Tara Dodson
President
I was born in Sarasota, Florida and grew up just out side of the Orlando area in Lake Mary. I used to visit my family in St. Augustine often as a teenager and eventually moved here in May 1997 and then returned to live here in May of 2006 with my husband and three children. We moved from Lake Tahoe where we enjoyed snowboarding, hiking, and swimming in the lake. Now that we live in St. Augustine and time will allow we kayak, fish, surf, and enjoy the sunsets on the intra-coastal. Keepers of the Coast was started with Scott Eastman, Billy Zeits, Angie Golubovich, and myself because we felt their was a need to provide more education and outreach to our community regarding marine debris, and imperiled species. We wanted to involve the community by offering an annual sea turtle festival and regularly scheduled beach cleanups.
I don’t necessarily have a favorite beach in the world but one at the top of my list is Sand Dollar Beach in Big Sur, California. You have to hike in a bit, and the water can be cold but it’s worth every step!
Billy Zeits
Vice President
In an effort to make the community I live and work in a better place I have been involved with environmental education since graduating from college. My career and lifestyle has brought me to some beautiful coastal communities including Kauai, Mexico, Central America, the San Francisco Bay Area, home to my favorite beach Pt. Reyes National Seashore, and now St. Augustine, Florida. Creating a sense of awareness and stewardship in these communities inspired me to become involved with non-profits that were responsible for bringing people together through festivals, environmental education field trips both in the U.S. and broad, and beach clean-ups. My love for the ocean started growing up on the west coast of Florida, Indian Rocks Beach, and grew as I began surfing and traveling. The actions of each coastal community impact the overall future of all of our oceans and any positive effort can go along way especially if it resonates throughout surrounding communities. Keepers of the Coast is a great avenue for providing The North Florida community with a way to be involved and as co-founder and current vice president I am proud to have the opportunity to be a part of this dynamic non profit organization.
Billy Zeits is a resident of St. Augustine for 6 years and his favorite activity in St. Johns County is a bike ride and a surf in Anastasia State Park.
Angie Golubovich
Secretary
I am originally from the Midwest where I found myself attracted to the ocean in the 1st grade. Apparently I didn’t want to complete reading assignments and the teachers tried everything, finally they started giving me books on all different topics. Finally one worked, a book about dolphins. I was fascinated and from then on I remember my yearning to learn about the oceans and all of the amazing organisms that inhabit them. I visited the ocean for the first time when she was 13 and it was everything I thought it would be. In 1998 I attended the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory taking courses on marine science and moved to Tampa in 2000 where I worked at the Pier and Florida Aquariums. A quest to work on boats among humpback whales took me to the Hawaiian Islands where I had the opportunity to learn about tropical oceans first hand. I have been living in Northeast Florida for 5 years and enjoy spending time hiking, writing, and walking Luna, my energetic pit-mix puppy. I became a part of Keepers because I believe its an opportunity to initiate stewardship and education activities to support ocean conservation. My favorite color is blue, guacamole and chili are some of my staple foods, I was given a t-shirt in high school that said “Help! I’m talking and I can’t shut up!”, and my favorite 3 people on earth include my husband Mike, my father Bill, and my brother Bryan. My favorite beach in the world is one that is not crowded!
Anne Lear DeMartini
Board Member
I moved to Florida from Tennessee, but am originally from Asheville, NC and lived for many years in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia. I moved to St Augustine in 2007 and now enjoy the weather and playing a lot of soccer. I joined Keepers of the Coast because of the wonderful people involved in the organization. They are all fun, interesting, and passionate about environmental issues. My favorite thing to do on St Johns County beaches is to surf – even though I am terrible at it, I still try!
My favorite beach in the world would include all the ones I haven’t visited yet! I’ll let you know how the beaches of South Africa are during their winter when I return next year.
Aubrey Mulligan
I joined Keepers of the Coast as a board member in April of 2009. Primarily, I’ve been working on fundraising, special events, and public relations. I’ve also become more aware and educated about our ocean, and the growing challenges it faces. I’m so happy to have found my way to Keepers, and am thrilled when my little girl asks when the next beach clean-up is. Our whole family has become more invested in our beaches and community, and we’re grateful for that. I was asked to be Keepers’ Outreach Coordinator in June of 2011, and accepted the challenge with great pride. I look forward to what the future holds for this local non-profit, and expect big things!
My favorite beach would probably have to be Solana Beach in California. I worked a block from this beach when I lived in San Diego, and would go there almost every day at lunch….the cliffs are beautiful and so different than the beaches that I’m used to here in Florida. I don’t surf, much to my husband’s dismay, but hope to have the confidence to learn someday…
