Brevard Nature Alliance: Ethical Nature-Based Ecotourism in Brevard County

Brevard Nature Alliance

As a clearinghouse for information on natural resources and nature-based and cultural heritage tourism, we actively offer promotion and support of several key programs and projects of special interest to the community. These include:

Engaging

county-wide businesses who provide nature-based and cultural-heritage tourism activities, and partnering with organizations that provide support to these providers, facilitates a broader reach of information to visitors to Florida’s Space Coast.

On-going development

of the annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. The festival is recognized as the largest such event in the United States. It has become a premier national and international destination for birding, wildlife watching and nature-based activities.

Assisting

with implementation of local initiatives of special significance for nature-based education programs of many types and sizes, including Environmentally Endangered Lands Sanctuaries and other properties, to increase awareness of Brevard County’s natural resources.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Brevard Nature Alliance is to build public awareness and appreciation of the value of Brevard County’s natural resources by fostering and promoting ethical nature-based ecotourism.

Our Philosophy

The Brevard Nature Alliance (BNA) is a voluntary group of individuals and organizations associated for the purpose of raising the awareness of citizens and visitors to the value and importance of the natural resources of Brevard County, Florida. We are dedicated to serving our community through educational outreach, environmental program development, strategic planning, and the sharing of information and expertise with all interested parties.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

23rd Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival

If you want to learn about the amazing birding and wildlife in East Central Florida, you don’t want to miss the 23rd Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, January 22-27, 2020. Headquartered at the Titusville Campus of Eastern Florida State College (EFSC), the festival features some of the world’s most renowned birding and wildlife experts. This festival is considered one of the top premier birding festivals in the country!

Everyone loves woodpeckers, right? That is why woodpeckers were chosen to be the 2020 Festival Feature Bird. From a headline keynote address by Stephen Shunk, author of Peterson Reference Guide to Woodpeckers of North America, to daily spotlight and/or classroom talks, and family activities on Saturday, there will be plenty of opportunities to see and learn about these beautiful birds.

New to the SCBWF this year, is our family friendly event, the Space Coast Family Wildlife Adventure Day! Do a guided beginner’s birding walk; or do some nature art, see live animals!

Forty-five talks will cover remarkable places to visit, fascinating birds and wildlife. Wildlife photographers will offer classes and field workshops to help you hone your photography skills. Over 70 exhibitors can be found in the Exhibit Center. A wide variety of tour operators, environmental organizations, booksellers, crafters, and camera, video, and optics equipment will be available.

Field trips visit the region’s best birding and wildlife sites by bus, van, car, pontoon boat, and on foot. A special trip to Blue Spring State Park with manatee experts to see manatees will include a boat trip on the St Johns River.

Registration opens this fall.

Learn More »

Board of Directors

Holly Abeels

University of Florida IFAS Extension
Brevard County Florida Sea Grant Extension Agent

Michelle Baker

Brevard County Judge

Virginia Barker

Vice Chair
Brevard County Director, Natural Resouces Management Dept.

Anne Birch

Vice Chair
The Nature Conservancy Florida Marine Program Manager

Sue Carlson

Community Advocate

Bob Day

Vice Chair
Community Advocate

Melinda Donnelly

University of Central Florida Post-Doctoral Researcher

Nancy Evans

Chair
Director of Sales, Fairfield Marriott Titusville

Bart Gaetjens

Immediate Past Chair
Area External Affairs Manager, Florida Power & Light

Sean Koch

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Cocoa
General Manager

Bob Musser

Canaveral Port Authority Director, Port Environmental

Laurilee Thompson

Secretary/Treasurer
Co-Owner, Dixie Crossroads Restaurant

Charlie Venuto

Delaware North Parks & Resorts at KSC, Inc.
Director Environmental, Health and Safety

BNA Directors as of October 2017

Back row: Holly Abeels, Barb Eager (Executive Director), Bob Day, Bart Gaetjens, Vince Lamb, Sean Koch, Ross Hinkle
Middle row: Cathy Allen, Michelle Baker, Nancy Evans, Sue Carlson
Front row: Laurilee Thompson, Ann Birch, Virginia Baker
Not pictured: Bob Musser, Charles Venuto

Support Staff

Barb Eager

Executive Director

Barb came onboard as the Executive Director of the BNA in May 2016. She is responsible for all operational activities of the Alliance, with the number one event being the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival (SCBWF). She brings a background of over 35 years in tourism, non-profit management and national event planning. Barb Eager’s previous affiliation was with the North American Association for Environmental Education as Deputy Director of Administration, Conference and Core Services. She brings years of nonprofit experience to the BNA with a strong emphasis on organizational, financial and time management skills. Starting with a very successful SCBWF in January 2017, Barb became the primary organizer of the Sponsors, Exhibitors, keynote and spotlight speakers, and works closely with the Festival Chair and onsite service providers. Along with mentoring the rest of the support team, Barb travels extensively nationwide promoting the festival going to the American Birding Expo, Cape May Fall Festival, Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival and the Biggest Week in Birding. Barb works closely with the BNA Board of Directors to nurture future growth of the BNA in line with the BNA’s mission. Barb was instrumental in creating the Giving Back to Conservation initiative which helps benefit other local nonprofit organizations.
Tiffany Barrineau

Community Outreach Coordinator

Tiffany has a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology from Bloomsburg University, PA. She moved to Brevard County in 1999 and began working for the city of Satellite Beach as the Environmental Program Coordinator. She helped to manage Preservation 2000 lands and a 52-acre spoil island in the Indian River Lagoon. Currently, Tiffany stays busy being involved as the PTO Vice President at her son’s school, works with a local non-profit that tries to prevent drowning in young children, and is an ISR Infant Swim Instructor. She resides in Satellite Beach with her son.
Jim Eager

Social Media Coordinator

After being associated with the festival for many years as a field trip leader, Jim is now also responsible for all social media for the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival (SCBWF) as well as the Brevard Nature Alliance (BNA). In addition to the SCBWF Jim is also a field trip leader for the Everglades Birding Festival, Florida Birding & Nature Festival and Festival of Flight and Feathers as well as guiding in the Central Florida area with his own company Obsessive Compulsive Birding. Jim is a board member of the Merritt Island Wildlife Association (MIWA) and past board member of the Florida Ornithological Society (FOS) as well as Associate Editor (for bird distribution) for the FOS "Florida Field Naturalist".
Kathy Rooney

Administrative Assistant

Kathy joined Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival (SCBW) several years ago providing in-house and advertising materials for SCBWF and Brevard Nature Alliance (BNA). She received her Master of Arts degree from the University of Maryland in Behavioral & Social Sciences. As a Brevard resident of 34 years, she previously was part of the Advertising Production/Graphic Design/Ad Traffic departments at Florida Today newspaper for 22 years and currently works for Coastal Angler Magazine organizing monthly franchise production for print. She provides customer support, communication skills, and strong organizational expertice, working closely with the executive director helping to meet the needs of the festival’s Sponsors & Exhibitors, advertising commitments and administration of SCBWF & BNA.

Zebra Longwing

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OUR OFFICE

P.O. Box 1972, Cape Canaveral, FL 32920

PHONE NUMBER

321-268-5224

EMAIL

info@brevardnaturealliance.org

FACEBOOK

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Contact Us

About Our Organization

Brevard Nature Alliance is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by calling toll-free within the state 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) or www.FloridaConsumerHelp.com. Registration does not imply endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the state. Registration # CH19903 Florida Solicitation of Contributions Act.

Read Our By-Laws