Extension was the dream job I never knew existed. It was because of you that my position was ever created. You spoke up and said, “We need to educate on the value and importance of our environment and natural resources”. A sentiment that is shared around the state. I entered the job with a blank slate. As any good Extension Agent, it took time for me to research and survey the needs of the community. I began with extensive outreach on coyotes in Pinellas, educating residents on their value and importance, and how we can learn to coexist. Shortly after, as a young professional, I saw an opportunity to build a statewide program to educate residents about the value and importance of our vital water resources. I created a committee of 27 state and county faculty and staff, launched a statewide needs assessment and found you desired to connect with our water resources. The result? Four years of hard work developing what is now the Florida Waters Stewardship Program, impacting people for generations to come on how they think about, interact with, and support local water resources. In the Tampa Bay area, this program has reached over 230 individuals resulting in the implementation of over 40 local stewardship projects to improve or educate about local water resources.

I was blessed to participate in the Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute, setting the foundation for me to create deeper connections with the communities I serve. This experience ultimately led me to where I am today, serving as a representative of the Community Voices, Informed Choices (CIVIC) program and Co-PI on a National Fish & Wildlife Foundation grant to support the state’s first-ever regional Coastal Master Plan with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

I recently wrapped up a project with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, helping to establish curriculum to educate the public and municipal staff on the critical role of tidal creeks and their impacts to our daily lives. Teaching is my passion, it brings me so much joy, and it’s reflected in your feedback:

• “Lara did an amazing job of combining lectures with interactive activities.”
• “It was fantastic. Give Lara a raise!” (my personal favorite )
• “Lara is an excellent presenter”
• “Lara has great enthusiasm. Loved having her lead the program.”

And the list goes on. I don’t share this to brag; I share this because it’s exciting to see the impact of my work.

For the past 13 years, I’ve partnered with St. Petersburg College to train over 600 in-service, pre-service and non-formal teachers how to incorporate environmental education curriculum with their students. What I love about Extension is it’s not just teaching for the sake of teaching; it’s teaching for practical application. Follow-up surveys show 75% of participants in my teacher training workshops implement the curriculum with their students. Assume ~25 students per teacher and the impact is exponential! Through these workshops, I’m indirectly reaching thousands of youths with critical natural resources education.

I’ve been blessed to serve as national President of the Association of Natural Resources Extension Professionals, as a member of the national Joint Council of Extension Professionals Board, and as a Trustee of Natural Resources Extension Education Foundation, along with many national committees that showcase the dedication of Extension professionals throughout the country.

My desire to understand our natural world resulted in a partnership with the University of Central Florida’s Savage Lab where I partnered with a PhD student to expand research efforts on the impact of an invasive parasite significantly impacting local snake populations. Our once thriving pygmy rattlesnake population at Brooker Creek Preserve has diminished drastically. Through this effort, we’ve not only documented the first case of the invasive parasite in Pinellas County, but it’s expanded my partnership with our Parks Department. I teamed up with our 87+ Park Rangers to assist in collections of snakes throughout our 26 parks and preserves, providing them with an opportunity to contribute to meaningful research. To date, we’ve analyzed 42 specimens with 41% testing positive for the invasive parasite. We’ve further expanded our partnership with the Parks and Conservation Resources department by providing essential professional development training to enhance their knowledge and skills on the job and assisting them in advancing their careers. Our Basic Ranger Training program has trained 137 County Park Rangers, and our Florida Master Naturalist Environmental Interpretation program has reached 40 county staff from Parks, Environmental Management, Solid Waste, and Utilities.

I saw the need to draw attention to the often-overlooked storm drains in Pinellas County, securing grants to establish the County’s Adopt-A-Drain program, training hundreds of citizens about stormwater and securing dozens of dedicated volunteers to help maintain 169 (and growing) storm drains, critical pieces of flood prevention infrastructure. Through this program, I get to work closely with Pinellas County’s Environmental Management team that I have grown to love, collaborating on their storm drain marking program and assisting with educational requirements of their stormwater permitting.

I have grown and adapted to the needs of the community, shifting from traditional, hardcopy factsheets and handouts to online blogs, from webinars to our Naturally Florida podcast with over 63,000 streams. During COVID we recorded numerous webinars and made them available on our YouTube Channel that continues to thrive with tens of thousands of views every month and over 200 on-demand, research-based educational videos.

Since COVID, we shifted our focus to tangible projects, experiences the public could not receive online. Through our partnership with the Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve, we have built and installed over 200 artificial nest boxes to support local cavity-nesting birds. We also supported the county in their Bee City USA certification, building over 200 pollinator houses to support the lifeblood of our food web, further enhanced by the distribution of hundreds of wildflower seed packets, expanding pollinator habitat throughout Pinellas.  We’ve secured hundreds of free trees and distributed them to residents throughout Pinellas as part of our Florida and National Arbor Day efforts with funding from the Florida Forest Service. We work closely with Pinellas County Urban Forestry to help re-established a critical tree canopy with trees that will have significant positive impacts on our water resources, air quality, and overall quality of life for generations to come.

We partnered with UF/IFAS Extension Pasco County and the Gulf Shellfish Institute to establish a novel approach to oyster restoration in the form of vertical oyster gardens (VOGs). Through this partnership and the help of over 600 volunteers, we built over 2,400 VOGs to be deployed throughout Tampa Bay, enhancing critical marine habitat and local water quality.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention the incredible opportunity I had to lead the staff at the multi-million-dollar Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center for 13 years, increasing our visitation by 103% from 18,109 to 36,698 and our volunteer hours by 80%, from 4,670 to 8,392. Through just the Education Center alone, we’ve directly educated 139,253 members of the public through 4,588 educational programs since UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County took over operations of the Centers in 2012.

It’s been an amazing 13 years! I’ve learned so much. I’ve grown personally and professionally. I treasure each of you I’ve had the opportunity to teach or partner with or learn from over the years. I cannot wait to see what 2026 and beyond will bring!

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