Volunteer Spotlight: Mark Toolan

Editor’s Note: This article also appears in the STPS 2026 Winter Edition Turtle Times Newsletter (see page 15).

After retiring from electrical engineering a year ago, Mark came back to Melbourne where he grew up and graduated from Mel High. His love of Florida’s beaches and wildlife – plus his passion for conservation – drew him to join STPS and volunteer. He’s fully embraced the volunteer lifestyle, which really appeals to his do-it-yourself ethic.

At first, he did beach cleanups, community events, and assisting Education Director Linda Perry with presentations. After Linda suggested that he try Nesting Surveys, it’s now his favorite program. “Who doesn’t love a gorgeous sunrise on the beach?”

But Mark didn’t stop there. He’s also volunteered for Turtle Night Walks, the Turtle Krawl 5K (see photo below), and enjoys our volunteer gatherings. He plans to join the STERP team this year, and just recently, he became a member of the STPS board as Director-at-Large and Advocacy Committee Chair. His goal is to keep our members informed about important federal and local environmental issues.

Joining STPS has given Mark a new appreciation for the environment and the importance of protecting it. He likes to quote Archie Carr: “For most of the wild things on earth, the future must depend on the conscience of mankind.” Mark emphasizes that our actions can have unforeseen repercussions on the natural world and urges caution to prevent irreparable damage to our complex and fragile ecosystems.

As an engineer, Mark loves the fact that the data collected by Nest Survey volunteers – sea turtle tracks, false crawls, nest counts, and nest evaluations – is submitted to Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and used for their scientific research. Just ordinary people contributing to science. He fondly remembers one nest evaluation last summer when the team found a live hatchling in the nest. Another volunteer said, “This is why we do this!” Moments like that make all the hard work worthwhile.

What inspires Mark to keep volunteering? All the interesting and amazing people he’s met. “Cyndi Stinson and Joel Cohen with their in-depth knowledge are STPS gems,” he says. He also really enjoys doing nest surveys with Noelle and Autumn and beach cleanups with Gerry Burke. “And all the volunteers have one thing in common: we want to help sea turtles survive.”

Just recently, Mark met with visitors to our Volunteer Fair and talked to them our monthly Beach Cleanups. See him and other STPS volunteers in this video on STPS Facebook: 2026 STPS Volunteer Fair.