Happy Earth Day, Friends! We could not think of a more perfect day to share a summary of the 2025 season at the Randell Research Center (RRC) and to reconnect as a group through a revival of the Friends of the Randell Research Center Newsletter! Around the world, Earth Day unites billions of people to acknowledge, appreciate, and conserve nature and its related cultural resources. This year, Earth Day also marks the 50th anniversary of the Florida Aquatic Preserve Act.

At the RRC, we are honored to be situated between the Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass Aquatic Preserve and to contribute to the stewardship of Pineland’s terrestrial landscapes, estuarine shorelines, and archaeological heritage. Through conservation, education, research, and outreach, we strive to realize the spirit of Earth Day every day at the RRC!

The classroom pavilion at the Calusa Heritage Trail. Florida Museum photo

A mosaic of habitats at Pineland along the Calusa Heritage Trail. Florida Museum photo by Michelle LeFebvre

Birds gathered along the Pine Island Sound estuary shoreline at the RRC. Florida Museum from by Christy Rau

This season at the Calusa Heritage Trail, we focused on the resilient stewardship of Pineland’s natural and cultural resources through collaboration within the RRC community as well as Pine Island, southwest Florida, and the University of Florida. With the support of the Friends of the RRC and our dedicated team of RRC volunteers, we welcomed new and repeat visitors for docent-guided and self-guided tours at the trail and our staff teamed up with colleagues from the Mound House and Florida Public Archaeology Network to represent the RRC at regional heritage events. We also restored plantings around the classroom pavilion, rehabilitated the vegetation of Brown’s Mound and Randell Mound, and saw the return of beloved ospreys!

Always motived by our motto, “As we learn, we teach,” we offered two RRC public-friendly expert lecture series between January and March, one at the Calusa Heritage Trail and one at the Tribby Arts Center at Shell Point, Fort Myers, Florida. We also offered an expanded Harbor History Tour series with Captiva Cruises. Each of the educational series highlighted the deep history of maritime lifeways and community resilience characteristic of southwest Florida through time – from the Calusa to the historic Rancheros, and into the present. We also produced five enrichment workshops for RRC volunteers this season to support their love of learning and curiosity including new skills for engaging children and a hands-on faunal bone-sorting activity.

As the 2025 season comes to an end this month, we want to thank both long-time and new Friends for the continued support, enthusiasm, and collaboration! In this newsletter, we highlight a variety of our 2025 season activities and scenes along the Calusa Heritage Trail. We also include a tribute to Chuck Blanchard (1943-2024) and his lasting legacy to the RRC and greater southwest Florida by RRC volunteer Kevin Lollar. Chuck was a founding community member of the center, public educator, and vanguard of southwest Florida archaeology and collaboration.

On this Earth Day, whether near or far, we hope the RRC and Pineland represent the best of what we can accomplish when we work together to appreciate, learn about, and share knowledge about the past and present for the resilience and betterment of the future!

Director’s Message

Dear Friends of the Randell Research Center,

It is genuinely humbling and incredibly exciting to be writing you a message as the Director of the RRC. Since the fall of 2019, when I joined the University of Florida as a curator in the Florida Museum of Natural History, I have enjoyed visiting Pine Island and the RRC. It has also been wonderful to meet so many of you and see first-hand your dedication to Calusa heritage stewardship, education, and research.

My new role began in the middle of the summer last year, when Charlie Cobb completed his three-year term as RRC director. By early fall, the RRC staff and I were immersed in recovery efforts following hurricanes Helene and Milton. Resilient as always, Pine Island, the RRC staff, RRC volunteers, and our community partners came together by the end of the year to plan our most active season of programs since 2019!

I look forward to many more wonderful seasons together and serving the center and Friends both on the Calusa Heritage Trail and from Gainesville. When on-site with the wonderful RRC staff, volunteers, and visitors, I look forward to participating in daily operations. When in Gainesville, I will be working to support the sustainability of the center as part of the Florida Museum and expand its profile and partnerships at UF. While honoring and enriching the over 25 years of RRC history, I look forward to communicating with you all and working together to continue to support and grow the RRC.

My best,
Michelle LeFebvre

Newsletter Features

Looking Ahead: The Digital World and RRC Communication

As spring turns to summer, we are already looking ahead to a number of projects at the Calusa Heritage Trail and keeping the Friends of the RRC in the loop! One effort we are particularly looking forward to is taking a more standardized approach to our digital communications and how we share the latest news and updates from the center. RRC staff will be working with the Florida Museum’s Digital Engagement office to update the RRC’s website, including more regularly posted stories on the Latest News webpage and digital Friends of the Randell Research Center newsletters – like this one!

Our turn toward increased digital communication is informed by broader Florida Museum communications strategies and personnel expertise and support, as well as the ability to more effectively connect RRC news with other relevant digital content from our peers at the museum and beyond! That said, we appreciate that some folks will prefer to read hardcopy newsletters. All digital newsletters, as well as website news content, can be printed or saved as a PDF for readers to enjoy or share. Or save a tree and send your friend a link!

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