surveys. She also chairs the Bylaws, Policies and Procedures Committee, and occasionally volunteers at the Port kiosk.

STPS and its motto “Helping Sea Turtles Survive” has struck a chord with Lisa, which is what drives her to continue her efforts. In years past, after flying home late at night from her job in California, she volunteered often through the weekend because she believed it made a difference. She is quite proud of the progress she and other amazing volunteers have achieved in amending the STPS bylaws this year. Despite all the progress and success, a lot of work is still ahead of her team in editing the policies, procedures, and job descriptions within STPS, which she looks forward to tackling.

For any eager or interested future volunteers, she reminds us there is a role for everyone. STPS has many positions available to match volunteers’ skill sets: education, retail, social media, beach cleanup, information technology, night walks, nesting surveys, and so much more.