Marine Discovery Center volunteer Bob Pollard is that quiet guy you might see in the center’s Learning Lab peering through a microscope and jotting down observations as a community scientist for Project Plankton.
Or you may find him cleaning seagrass tanks, performing monitoring duties at MDC’s newly restored living shoreline, landscaping on MDC’s campus and participating in Shuck & Share activities.
Get to know Bob in his conversation with MDC’s staff writer Lisa D. Mickey:
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in upstate New York in the Finger Lakes area and went to Clarkson University near Montreal. I earned a degree in mechanical engineering and moved to Orlando in 1981, so my working career has pretty much been in Florida.
What did you do in your career?
I worked for FLIR Systems (Forward Looking Infrared) and we built cameras that went on helicopters for use as surveillance cameras.
What stands out in your career that you can share?
A lot of what I did was sensitive [top secret]. I started out with Martin Marietta and worked with U.S. Army helicopters and from there, I went to FLIR Systems and kind of did the same thing. We made surveillance systems for the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Marine Corps. We made cameras that they could move around and use to search. The Coast Guard uses it when they are looking for people in the water. We also did some targeting systems for guided munitions.
When did you move to New Smyrna Beach?
My wife [Janet Tinoco] and I bought our house in New Smyrna Beach in 2014, but we continued to live in Orlando — moving here in 2015. We’re both engineers. She went back and got her Ph.D. in business and worked at Embry-Riddle University. She was commuting from Orlando to Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach every day for seven years. So, after we bought a house in New Smyrna, then I commuted to Orlando for about seven years. We both retired a couple of years ago.
How did you get involved with MDC?
I’ve always been an outdoors person and I was an assistant Boy Scout leader in Orlando. We live right on the lagoon here in New Smyrna Beach. If you live in New Smyrna and you’re interested in the lagoon, you figure out pretty soon that the Marine Discovery Center is the place to volunteer.
What was the first activity that attracted you as a volunteer?
I started out with the Shuck & Share program in 2017, so I came over every first Saturday of the month to help out. We would make oyster bags in the morning and go out for lunch at Merk’s as a group. I was still working, so I couldn’t do much volunteering Monday through Friday. I continued on with that for several years, transitioning with the program from the mesh bags to the metal cages [gabions] to the current oyster volcanos.
Did you help with shoreline restoration deployments?
I helped once, but most of those deployments were not done on weekends. The one I helped with was down in Melbourne, supporting Brevard Zoo.
What other volunteer things have you done at MDC?
Right now, I’m helping with Project Plankton. It’s a grant to monitor how much plankton is in the lagoon. We hope to learn if there is a correlation between plankton and harmful algal blooms, as well as the type of plankton present. It’s about correlating plankton with the overall health of the lagoon. I do that once a week. I get a water sample at the MDC boat dock, put it in the refrigerator and take out the bottle that was collected yesterday and look at it under the microscope in MDC’s lab, identifying all of the different plankton.
I would guess most of your career work was not microscopic?
We had to do some cleaning of optics underneath microscopes, so I’m pretty familiar with using microscopes. It’s not unchartered territory.
Aren’t you also involved with our seagrass program at MDC?
Yes, MDC is just starting a program [on the back campus] with tanks and seagrass. It’s a new program. I think the goal is to get more seagrass started in those tanks here at MDC that can later be transplanted into the lagoon. We all know that seagrass loss is an issue. I help clean the tanks, monitor the grass and get rid of things that shouldn’t be on the grass because those grass blades are still pretty delicate.
Aren’t baby clams also in those tanks?
There are some clams back there, but another organization is involved with that project, so I don’t do anything with the clams.
What other volunteer opportunities have interested you here?
I did volunteer as a dolphin spotter in that program for a while, and I helped with the new shoreline restoration on the west side of MDC’s campus. I volunteered for all of the dates to help put in the plants and distribute the mulch. I’ve also done regular landscaping days here and when MDC used to hold its Lagoonacy festival, I volunteered to help support that event.
What do you enjoy most about being involved at MDC?
I like MDC’s mission and I like the people. I’ve met people who share the same environmentally conscious mindset as me. It’s a lot of fun.
What have you learned volunteering here?
At MDC, it’s more about the biological side of science, as opposed to the engineering side. Having taken the Florida Master Naturalist Program’s Coastal Systems class last year, I learned a great deal there and I talk about that class to any new volunteers I meet. I learned so much about many different things. I had always heard that the Indian River Lagoon is the most biologically diverse estuary in North America, but I never really understood why. I learned that the southern part of the lagoon is more subtropical and here in the northern end, it’s more temperate. That’s why there’s so much diversity here when compared to places like the Chesapeake Bay.
Has living in New Smyrna Beach changed you in any way?
It’s given me more of an appreciation of the Indian River Lagoon and the challenges we have. We know we have water and flooding issues in Florida. We all want clean water. It helps to inform you when you see it this close.
Do you try to encourage others to get involved with the environment in some way?
It’s all about volunteering and there are opportunities here to get involved. I tell them to take the Coastal Systems class. I’d also like to take some of the other Florida Master Naturalist Program classes in the future.
What stands out as a highlight for you here at MDC?
I like the people at MDC and I’ve learned a lot. The Shuck & Share program was a really cool thing with a lot of us old codgers who were MDC volunteers mingling with young biology students from the University of Central Florida. It was a fun mix. We would have our “Oyster Olympics” against the young kids to see who could make the most oyster bags the fastest and we usually won. I still have my shell award and I use it as a Christmas ornament. I’ve enjoyed volunteering with a real community in the Shuck & Share program.
Do you have any other hobbies?
I like to run, but I’m no Jim Musante [another MDC volunteer who has run countless marathons]. I take my dog to the “dog beach” [Smyrna Dunes Park] and I always try to leave the beach cleaner than I found it, picking up trash along the way.
Is there still something here at MDC that you want to do?
I would like to do some more deployments in the Shuck & Share program. I’m looking for those opportunities and when the new seagrass and clam restoration program really gets going, I hope to become more involved with that. It’s nice to be here on the ground floor and help it get started. If we get to watch the seagrass grow in our tanks and maybe the next year, we get to kayak over it somewhere in the lagoon where it can flourish, that will feel really good.
There are a lot of new projects at MDC with pipes and water being moved around. How does it feel to see that happening?
It’s pretty cool to see the start of new things and to be able to watch what will happen here in the future. I appreciate everything that MDC does and I love being a part of it.
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