Volunteer Spotlight: Robin Courtney
Editor’s Note: This article also appears in the STPS Spring 2024 Turtle Times Newsletter (see page 14).
When Robin started volunteering for STPS in February 2023, she jumped right in, participating in almost every program including Beach Cleanups, Nesting Surveys, Events, Fundraising, Education, STERP, and Turtle Night Walks. She also volunteers at the Turtle Nest in Cape Canaveral and assists at volunteer orientation sessions. No wonder she was awarded Rookie of Year!
And she’s just getting started. This year, she became Co-Director of Events and next year, she wants to become a permit holder. In fact, she recently attended the Florida FWC’s annual Florida Marine Turtle Permit Holder’s Meeting so she can learn more about it.
Right: STPS volunteers Debbie Palmer, Robin Courtney, Louise Schuster, and Brian
Saunders at Florida Wildlife Hospital’s “Hoot in the Park” event on November 18, 2023.
Robin is a Florida girl, born in Miami Beach and raised in Ft. Lauderdale. After college, she went to nursing school and got married while there. She and her husband Tom raised their three sons in Orlando. In 2011, after her husband retired, they moved to Merritt Island. Robin worked for another five years, then, unfortunately, she was diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, because of her health concerns, she had to retire from Johnson & Johnson after 20 years.
In the fall of 2022, when her health improved, she started volunteering. In addition to STPS, Robin also donates her time at Cape Canaveral Hospital. In the past, she and her husband have volunteered for the SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) program. And just this year, Tom has decided to become an STPS volunteer so they can do STPS events together.
Robin’s favorite STPS activity is nest evaluations because they frequently find live hatchlings. She fondly remembers last summer when the STPS Nesting Survey team heard about a rare and endangered Kemp’s ridley nest here in Brevard County. Robin and her fellow volunteers monitored the nest and after the emergence period, they did an evaluation, calculated the success rate, and reported their findings to the FWC. For Robin, the anticipation of waiting for hatchlings to emerge followed by the joy of seeing live hatchlings is always exciting. Also, being part of the team that helps these little turtles survive is extremely rewarding.
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