The Randell Research Center (RRC) is a program of the Florida Museum of Natural History, which has conducted research and education programs in Southwest Florida for more than 20 years. The RRC has existed since 1994 when Donald and Patricia Randell gifted 53 +/- acres of the 200-acre, Pineland archaeological site to the University of Florida Foundation.

The Florida Museum of Natural History is located on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. It was chartered in 1917 as the state's official natural history museum and is fully accredited by the American Association of Museums. With more than 28 million specimens and artifacts in its permanent collections, the Florida Museum is the largest collections-based natural history museum in the southeastern United States. These collections are the foundation of the Museum's scientific research and university teaching programs. The Museum also draws heavily upon its collections in meeting its public education mission through permanent and traveling exhibits as well as outreach programs, including the Randell Research Center, designed to inspire and educate the public about Florida's natural history and rich cultural heritage.

Mission Statement
The Archaeology of Pineland
Significance
A Foundation to Build On
Scope
A Commitment to Education
Randell Research Center Staff
Randell Research Center Advisory Board
Acknowledgments

Mission
The Mission of the RRC is to establish and maintain, at the internationally significant Pineland archaeological and historical site, a permanent facility dedicated to learning and teaching the archaeology, history, and ecology of Southwest Florida.

The Archaeology of Pineland
The Pineland site complex is located in coastal Lee County, northwest of Fort Myers. The site was a Calusa Indian village for over 1,500 years. Enormous shell mounds still overlook the waters of Pine Island Sound. The remains of many centuries of Indian village life blanket the pastures and citrus groves. Remnants of an ancient canal that reached across Pine Island sweep through the complex. Sand burial mounds stand in the woods. Historic structures representing Florida's early pioneer history also still exist at Pineland. Native plants and animals characteristic of coastal hammocks, pinelands, wetlands, and shell mounds are in abundance. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and as a designated County Historical Resource.

Significance
Pineland is important to archaeology and ecology for several reasons. First, its waterlogged deposits preserve artifacts not found in dry sites, including ancient botanical remains found nowhere else in North America. The remains of many centuries of Calusa daily life reveal a fascinating, complex world that existed before the arrival of Europeans. Second, Pineland provides a key to understanding larger, global issues. Its accumulated deposits record sea-level fluctuations and even climate changes of interest to scientists all over the world who study the earth's environmental history. Third, it has proven to be an ideal location for teaching students and the general public about Florida's environment and history.

A Foundation to Build On
The Florida Museum of Natural History undertook archaeological and ecological field research at Pineland in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. The results of these studies have been published in both professional and lay-public forms and the detailed analysis are being compiled into a monograph being jointly edited by Drs. Karen Walker and William Marquardt.

Scope
The RRC is more than just the Pineland site. It is a coordinated research, education, and publication effort that involves and serves southwest Florida at a broader scale.

• In the Gainesville office, Dr. William Marquardt directs the RRC's programs and assumes overall responsibility for its performance. His Florida Museum faculty colleague, Dr. Karen Walker, who was research director during the intensive excavations at Pineland in the 1990s, edits RRC publications and directs her own program of research in the Everglades. Both Dr. Marquardt and Dr. Walker teach and serve on graduate student committees. The research in southwest Florida has resulted in two Ph.D. dissertations and six M.A. theses under Dr. Marquardt's supervision.
• An Advisory Board consisting of professionals and community leaders offers advice, helps raise funds, and assists in the operation of RRC programs though several active committees.
• At Pineland, Linda Heffner serves as our program assistant, Mark Chargois as our maintenance specialist, and Michael Wylde as our store and lab manager. Through the Calusa Heritage Trail, the Pineland site is open daily to the public, and in addition there are weekly tours for the public, as well as special tours for schools and many other groups of all ages. Archaeological field schools for university students were conducted at Pineland in 2000 and 2001 in cooperation with Florida Gulf Coast University, and former Assistant Director John Worth directed new excavations and followup fieldwork between 2003 and 2007 with staff and volunteer help.
• The RRC is actively involved with numerous institutions of learning, nature centers, museums, and eco-tourism professionals. For example, the RRC has a field research station in the Barbara Sumwalt Museum on Useppa Island; Gaea Guides, Wildside Adventures, and Calusa Ghost Tours have provided tours that benefit the RRC; RRC staff worked with the town of Fort Myers Beach to help develop its Cultural and Environmental Learning Center; the RRC is also a member of the Trail of Florida's Indian Heritage, a heritage tourism consortium for west coastal Florida.

A Commitment to Education
The motto of the Randell Research Center is "As We Learn, We Teach." The RRC is committed to education at the broadest level, from elementary school children to University of Florida graduate students, from hands-on educational opportunities for local citizens to the Internet. During excavations at the Pineland site in 1990 and 1992, an ambitious complementary education program provided teacher training, classroom exercises, and hands-on environmental educational opportunities for over 5,000 school children and 600 teachers. Some of the children were from underprivileged backgrounds. We were astonished to learn that many of them had never seen the coast, in spite of living in a coastal county. For many - including a number of middle-class children - our archaeological walking tour was also their first close look at a woodpecker, a strangler-fig tree, or a fishing net.

Learning about one's surroundings and history is not just for children - the excitement extends to adults of all ages. Many newcomers are fascinated by Florida's environment and history and are eager to learn about them. Thus, the RRC at Pineland has become a destination for "eco-tourists" and "heritage tourists," offering exciting programs for the visitor who stays just a few days as well as meaningful activities (such as environmental monitoring and supervised archaeological excavations) for the longer-term visitor or part-year resident.

RRC Staff

• Bill Marquardt, RRC Director and Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History
• Karen Walker, Assistant Scientist and Collection Manager
• Mark Chargois, Maintenance Specialist
• Linda Heffner, Program Assistant
• Michael Wylde, Store and Laboratory Manager

RRC Research Associates

• Ann Cordell, Florida Museum of Natural History
• Elise LeCompte, Florida Museum of Natural History
• George Luer, Department of Environmental Protection
• Darcie MacMahon, Florida Museum of Natural History
• Lee Newsom, Pennsylvania State University, Dept. of Anthropology
• Donna Ruhl, Florida Museum of Natural History
• Irv Quitmyer, Florida Museum of Natural History
• Karen Walker, Florida Museum of Natural History
• Dick Workman, Coastplan, Inc.

RRC Advisory Board

• Virginia (Ginny) Amsler, Useppa Island, Florida
• Cindy Bear, Lee County Environmental Education
• Stuart Brown, Chaos Productions
• John Cauthen, Forestry Resources
• Ernie Estevez, Mote Marine Laboratories
• Bill Hammond, Florida Gulf Coast University
• Susan Johnson, Broadway Palm Dinner Theater
• Rick Joyce, Babcock Ranch
• Tim Keene, Keene Engineering, Inc.
• Carole Kircher, Bokeelia
• George Luer, Department of Environmental Protection
• Elaine McLaughlin, McLaughlin Tourism Management
• Paul and Warren Miller, Useppa Island, Florida
• Jeff Mudgett, Parker-Mudgett-Smith, Architects
• Lee Newsom, Pennsylvania State University
• Vernon Peeples, Punta Gorda, Florida
• Nick Penniman, Naples, Florida
• Debbie Randell, N. Fort Myers
• Bob Repenning, Lee County Parks and Recreation
• Steve Tutko, Fort Myers, Florida
• Randy Wayne White, Pineland, Florida
• Amy Bennett Williams, Fort Myers News-Press
• Dick Workman, Coastplan, Inc.

Acknowledgments

Redesign of this web site was funded by a grant from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation's Arts and Attractions Committee.

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