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Mar. 1 Seminar: Brevard Conservation Pioneers & History

An MRC Lunch & Learn Hybrid Seminar

March 1, 2022
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The Brevard Conservation Pioneers & History Seminar examines what it took to preserve land and the effort required to continue protection. See below for video from this event.

The Marine Resources Council is pleased to partner with the Florida Historical Society and the Space Coast Audubon Society to host this Lunch & Learn Seminar, presented by Charlie Venuto of the Merritt Island Wildlife Association.

The Presentation Features

  • The history of Environmentalists Allan and Helen Cruickshank
  • The beginning of the modern-day environmental movement in Brevard
  • The role of NASA and the Kennedy Administration
  • The creation of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

This Seminar is an in-person event that will also be available live on Zoom.

This education series is made possible by charitable donations. If interested and able, MRC humbly asks attendees to contribute toward fueling future Lunch & Learn seminars. Thank you for your consideration.

Charlie Venuto

About Our Presenter

Charlie Venuto spent 39 years as an environmental professional, primarily at the Kennedy Space Center. He has been a part-time professor of Environmental Science at the American Public University System since 2010. He is the current President of the Merritt Island Wildlife Association, former President of Space Coast Audubon, the science alternate chair of the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizens Oversight Committee, and a member of the Brevard Nature Alliance board of directors.

Florida Historical Quarterly Journal
Charlie Venuto’s article “The History of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge: A Partnership of Rockets and Wildlife,” published in the Florida Historical Quarterly Journal, is available for purchase through the green “Tickets” button on the event registration page. The above journal cover Illustration features President John F. Kennedy addressing the Conference on Conservation, May 25, 1962. The image is courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, MA. Copyright 2020 by the Florida Historical Society, Cocoa, Fl.

Thank You Event Partners!

Thank You Event Partners


MRC’s Lunch & Learn Webinar series is a long-standing and cherished social offered to the East Central Florida coast region, and is supported by volunteers and the community’s charitable giving. If interested and able, we ask participants to donate toward our guest speaker series. All donations are tax-deductible. For more information on the Marine Resources Council, please visit SaveTheIRL.org.