President of The International Osprey Foundation, shared with us how they present, research and educate about these amazing creatures with Rotary President Rachel Tritaik.

Preserve, Research, Educate. This is the goal of The International Osprey Foundation as we learned from Kathryn Brintnall, President TIOF, this past Friday at our weekly Rotary meeting. TIOF was founded on Sanibel Island, Florida, USA, in 1981, with a founding principle of the protection and preservation of Ospreys worldwide. They accomplish these goals through nest platform building & maintenance, attending community outreach events, developing educational materials and activities, assisting in emergency response processes and nest monitoring & data collection. The data collected is sent to legislators to inform their decisions related to the water quality and other environmental issues which affect the survival of ospreys.These are all extremely important tasks because the osprey is a sentinel species, meaning they are animals used to detect risks to humans by providing advance warning of a danger.

Kathryn Brintnall grew up in Michigan, transplanted to New Jersey following a job offer after college, and is now planted firmly on Sanibel Island. She taught elementary school for 43 years, hoping to inspire children to love learning, to have a sense of social justice, and to fall in love with nature. Her experiences following her Teacher of the Year award led her into the world of advocacy. She took advantage of that opportunity to educate a wider audience about the things she was most passionate about. After her retirement from education, Kathryn threw herself into following her other passions: adventure travel, photography, learning to play the piano, as well as nature studies and environmental stewardship.

Her island activities include working at CROW (the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife), participating in the Weeds and Seeds group under the sponsorship of SCCF, and volunteering at the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge as a rover. She is currently the President of The International Osprey Foundation(TIOF). Kathryn joined the board of TIOF in April of 2019, after being an Osprey Nest Monitor for several years. Kathryn loves being out on the water in her kayak, with her binoculars and camera trained on the nests, taking notes and collecting data for TIOF. Kathryn’s first role on the TIOF Board of Directors was Secretary. Since then, she has worn many additional hats including: public relations, newsletter editor, and volunteer coordinator. “It is an honor and a privilege to work for the preservation and protection of the ospreys, and to be their voice,” stated Ms. Brintnall.

Sanibel-Captiva Rotary meets at the Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way and also on zoom. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., the meeting begins at 8:00 a.m. For more information about Rotary, please visit sanibelrotary.org. All are welcome!