Volunteer Russell Rothfeld Makes a Difference
Volunteer Russell Rothfeld freely admits he is a big fan of marine biologists. “Marine biologist was what I wanted to do growing up, but the opportunity wasn’t there,” says Russell. “As a volunteer for Florida Oceanographic Society (FOS), I get to do marine conservation work, and be around people who are passionate about what they do – I love it! I feel like I’m making a difference.”
As a teen, the Florida native discovered he had a talent for repairing cars, and he enjoyed a long career as a certified master technician. He also had a franchise with Mac tools for 15 years.
“I’m not afraid to take things apart to see what’s broken,” notes Russell. “Often I can see the solution for the repair even if I’m not that familiar with all of the parts. If I understand how something works, then I can fix it.”
Now that he’s retired, Russell is putting his engineering skills to work for FOS, helping to maintain research equipment and handling fix-it tasks around the Coastal Center. He is a regular with beach and adopt-a-highway cleanups, oyster bagging for the FLOOR (Florida Oceanographic Oyster Restoration) program, and seagrass surveys. Over the last three years, he has given about 100 hours of service.
Russell and his wife Claire have extensive gardens at their home, from butterfly gardens and ponds to vegetable plots and a small fruit orchard. They enjoy growing plants native to southeastern Florida to attract the local wildlife. Russell also has a passion for raising orchids – at last count, he has 250 plants. “We have a wide variety of fruit-bearing trees, and we like to can and bottle the fruits,” says Russell. “We weren’t sure what to do with our abundance of starfruit, so we turned it into about five gallons of starfruit wine. It’s not bad!”
Russell Rothfeld Snapshot
Born in: Dade County
Family: wife Claire, son Justin, daughters Jamie & Gail
Free time: Raising orchids, gardening, snorkeling
Good eats: Dune Dog Café
Music favs: Jimmy Buffet, The Eagles, Queen
