How we got our start
I.CARE Co-Founders Dr. Kylie Smith and Michael Goldberg first met during the summer of 2017. Kylie reached out to the Key Dives owner to be the support shop for the research she was conducting for her graduate work at Clemson University. Each time she came into the dive shop, Mike would launch into a discussion about what he was seeing on the reefs to gain a scientific understanding behind his observations. As time went on, these discussions moved from the dive shop between tank fills to over a beer at the local beer garden at The Florida Keys Brewing Company This is where the idea of I.CARE was born in December 2018.
Kylie and the Key Dives crew met for a beer after the local Reef Futures conference to catch up. True to Mike Goldberg fashion, he was full of questions about what information was presented at the conference. Kylie was excited to learn more about the conservation efforts ramping up at Key Dives, specifically the marine debris clean-up dives. It didn’t take long for the two to put together the idea for I.CARE; combining the science, technology, and best practices for successful coral restoration with the passion for marine conservation that only recreational divers have! Mike and Kylie started reaching out to contacts with Mote Marine Lab, permitting agencies (the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the FWC), and other Islamorada dive shops and all were in full support! In January 2021, I.CARE officially transplanted their first corals to Alligator Reef!
Learn more about Kylie, Mike, and the rest of our steering committee below! If you would like more information about our work, please contact us at info@icareaboutcoral.org
Steering Committee
President – Michael Goldberg
Michael Goldberg has been a professional scuba diver for over 25 years and avid diver for over 30 years. After a 12-year career in finance and an 8 year stint learning the scuba industry in the British Virgin Islands, Mike and his wife moved to Islamorada from Virgin Gorda and started Key Dives in 2004. With over 10,000 dives he has seen just about everything – from diving with humpback whales to the tiniest of nudibranchs to reefs with close to 100% coral coverage. Sadly, he has also witnessed the loss of over 95% of our corals. This devastating loss has inspired Mike to create an avenue for recreational divers and the local Keys community to help rebuild our ailing reef.
Vice President – Dr. Kylie Smith
Dr. Smith has been studying the factors influencing coral transplant survival and reef fish behavior in the Florida Keys since 2012. Specifically, she studied the impacts of consecutive bleaching events, Hurricane Irma, and disease on coral transplants during her graduate work at Clemson University. Dr. Smith maintains partnerships with Mote Marine Lab, Keys Marine Lab, FWC, the Coral Restoration Foundation, Clemson University, Jacksonville University, Florida International University and other organizations to maximize the survival of both coral and herbivore transplants to restore ecological health to these reefs.
Treasurer - Shelly Laughlin
Shelly Laughlin is honored to be a member of the I.CARE board of directors, supporting the organization’s mission to restore and maintain the Islamorada reef community both above and below the water.
Born in Cleveland Ohio, Shelly has a B.S. in Chemical engineering from The Ohio State University, and MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a Masters of Accounting from Nova Southeastern University. She is currently a Florida resident and a Florida licensed CPA practicing public accounting with a focus on tax and advisory services.
From her base in Islamorada, Shelly actively enjoys water activities including recreational diving, paddle boarding and open-water swimming. She is focused on maintaining the ocean for the creatures as well as future generations through her dry-land work with I.CARE as well as participating in coral planting and reef and shore clean ups sponsored by Key Dives and NOAA. Shelly is also a member of REEF, recording citizen science fish surveys.
Secretary – Admiral Kurt Tidd
Admiral Kurt Tidd retired after a forty-year Navy career, settling in the Florida Keys and pursuing new interests and adventures.
He is the son of a destroyerman, brown water sailor, and career Surface Warfare Officer Vice Admiral Emmett H. Tidd and Margaret P. “Muggs” Tidd, both proud Texans of the Greatest Generation; brother of the 25th Naval Chief of Chaplains, Rear Admiral Mark L. Tidd, CHC, USN (Ret.); husband of career military physician Eileen S. Tidd, MD, MPH, FACP; and proud father of two strong and talented daughters. He is a 1974 graduate of Porter Gaud School in Charleston, South Carolina, a 1978 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and has a Masters in political science from the University of Bordeaux, as a 1984 Olmsted Foundation Scholar.
Admiral Kurt Tidd served with the talented and professional women and men of all branches of the Armed Forces, the Foreign Service, Federal Law Enforcement officers, and the Intelligence Community. He commanded the destroyer USS ARTHUR W. RADFORD (DD 968), Maritime Task Force 55 and Destroyer Squadron 50, EISENHOWER Carrier Strike Group/CSG EIGHT, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet, and military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean as the Geographic Combatant Commander of U.S. Southern Command. He served in a variety of Navy, joint, and interagency staffs, including for the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Joint Staff, and the National Security Council.
Currently Admiral Tidd supports a variety of benevolent organizations and interests. He is the Chairman of the Board at the Olmsted Foundation, a private non-profit organization that provides two years of postgraduate studies at foreign universities in a foreign language for a select number of future military leaders. He is also a Senior Fellow at National Defense University’s CAPSTONE/ KEYSTONE /PINNACLE program, mentoring Flag and General Officers and Senior Enlisted Leaders. Admiral Tidd is an active member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Upper Keys Flotilla. He recently joined the Board of Directors of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and is a member of the Board of the Islamorada Conservation and Restoration Education (I.CARE) foundation, dedicated to restoring Florida Keys’ iconic coral reefs. Admiral Tidd preserves adequate time to support worthwhile local causes, including Key Dives of Islamorada’s Reef Clean Up activities. He indulges passions including underwater photography, and as a professional recreational scuba diving instructor with Scuba Schools International (SSI).
Board Member – Andrew Mitchell
Andrew grew up around the ocean. It has always been a focus of his life and education. Back home, in Boston, where he spent the first part of his life, the cold, dark North Atlantic waters held wonders for him! After moving to Seattle to study Biological Oceanography at the University of Washington, the cold, dark waters of the Pacific held the same wonders. He spent as much time there as he could. The oceans of the world remain a focus and passion within his life. Being a board member for I.CARE allows him to continue his connection to the ocean and remain actively involved in conservation, preservation, and restoration. I.CARE is fully engaged in protecting and restoring the ocean on the front lines where it matters most! Every day Andrew feels honored to be a part of I.CARE and contributing to the ongoing fight to save the ocean!
All I.CARE activities are permitted by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission