Robert with wounded warrior and his big catch.
Robert and Sharon Snider started working together in Austin, TX at the IBM Campus. Sharon continues to work for IBM Research from her home office in Seadrift, TX as an accessibility software engineer working with teams across IBM to develop accessible applications that everyone can use, including the aging population and persons with special needs.
Robert retired from IBM in November of 2017 to Seadrift and is a U.S. Coast Guard licensed master captain and President of Spirit-Bay Empowering Adventures, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides people with special needs the opportunity to enjoy outdoor adventures, such as educational wildlife tours, guided fishing trips, and hunting trips, free of charge. Rob also has been involved in the Wounded Warriors program, taking wounded veterans out fishing in his boat.
In their spare time, Sharon and Robert both love to fish, photograph wildlife, and go camping. They learned about the Texas Master Naturalist program while searching for information on the internet for native and edible plants a couple of years ago. They found the Mid-Coast Texas Master Naturalist website online and decided to join last year. Sharon says, “We really enjoyed the initial training for the program and its wealth of information, as well as the abundance of volunteer opportunities the program offers. “
The Mid-Coast Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist is currently recruiting for their 2019 class. The Mid-Coast Chapter covers 8 counties, including Calhoun County. Each year up to 16 people receive 40 hours of training from the 50-60 hours offered about two Saturdays per month between the months of February through May. Trainees go on several boat trips and many field trips to places not generally open to the public to learn about everything from birds, to native plants, archaeology, marine life, trees, estuaries, and our local ecosystems. After training, members volunteer on nature projects 40 hours and receive at least 8 hours of additional advanced education each year. For more information on becoming a Texas Master Naturalist, go to the website at www.MidCoast-TMN.org. Click on “Want to Join” for more information and
to fill out an application.
