APRIL 2026

Annie Morgan Roddenberry, a regional biologist with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)

A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT

It’s time for Friends of Canaveral’s annual members’ meeting and we look forward to seeing you face to face on Wednesday, April 29.

The meeting will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m., in the main gallery of The Hub, located at 132 Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach.

The first order of business will be a short election of the Friends of Canaveral’s 2026 board of directors, followed by a special presentation by guest speaker Annie Morgan Roddenberry, a regional biologist with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Roddenberry will discuss “Protecting and Restoring Aquatic Resources in Canaveral National Seashore.”

I hope you will put this date on your calendar to better acquaint yourself with the work of Canaveral National Seashore’s nonprofit and to potentially learn ways you can get involved with Friends of Canaveral. Our goal is and always has been to support the fine programs offered in our national park and to be there to supplement expenses not covered by federal budgets.

For example, we buy fishing bait for the Junior Anglers’ summer program each year, pay for transportation to help get disadvantaged youngsters into the park, buy food to feed kids lunch when they spend a day in the park, co-sponsor a variety of local arts and science programs, pay to publish the resource book, Plants of Canaveral National Seashore, pay for the annual Volunteers Appreciation luncheon, help staff Eldora House and the Apollo Beach Visitor Center, and many other initiatives. This year, Friends of Canaveral will take over administration of the park’s popular Turtle Watch program, which will help generate funds to go back into park programs.

Friends of Canaveral needs more membership participation and we hope you will consider ways to get involved as we mingle with refreshments after the meeting. All Friends of Canaveral members are encouraged to attend. The annual meeting is open to the public and guests will have an opportunity to learn more about Friends of Canaveral membership and its board.

Finally, you don’t want to miss our guest speaker, New Smyrna Beach native Annie Morgan Roddenberry. Annie’s professional tasks overlap with her personal interest in coastal wetland restoration. In her role as an FWC biologist, Annie improves and restores marine and estuarine resources, such as oyster reefs, mangrove trees, salt marshes and seagrass beds throughout Northeast Florida.

Named 2020 “Scientist of the Year” by FWC’s Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, she also was the recipient of both the 2025 Marine Discovery Center Rhizophora Conservation Hero Award, as well as the 2025 Melissa Laser Fish Habitat Conservation Award.

Annie holds a bachelor’s degree in marine science and biology from the University of Miami and a master of resource management in fisheries science degree from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She graduated from New Smyrna Beach High School and has been personally involved in two shoreline restoration projects on the current MDC campus that was once her high school.

Come join us on April 29 to hear Annie’s stories about bringing her work back home and to learn more about how you can make a difference in your own hometown national park through membership and active participation. Please CLICK HERE to RSVP for the meeting, if you plan to attend.

Lisa D. Mickey

President, Friends of Canaveral

Lisa D. Mickey is a Florida Master Naturalist / Florida Land Steward

Staying Aware of Park Closings

For Rocket Launches

As NASA activities continue this year at Kennedy Space Center, guests to Canaveral National Seashore are encouraged to check the national park’s website and social media platforms for the latest information on closures.

For example, the Playalinda Beach District of Canaveral National Seashore closed on March 31, at the request of NASA Launch Security in support of the scheduled Artemis II launch. Playalinda Beach District was set to reopen to the public following a successful launch.

Park users should be aware that during these closures, no backcountry hiking permits will be issued from either district of the park. If launches are delayed, park reopening also will be delayed. Canaveral National Seashore will remain committed to supporting NASA’s security measures throughout all launch operations.

For the most current updates, follow Canaveral National Seashore's Facebook page and Instagram: @CanaveralNatlSeashore.

Canaveral National Seashore and ACA Host Artists-in-Residence Again in 2026

Staci Janik and Lee Tesche are the 2026 artists-in-residence at this year’s ACA Soundscape Field Station -- a partnership between Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) and Canaveral National Seashore.

For five weeks, starting on Feb. 8, the artist duo has been creating one ambient sound composition each day within Canaveral National Seashore, incorporating both landscape sounds and visual images in what is called an Aural Field Survey. Their work will be compiled into a multi-sensory public exhibition. That date will be announced later.

Janik is a designer and creative director whose practice spans visual identity, environmental systems and field-based publication design developed through long-term collaborations with cultural organizations, filmmakers and independent institutions. Tesche is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and experimental sound artist whose work moves between music, film and design, drawing on stringed instruments, sound design and field recording to explore emotional dimensions of place.

CLICK HERE to learn more about their project.

READ MORE ABOUT PATTY

FRIENDS IN THE COMMUNITY

Friends of Canaveral board members, Marti Woods & Rod Rich, made sure we had representation at Springfest 2026 hosted by the NSB Utilities Commission on Saturday, March 7 encouraging attendees to "Protect What You Love".

The Oak Hill Community Garden hosted representatives from different organizations on Sunday, March 29, including Friends of Canaveral. Representatives from the Friends group shared information at the community event about Canaveral National Seashore and the nonprofit’s collective effort to “Protect What We Love.” Friends representatives also were available to discuss different ways the public can volunteer with Friends of Canaveral throughout the year.

EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY

Stetson Professor Discusses Light Pollution Impacts on Fish

Dr. Corie Charpentier of Stetson University will be the guest speaker for Riverside Conservancy’s Lagoon Lecture series on Thursday, April 30.

The presentation, “Night Vision: How Light Pollution Impacts Fish Food in Our Lagoon,” will be held at 1 p.m., at the Edgewater Public Library.

An associate professor of biology at Stetson, Dr. Charpentier will explore how light influences the biology of coastal animals by cueing behavior and biological clocks.

Charpentier notes that over the last 150 years, artificial light has increasingly illuminated the nighttime sky. Many coastal invertebrates begin life as planktonic larvae in waters exposed to artificial light at night along developed coastlines, but little is known about the impact of this light pollution on larval behavior.

During her presentation, she will explore how marine life responds to light pollution and will focus on the larval stages of invertebrates that are crucial contributors to coastal food webs and biodiversity, such as crabs, shrimp and oysters.

Dr. Charpentier is a marine biologist who pursues research in the ecology and physiology of coastal animals. She earned her bachelor’s degree in marine science at Eckerd College, her Ph.D. in marine biosciences from the University of Delaware and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Rutgers University.

The library is located at 103 West Indian River Road, Edgewater. Admission is free and open to the public.

DID YOU KNOW?

Earth Day is April 22

Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

Senator Gaylord Nelson, a junior senator from Wisconsin, had long been concerned about the deteriorating environment in the United States. Then in January 1969, he and many others witnessed the ravages of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Senator Nelson wanted to infuse the energy of student anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution.

PROTECT WHAT YOU LOVE

Friends of Canaveral support the National Park Service, and now, more than ever, your membership is vital in helping our mission to preserve, protect, and interpret the 57,000 acres of pristine shoreline, dunes, and wilderness that comprise Canaveral National Seashore.

Protect what you love! Renew your membership today.

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP

Membership card that entitles you to 15% discount at the CANA gift shop
Subscription to the monthly e-Newsletter
Invitation to our annual meeting
Volunteer opportunities
Gifts included with all membership levels

BECOME A FRIEND TODAY

Share This Email

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

VISIT OUR WEBSITE

REPORT VIOLATIONS

If you suspect a fish, wildlife, boating, or environmental law violation, report it to the FWC's Wildlife Alert Reward Program:

888-404-FWCC (3922).