2022 Influential Woman in Wildlife Award – Maria Zondervan

Maria Zondervan is not only a dear mentor and friend in my life but is also a beloved mentor to so many in the wildlife and conservation profession throughout the state of Florida and beyond.  In her more than 25 year career as a dedicated biologist and conservation land manager her accomplishments abound and I will highlight just a few.  Just in the last 5 years, Maria has bossed and participated in the application of prescribed fire on over 30,000 acres, which has direct benefit to all fire dependent species.  Maria has been instrumental in the restoration of Lake Apopka, a daunting undertaking, directly supervising more than 40 individual restoration projects which have ultimately resulted in the conversion of former muck farms into areas teeming with wildlife.  In fact, 356 native bird species have been documented on the property.  Maria oversees the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive which welcomes about 150,000 visitors a year.  This has become the go to destination in Central Florida for diverse wildfire encounters and is especially appreciated by differently abled body people as one of the few ways they can truly get out and see wildlife.  Maria manages 19 Red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) clusters at Hal Scott Regional Preserve as well as several Florida scrub-jay families at Lake Monroe and Buck Lake Conservation Area.  She has become one of the most respected people in the RCW community and is not only a permitted bird bander but committed to sharing her expertise and knowledge of the species and became a certified trainer.  She has trained dozens of other RCW biologists to successfully install artificial nest boxes, band nestlings and adults, and safely capture, transport, and translocate RCW's throughout the species range.  If any of us need to know how to do something, chances are, Maria has made an educational "how to” video, PowerPoint, or guide to standardize procedures, increase safety, and keep the guesswork to a minimum.  She has innovated new designs for capture nets and translocation transport boxes, and despite many challenges, has singlehandedly fought a very uphill battle to augment the current banding procedures to greatly decrease accidental injury/death.  Maria is truly a Jill of all trades and a master of them all.  For these reasons, and many more, she is not only an influential woman in wildlife, she is the most influential person in wildlife in the state of Florida and I'm elated to recommend her for recognition. 

Maria has done all the above with a smile on her face and a practical joke in her back pocket.  She is not only deeply respected and honored for her intelligence, tenacity, integrity, dedication, compassion, care, and hard work, but also as fun and hilarious person who brings joy, humor, and levity to life.