About

Jude Smith

Jude Smith is a full time resident of Palm Island, a board member of the Bocilla Islands Conservancy, and the developer of Gopher Tortoise Watch. She has dedicated her conservation work to protecting the wildlife, natural lands, shorelines, and waters that define Southwest Florida’s barrier islands. Her connection to the area began in 1992, when her family started vacationing on Boca Grande. She later built her home on Don Pedro Island in 2021 and made Palm Island her permanent home.

A lifelong passion for the outdoors has shaped both Jude’s professional life and her approach to conservation. Living within a barrier island ecosystem has given that passion a particular purpose. Her work is centered on protecting remaining natural green space, expanding wildlife habitat, strengthening shoreline resilience, supporting clean water, and helping ensure that the ecological character of the islands endures alongside the communities that call them home.

Jude is a Certified Florida Master Naturalist through the University of Florida. Her additional training through UF/IFAS includes Living Shoreline Restoration and Habitat Evaluation and Monitoring, strengthening her knowledge of coastal and upland ecosystems, habitat restoration, shoreline resilience, and the native species that depend upon them. That training provides a scientific foundation for conservation work firmly rooted in the landscape where she lives.

As a board member of the Bocilla Islands Conservancy, Jude puts that knowledge into practice through community based conservation. She leads and supports initiatives focused on wildlife habitat, conservation lands, shoreline restoration, clean water, environmental education, and stewardship.

Jude co leads the Conservancy’s Clean Islands program, organizing island wide, restoration focused cleanups that address debris and storm impacts on conservation lands and shorelines. The work extends beyond traditional cleanup efforts by concentrating volunteer activity where it can contribute to habitat recovery and the long term ecological health of the islands.

Her work also includes hands on shoreline conservation. Jude oversees the Vertical Oyster Garden program and mangrove restoration initiatives in partnership with the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center. She works with residents to grow and adopt mangrove propagules as part of restoration efforts that support shoreline stabilization, habitat recovery, and greater resilience following hurricanes and other coastal impacts.

Jude also co leads the Island Living Lecture Series, bringing scientists, naturalists, conservation professionals, and other experts into the community to share their knowledge of Southwest Florida’s environment. The program reflects an important part of her philosophy: lasting conservation depends upon giving people both the knowledge and the opportunity to become informed stewards of the places where they live.

Before conservation became an increasingly central focus of her work, Jude built a career spanning more than 25 years in technology, product development, business development, and entrepreneurship, including leadership roles with early stage Silicon Valley companies. She served in senior product development and business development positions, working with multidisciplinary teams to develop ideas, build organizations, and bring new initiatives from concept to execution.

Her connection to outdoor education also has deep roots. Jude founded AdventureOut, an outdoor education company that was acquired in 2002, bringing together two interests that continue to shape her work today: the natural world and the ability to engage people directly with it.

Today, Jude applies her experience in leadership, technology, communications, and program development to advancing conservation. She leads the Bocilla Islands Conservancy’s website design and digital communications and is co founder of LaunchSnap, a digital platform focused on web development and online business growth. She is also a recipient of the Patterson Scholarship for the Fundraising for Small Nonprofits Course, supporting her continued development in building sustainable resources for mission driven organizations.

Gopher Tortoise Watch, developed and operated by Conservancy Watch, LLC, brings these different parts of Jude’s experience together. Drawing on her background in technology, conservation, and community stewardship, Jude developed the platform to give residents a practical way to participate in understanding and protecting one of Florida’s most important native species.

For Jude, the gopher tortoise represents something larger than a single species. Its presence is closely connected to the health and continuity of Florida’s upland habitats and to the many other native species that share those ecosystems. Protecting gopher tortoises therefore begins with understanding and protecting the landscapes upon which they depend.

Through Gopher Tortoise Watch, Jude seeks to help people recognize gopher tortoises and their habitat, observe them responsibly, deepen their understanding of the ecosystems around them, and become active participants in protecting those places. The project also reflects her belief that thoughtfully designed technology can connect people more closely to the natural world and help transform observation into meaningful stewardship.

At the heart of Jude’s work is a simple conviction: when people understand the natural world around them, they are more likely to value it, care for it, and become partners in its protection.