Apalachee Audubon Society

Please enter your response to the following two items in the form below and click ‘Submit’. 

Item 1 - Officers   The  following slate of officers is proposed for FY 2020-21:  President-Donna Legare;  Vice President-Kathleen Carr;  Treasurer-Harvey Goldman;  Secretary-Ben Rangel.  Do you vote to approve the  proposed slate of officers?

Item 2 - New and Renewing Board Members - The  following slate of board members are proposed for 2 year terms  beginning on July 1, 2020: New—Norma Skaggs, Nelson Ball; Renewing—Peter Goren, Howard Kessler, Rob Williams   Do you approve the proposed slate of new board  members?

Below are brief bios of the four proposed new board members as well as bios for renewing board members.

President: Donna Legare

Donna Legare is retired co-founder of Native Nurseries, where she spent 40 years helping her customers and the community at large create habitat in their yards for birds, insects, and other wildlife. She earned a degree in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida School of Forest Resources and Conservation and is co-author of Planting a Refuge for Wildlife, a Florida Wildlife Commission publication. With retirement comes more time for reading, for spending time on the water, for being with her grandson, and watching the ways in which wildlife use native plants. She is a long-time member of Audubon. 

Vice President: Kathleen Carr

Kathleen is long time member of Audubon and a Past President of Apalachee Audubon. She graduated from Michigan State University with a BS in Zoology, spent 15 years as a freelance writer and retired from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 2019. Her high point as a birder came in June 2013 when she attended the field ornithology summer camp at Audubon's Hog Island and added Puffins, Guillemots, Eider Ducks and Arctic Terns to her life list. Kathleen currently serves as Membership Chair and Volunteer Coordinator for AAS and helps with miscellaneous chapter tasks as well. Kathleen and her husband Jim have lived in Tallahassee since 1981 and enjoy birding together. 

Treasurer: Harvey Goldman

Dr. Harvey Goldman retired from the FSU Physics Department in 2004. He has kept the Apalachee Audubon books straight and paid the bills for over 18 years. Every year he and four women regularly hit the road on Apalachee Audubon's Birdathon--as a team sometimes known as Harvey's Harriers and in 2019 known as the great team, Four Gulls and a Tern, with Harvey and Judy Goldman, Karen Wensing, Kathy Besbekos and Ann Bruce. Harvey enjoys spending time with his wife, Judy, and visiting his grandkids, hitting at tennis, and travel.  

Secretary: Ben Rangel

Ben became an Apalachee Audubon board member in 2019. He graduated from Florida State University and currently works as an interpretive writer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He spends a good amount of his free time exploring conservation areas and loves learning about Florida’s ecosystems. He sees birding as one of the many amazing life-long pursuits that an interest in nature can provide. His favorite bird is a green heron.

Norma Skaggs

Norma Skaggs moved to Tallahassee in 1974 from Venice, FL. to attend FSU. She was involved in the management of a construction company in the late 70's and early 80's and moved to Wakulla County to raise two children while attending the horticulture program at Lively Vo-Tech. She has worked at Native Nurseries since 1990 and is currently a part-time employee there. She has served on numerous boards over the years including the Wakulla County Parks and Recreation, the Friends of Wakulla Springs State Park and Tallahassee Community Friends of Old Time Dance. She has volunteered at Birdsong Nature Center, the Tennessee St Homeless Shelter with Planet Gumbo, Wakulla County Schools and Kate Sullivan Elementary in Tallahassee. She currently resides in Woodville and serves on the Liberty Ridge HOA board. Interests include gardening, dancing, paddling, hiking, sailing, and bird watching. 

She is interested in being on the Audubon board to help with the continuation of the great work the current board is doing in educating the general public as well as advocating for birds and wildlife in our area and the important role they play in our lives. She says, "I believe I can contribute to the organization and continue to learn about our amazing natural world."

Nelson Ball

Formerly an Apalachee Audubon intern, Nelson was heavily involved in the Lake Elberta project. He is currently pursuing a degree in biology from Florida State University. He is specifically interested in fire ecology, birds and botany. He also enjoys spending his free time exploring nature, whether it's by bike or on foot. Nelson has been involved with several community organizations in Tallahassee over the last decade. He loves to share his interests with newcomers, and is excited to continue to bring more attention to conservation projects.

Peter Goren

Peter is currently a Volunteer Master Gardner with Leon County UF/IFAS after retiring in 2019 as program coordinator with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) Electronic Discharge Monitoring Report program; he was also Safety Manager for FDEP’s Division of Water Resource Management. Peter served as a Program Director of FDEP’s Florida Green Lodging Program, a state initiative which recognized lodging facilities in Florida that met the programs rigorous sustainable criteria and for over a decade. He also managed DEP’s Recycling Program, one of the nation’s foremost state recycling programs. He has worked in various other programs in DEP, including Wastewater Permitting, Underground Storage Tanks and Strategic Planning. He is a graduate of the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Certificate of Environmental Studies. 

Howard Kessler

Howard has lived in Florida for 34 years. He spent his childhood and teen years in and around the marshlands of the south shore of Long Island in the state of New York. He holds a B. S. in chemistry, an M. A. in Education, and an M. D. degree. He practiced orthopedic surgery for 30 years and was Chief of Orthopedics at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and Chief of Surgery at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. Although retired, he still conducts volunteer clinics in Tallahassee for the needy and children with special orthopedic needs. Dr. Kessler has been involved politically at the national, state, and local levels. At the national level, he served on the National Association of Counties Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Steering Committee. At the State level, he served on The Florida Association of Counties Growth and Environmental Steering Committee and the Health and Human Resources Committee. Locally, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency, Chairman of the Wakulla County Board of County Commissioners (serving as a Wakulla County Commissioner for 12 years), and Chairman of the Board of the Wilderness Coast Public Libraries. He is on the board of the Wakulla Wetlands Alliance, FSU Dens Advisory Council for the College of Fine Arts, FSU Coastal Marine Laboratory and FSU Theater Patrons Association. He is the spouse of Anne Van Meter and they are involved in many of the area's clubs and organizations.  

Rob Williams

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Michigan and his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School, Rob joined Florida Rural Legal Services in Immokalee, Florida, in 1975 as a staff attorney, practicing and litigating cases brought under Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act and the Migrant and Seasons Agricultural Worker Protection Act. In 1993, he received the Florida Bar Association’s Legal Aid Public Service Award and in 2012 President Barack Obama presented Rob with the “Champions of Change: Cesar Chavez Legacy” award in recognition of his service to others, knowledge, innovation, acceptance of all people, respect for life and the environment, and dedication to improving the lives of others. He was honored at a White House ceremony, along with the nine other recipients of the award. Rob is the director of the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project for Florida Legal Services, Inc. and is based in Tallahassee. He currently serves on the board of the Wakulla Springs Alliance and in an “of counsel” role on the Center for Earth’s Jurisprudence Springs Initiative. Rob has been an avid birder for his entire life and has been a member of Audubon for over 25 years. He travels often in search of new birds for his “life list.” 

For information about our other board members (listed below) who are serving the second year of their terms, visit the chapter's Who We Are webpage.

• Chase Brestle

• Natasza Fontaine

• Amelia Fusaro

• Peter Kelly

• Liz Schold

• Dara Wilson