CHARLES FOSTER CONSERVATION FUND
Audubon of Southwest Florida is pleased to support bird research and education through its Charles Foster Conservation Fund, which directly supports Florida Gulf Coast University’s Southwest Florida Eagle Cam Foundation.
The Foundation’s qualified candidates major in biology and conduct bird research or actively participate in bird conservation, habitat restoration, or rehabilitation projects. A faculty designee specializing in Ornithology helps to select the recipients of this award which provides financial support for their continued education at Florida Gulf Coast University. Alternatively, or secondarily, qualified candidates may be enrolled in the Environmental Sciences or Environmental Studies degree programs.
When he died in 2005 at the age of 91, Charles Edgar Foster was remembered as someone who taught locals about the land and water of their home ground. Known as “the Caloosahatchee River Rat,” he was a member of the pioneer Hendry and Blount families, and his roots and passions ran deep in the region defined by the river that gave him his nickname.
After serving in World War II and completing a master’s degree at Columbia University, he taught in the Lee County schools. Upon retiring in 1975, he devoted himself to prodigious volunteer work, notably the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium and the Alva Museum, which he helped to found. He wrote The Benevolent Dane, a biography of Capt. Peter Nelson, founder of Alva, Florida, and one of Lee County’s first commissioners. He co-founded the Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association (known as RiverWatch and now as Calusa Waterkeepers) with Rae Ann Wessel, and delighted in leading river outings.
In 1991, Audubon of Southwest Florida established the Charles Foster Conservation Fund, to support educational opportunities that promote conservation.
Donations to the Fund are invested in perpetuity, and the interest generated from the principal is used to fund the chapter’s conservation and educational goals.