David O'Brien
SurvTech Solutions
David O'Brien is a co-founder and president of SurvTech Solutions, Inc. and has over twenty-six (26) years of experience in the surveying and mapping profession. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Surveying Engineering from the University of Maine. Mr. O’Brien is a licensed surveyor and mapper in ten (10) states, and a Certified Federal Surveyor. As the founder of SurvTech Solutions, he has overseen the continued expansion of SurvTech in the geospatial industry.
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SurvTech Solutions
Ed Weinberg
ESSRE Consulting
Mr. Weinberg has more than 45 years of experience in the environmental and remediation fields, which includes water/wastewater treatment, groundwater remediation, remedial cleanup of hazardous wastes, air pollution abatement, pollutant nutrient removal and recovery, and waste to energy projects.
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ESSRE Consulting
Savannah Berger
Florida Gulf Coast University
Savannah Berger is a senior at Florida Gulf Coast University working on her Bachelor of Arts in biology and minor in chemistry. She has experience working as a lab assistant at the university. Currently, she is an intern for Lee County Hyacinth Control District and developed a project on the toxicity of copper based herbicides on the exotic invasive apple snail, Pomacea maculata. She has also done research at Gerace Research Center in San Salvador, Bahamas after the destruction of hurricane Joaquin in 2015. Savannah is originally from Michigan and moved to SWFL in 2003. Being surrounded by nature her whole life has sparked an interest in environmental concerns fueling her desire to continue her education.
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Florida Gulf Coast University
Dan Schmutz
Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.
Dan Schmutz is a Vice President and Chief Environmental Scientist for Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. (GPI), a 1,200-person multidisciplinary consulting firm. He holds a Master’s degree in Zoology from the University of South Florida. He has over 20 years of professional experience focused on the development and application of ecological and hydrological field assessments, GIS analyses, and appropriate statistical techniques for addressing questions of interest to water supply managers.
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Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.
Eric Sager is a licensed professional geologist in Florida with more than 20 years of experience in the environmental industry. His practice includes site investigations, conceptual site model development, feasibility studies, remedial designs and implementation, and long-term monitoring for sites contaminated by volatile organic compounds, petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, herbicides, metals, PFAS, and other constituents of concern in various media. He is currently working on some of the largest PFAS sites identified in Florida, including fire training facilities.
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Geosyntec
Dianne Hughes
Martin County
Dianne Hughes has over 30 years of environmental professional experience, including 20 years working with the Total Maximum Daily Load program and the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. She has extensive experience in coordinating with a variety of stakeholder groups and agencies toward achieving positive outcomes in ecosystem restoration. She has a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Marine Science and Biology from the University of Tampa. She is currently with Martin County's Ecosystem Restoration & Management Division working as the NPDES MS4 permit and water quality manager for the County. Prior to joining Martin County in 2012 she worked for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for 17 years, and was with Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission for 7 years. Throughout her career, Ms. Hughes has successfully managed projects and teams associated with major restoration efforts including the Northern Everglades, St. Lucie River and Estuary, Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee, and the Loxahatchee River. She has served as a water quality/water policy liaison at the local FDEP office to the FDEP office in Tallahassee, and has extensive knowledge of water quality programs that impact local governments, including numeric nutrient criteria.
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Martin County
Leesa Souto Ph.D.
Marine Resources Council
Dr. Leesa Souto is the Executive Director for the Marine Resources Council and adjunct faculty at Florida Institute of Technology. She grew up in S. Florida and after completing her bachelor’s degree in Biology at Florida State, she moved to Brevard County to help protect and preserve the natural beauty of the area. She received a Doctorate from University of Central Florida with expertise in urban ecology that links human geography, structures and behaviors to water quality impacts. Her research focuses on human impacts to coastal waters, groundwater contamination, residential fertilizer pollution, and alternative landscapes. Her professional career spans over twenty years of working to improve Florida’s water quality at Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Brevard County Natural Resources Management Office, and more recently with UCF’s Stormwater Management Academy. She loves the water and exploring new ecosystems in Florida and around the world.
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Marine Resources Council
Virginia Baker
Brevard County
Virginia Barker completed undergraduate degrees in Science and Math at Duke University and returned to Duke after 5 years of professional work to pursue a Masters in Coastal Environmental Management. Her thesis was in Resource Economics. She has worked in Sri Lanka for US AID, as a research diver for the Florida Department of Natural Resources, and in marine and environmental management positions for Monroe County and Brevard County. Ms. Barker currently serves as the Director of Brevard County’s Natural Resources Management Department. During her 20+ years with the County, she has been responsible for beach management, the stormwater utility program, mosquito control, Indian River Lagoon efforts and numerous other environmental initiatives and programs. In 2016, Virginia spearheaded development of the science-based Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan and establishment of a Citizen Oversight Committee. The Project Plan and Oversight Committee guide how a new ½ cent sales tax that was approved by Brevard voters will fund nearly $500 million of pollution elimination efforts to restore healthy conditions to the Indian River Lagoon. Implementation of the 10-year Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan began in 2017.
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Brevard County
Jim Moir
Rivers Coalition
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Rivers Coalition
Anthony Gubler
Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program
Anthony Gubler leads the wastewater programs for the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan. His current projects include major septic-to-sewer conversions, septic tank upgrades, groundwater monitoring, and septic mapping. Anthony completed his undergraduate degree in Oceanography at Florida Institute of Technology and a Masters in Coastal Environmental Management from Duke. Previously, Anthony worked with the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Florida Department of Agriculture before accepting his current position as Environmental Specialist with the Brevard County Natural Resources Department. His hobbies include surfing, fishing, and gardening.
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Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program
Roxanne Groover
Florida Onsite Wastewater Association
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Florida Onsite Wastewater Association
Walker Dawson
Brevard County
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Brevard County
Joanie Regan
City of Cocoa Beach
Joanie has managed Cocoa Beach’s Stormwater Utility, putting stormwater projects in the ground for over 20 years. She promotes green infrastructure and LID into urban redevelopment, and incorporates these techniques into both water quality and flooding projects throughout the City. Joanie has been involved in FL Stormwater Association leadership since its inception and community environmental organizations along the Indian River Lagoon.
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City of Cocoa Beach
Danielle Huffner
Applied Ecology
Danielle Huffner is an environmental scientist at Applied Ecology, Inc. She has been working under Dr. Claudia Listopad since 2016, and her main areas of focus include database design and management, water resources and ecological analysis, and geospatial applications. Previously she worked as a research associate at Florida Institute Technology focusing on the expansion of a modern pollen morphology database. Danielle earned her BS in Conservation Biology and Ecology at the Florida Institute of Technology in 2014, and her MS in Conservation Technology in 2016. Danielle’s hobbies include soccer, crafting, and volunteering to help injured and orphaned wildlife with Wild Florida Rescue of Brevard County!
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Applied Ecology
Josh Papacek Ph.D.
University of Florida
Josh Papacek graduated with a PhD in Soil and Water Sciences from the University of Florida in 2018. His dissertation research focused on bottom-up controls of algal blooms in the Indian River Lagoon and links between water quality and the internal biogeochemistry of the lagoon. Josh is currently a coordinator for a higher education union in Miami, Florida and still participates in coastal resiliency science and outreach projects in his spare time.
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University of Florida
Margaret A. Lasi Ph.D.
St. Johns River Water Management District
Margie Lasi is an environmental scientist with the St. Johns River Water Management District since 1994. In 2002 she joined the estuaries group to oversee and manage water quality data collection, analysis and reporting efforts in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), maintaining long-lasting, collaborative multi-agency networks for monitoring and investigating water quality, atmospheric deposition, and phytoplankton in the lagoon. She has contributed to the development of water quality targets, numeric nutrient criteria and total maximum daily loads for the IRL, and continually strives to better understand the relationships between water quality, algal blooms and light. Margie earned her “Licenciate” degree in Biology (1984) from the Simón Bolívar University (Caracas, Venezuela) and her Ph.D. in Biology/Limnology (1993) from the University of Colorado, Boulder
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St. Johns River Water Management District
Lori J. Morris
St. Johns River Water Management District
Lori Morris is an environmental scientist at the St. Johns River Water Management District and has 27 years of experience involving the monitoring and restoration of seagrasses in Indian River Lagoon (IRL). She is responsible for the overall management of 97 fixed seagrass transects throughout the IRL system along with other flora and fauna species. Lori also manages the solar light or Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) data collected as a component of the IRL water quality (WQ) and seagrass monitoring networks and has succeeded in standardizing the sampling protocols for PAR measurements and seagrass monitoring state-wide. The data are required for quantifying and assessing relationships among seagrass, light, and WQ. Lori earned her BS in Geology from University of North Carolina at Wilmington (1984) and her MS in Marine Science from College of William and Mary – Virginia Institute of Marine Science (1990).
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St. Johns River Water Management District
Rick Clark
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Florida’s Subsection Administrator for the Aquatic’s Invasive Plant Management Program at the FFWCC. He’s been with FFWCC for 10 plus years and has worked in both the Aquatics and Upland’s Invasive Plant Program’s. His received his Master’s at the University of South Alabama specializing in Vallisneria americana Grassbed restoration. Prior to his time at FFWCC he worked 10 years with the Florida Dept. of Health in a variety of roles from Aquatic Toxins to Epidemiology.
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Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Abbey Tyrna PhD
University of Florida
Dr. Abbey Tyrna is the Water Resources Agent for University of Florida IFAS Extension in Sarasota County. She received a Ph.D. in Geography from Penn State where her research focused on quantifying the changes to wetland hydopatterns as a result of human disturbance. Dr. Abbey has been working on various water resource issues since coming back to Florida in 2016; everything from microplastic pollution to water conservation. The bulk of her time is spent researching and working in and around stormwater ponds, lakes and creeks where her goals are to increase the functionality of these stormwater conduits.
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University of Florida
Daniel Nelson
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Daniel Nelson was born and raised in central Wisconsin. He did his undergraduate work at the University Wisconsin-Stevens Point and completed a Master’s degree at South Dakota State University. He has been working for Florida Fish and Wildlife since June 2017. He currently work out of the Eustis Research Office for the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
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Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Richie Gray
Northwest Florida State College
Richie Gray is an Environmental Technician at the Mattie Kelly Environmental Institute of Northwest Florida State College. His research aims to build a comprehensive foundation for the Northwest Florida coastal dune lakes. Starting spring 2020, Richie will attend the University of Florida to obtain his degree in natural resource management.
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Northwest Florida State College
Dana Stephens Ph.D
Northwest Florida State College
Dana is the Director of the Mattie M. Kelly Environmental Institute and Chair of the Mathematics and Natural Science Departments at Northwest Florida State College. In these roles, Dana completes research examining temporal and spatial shifts in aquatic ecosystems and relationships with natural and anthropogenic drivers. She also supports faculty and student success, teaches numerous courses, and engages with the community. Dana received a Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Florida in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences within the School of Forest Resources and Conservation and a B.S. in Biology Conservation and Zoology at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Northwest Florida State College
Erich Marzolf Ph.D
St. Johns River Water Management District
Dr. Erich Marzolf is the Director of the Division of Water and Land Resources with the St. Johns River Water Management District, where he oversees the Bureaus of Water Resources, Water Resource Information, and Land Resources. In 1999 he began working on the Lake Apopka program as a supervising environmental scientist overseeing portions of the lake and floodplain restoration efforts and the operation of the District's treatment wetland for the lake. Erich earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California Davis where he studied subalpine lake ecology. Prior to joining the District Erich was a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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St. Johns River Water Management District
Mike Hardin Ph.D
Geosyntec
Dr. Hardin is a graduate from the University of Central Florida (UCF) and is a licensed professional engineer (PE). Prior to joining Geosyntec Consultants, Mike spent the previous nine years as a research associate and lab manager at the UCF Stormwater Management Academy’s Erosion and Sediment Control Field Lab. He has extensive experience researching stormwater BMPs for water quality improvement. He is a primary author of the BMPTRAINS Model, which is used to assess the water quality benefit of stormwater BMPs across the state of Florida. Since arriving at Geosyntec, Dr. Hardin has worked on several projects performing watershed assessments, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, stormwater quality enhancement designs, stormwater sampling (grab and flow-weighted sampling), optimization of non-structural BMPs for water quality improvement, GIS data analysis, evaluating BMP practices, and water quality modeling.
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Geosyntec
Audrey Goekner
University of Florida
Currently working in Dr. Mary Lusk’s Soil and Water quality Lab at UF’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (Balm), I am a graduate student in the UF – IFAS Department of Soil and Water Sciences focusing on carbon dynamics in urban systems. I previously received a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Anthropology at the University of South Florida. In the future I would like to be a part of investigating urban impacts on Florida’s ecosystems and natural resources.
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University of Florida
Qianyaou Si
University of Florida
Qianyao Si, a Master student with the major of Soil and Water Sciences at the University of Florida. She is very concerned about the environment we live in and is now studying the pollution of urban soil and water resources. And her dream job is to be an environmental surveyor, but before this, learning more and getting PHD degree is her academic goal.
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University of Florida
Zijing Liao
University of Florida
Zijing is working on his M.S. degree at University Of Florida-Gulf Coast Research And Education Center. His research focuses on nitrogen and phosphorus leaching pattern of decomposing leaf litter in urban neighborhoods. Zijing is born and raised in China. He earned his B.S. degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison. He wants to work in government agency in resolving local water and soil problems.
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University of Florida
Ted Lange
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Ted Lange is a Fish and Wildflife Biological Scientist IV with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission since 2001. His main areas of focus include assessing statewide aquatic contaminant and water quality problems within biotic and abiotic media in support of management to ameliorate adverse human and environmental impacts; projects to assess impacts of water quality and habitat parameters to fish community dynamics; and projects to assess and inform black bass tournament anglers on best management practices. Ted earned his BS in biology at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 1985, and his MS in aquatic sciences at University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse in 1988.
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Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Mark Hoyer
University of Florida
Mark Hoyer is the Director of the Florida LAKEWATCH program in the UF/IFAS School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. He received a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from lowa State University; his Master of Science in Limnology is from the University of Missouri, Columbia.He has worked extensively on the interrelationships of water chemistry, aquatic macrophyte communities, fish populations, and aquatic bird populations. In lowa and Missouri, his primary interest was lake eutrophication, including nutrient loading models and the relationship between in-lake nutrients and chlorophyll a. Mark is an active member of both national and state chapters of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), American Fisheries Society (AFS) and Aquatic Plant Management Society (APMS).
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University of Florida
Steven Miller
St. Johns River Water Management District
Steve Miller is a Supervising Environmental Scientist in the St. Johns River Water Management District Bureau of Water Resources. Steve has been working on lakes and wetlands in Florida for the past 32 years. Steve currently oversees the District gizzard shad commercial harvest program and directs environmental water management activities with the District’s Upper St. Johns River Basin Project.
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St. Johns River Water Management District
Marina Schwartz
University of Florida
Marina Schwartz is a master’s student studying limnology with Dr. Daniel E. Canfield, Jr. at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
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University of Florida
Lance Lumbard
Wood Environmental
Lance Lumbard is a Certified Lake Professional and Senior Scientist with Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. where he has worked on lake restoration and management projects for the past eight years. Lance received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University, his Master of Science from Louisiana State University, and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Central Florida. Lance has been working to assist state and local government agencies with large-scale lake and water quality restoration projects in and around Central Florida for nearly 20 years. Lance and the Wood team work to improve and protect water quality by assessing both the watershed and the lake while providing practical solutions that maximize limited financial resources.
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Wood Environmental
Jason Danaher Ph.D
Lake County Water Authority
Jason is originally from upstate New York and received his bachelor’s degree from SUNY Cobleskill. He earned a master’s degree from Kentucky State University and later worked for five years at the University of the Virgin Islands’ Agriculture Experiment Station on St. Croix. In 2013, Jason earned his Ph.D. from Auburn University and has been working at the Lake County Water Authority since 2018 overseeing operation of the Nutrient Reduction Facility.
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Lake County Water Authority
Sean E. McGlynn Ph.D
MgGlynn Laboratories
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MgGlynn Laboratories
Savannah Winstanley
City of Winter Haven
Savannah Winstanley is the Stormwater & Ecosystems Analyst for the City of Winter Haven, FL’s Natural Resources Division. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from New College of Florida in Environmental Studies. She has been with the City for almost three years, working on a broad range of projects dealing with urban forestry, stormwater management, and limnology. Her work focuses on applied science through data analytics, mobilizing GIS & other datasets towards visual aids and story-telling for better public education and communication.
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City of Winter Haven
Trevor Fagan
Southwest Florida Water Management District
Trevor Fagan is an Environmental Scientist with the Water Quality Monitoring Program (WQMP), which is a section within the Data Collection Bureau at the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District). His primary responsibilities include oversight of sampling, data management, quality assurance, and data analysis for the majority of the District's long-term surface-water quality monitoring efforts. In addition, the WQMP is routinely involved in specific, short-term projects that investigate water quality issues. Most recently, Trevor has been a critical team member involved with configuring and implementing the District’s new enterprise data management system for water resource-related data. Trevor received his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of South Florida and has been with the District for thirteen years.
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Southwest Florida Water Management District
Megan Long
Wood Environmental
Megan Long currently works as technical professional in water resources and ecological engineering at Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. (Wood, previously known as Amec Foster Wheeler) in Tampa, Florida where she continually builds on her background in ecohydrology, water resources, and engineering for sustainability and resilience acquired through research, projects, and studies at University of South Florida (Masters of Science) and University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.S. Civil Engineering).
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Wood Environmental
Ken Wagner Ph.D, CLM
Water Resource Services
Dr. Wagner holds degrees from Dartmouth College and Cornell University, with his Ph.D. earned in Natural Resource Management in 1985. He has over 40 years of experience working on a variety of water resources assessment and management projects, including lake, reservoir, river and watershed assessment, rehabilitation, and management, regulatory processes, and educational programs. In 2010 he started Water Resource Services, a small company with a focus on water supply protection and lake management consulting. He is a former President of the North American Lake Management Society and current Editor in Chief of Lake and Reservoir Management, a peer-reviewed journal.
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Water Resource Services
Serge Thomas
Florida Gulf Coast University
Serge is an Assistant Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University (Ft Myers, FL) since 2008. Prior to this, he was a visiting Professor and Post-doctoral fellow at Florida International University since 2001. He holds a Ph.D. in Oceanology from the University Pierre and Marie Curie (2000, Paris, France). A central theme of much of his research is to determine ecosystem level consequences of natural and anthropogenic stresses in saline to freshwater, permanent to transient, lotic to lentic, manmade to natural shallow tropical hydrosystems. His research also focuses on green technologies to clean water (e.g. Stormwater Treatment Areas, Stormwater urban ponds), how to restore hydrosystems, Harmful Algae Blooms (Karenia brevis, cyano HABs) and photophysiology. Serge has secured funding from many entities such as the various water management districts (e.g. SJRWMD, SFWMD), the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Power and Light as well as many communities engaged scholarships (e.g. various Cities, Homeowner Associations, Property Owners’ Associations, Community Development Districts). Serge strongly believes that reaching the communities (and the students) is key to make a change and protect our precious water resources.
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Florida Gulf Coast University
Harvey Harper Ph.D
Environmental Research & Design, Inc.
Harvey is President of Environmental Research & Design in Orlando and has over 35 years of experience in stormwater treatment and surface water quality. He is a former faculty member and current Graduate Faculty Scholar at UCF. Harvey has given over 150 presentations and conducted more than 125 workshops and seminars on water quality issues related to lakes and stormwater.
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Environmental Research & Design, Inc.
Mary Szafraniec Ph.D
Wood Environmental
Dr. Mary Szafraniec currently works as a water resource technical director at Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. (Wood, previously known as Amec Foster Wheeler) in Tampa, Florida. She has an extensive ecological and water quality assessment and restoration background, which she acquired from her studies and independent research at USF (Bachelors of Biology), UF (Master and Doctor of Philosophy of Environmental Engineering Science) and at her previous jobs while at the Department of Environmental Protection and the Southwest Florida Water Management District working on water quality restoration projects for the last 15 years. She has recently been focusing her research to advance concepts in sediment biogeochemistry and groundwater connectivity with the goal of optimizing stream, wetland and lake restoration project performance.
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Wood Environmental
Dail Laughinghouse Ph.D
University of Florida
Dr. Laughinghouse is a broadly trained phycologist working with both basic and applied algal research from Tropical to Polar Regions. He earned a B.S. from Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul and a PhD in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maryland. His background includes systematics, ecology, HABs, cyanotoxins, phycoremediation, biofuels, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics of marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments. Some of the current research in the Laughinghouse Lab focuses on diversity and toxicity of cyanobacteria, environmental influences on macroalgae and microbial photoautotrophs, novel applied uses for algae, bioremediation, and the detection and effects of bioactive compounds. Research on testing different algal treatment methods with the industry is ongoing in the lab where Dr. Laughinghouse uses different approaches, bridging chemistry, genetics, diversity, and environment. The Laughinghouse Lab is always welcome to new ideas and collaborative research.
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University of Florida
Dr. Erin Reed, P.E. is a Water Resources Engineer with Geosyntec Consultants in water and natural resources. Dr. Reed’s work is primarily focused on stormwater management and resiliency, pollutant load assessment, TMDL regulations, monitoring, and modeling. She has published articles on the characterization and transport of anthropogenic nutrient sources in the journals of Environmental Engineering, Hydrogeology, and Environmental Earth Sciences, and is currently managing multiple nutrient reduction projects throughout the state.
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Geosyntec
Tiffany Trent
St. Johns River Water Management District
Tiffany Trent is an environmental scientist with the St Johns River Water Management District since 2010. Her main areas of focus include submerged aquatic vegetation, water chemistry, phytoplankton, and harmful algal blooms in the lower St Johns River Basin. Previously she worked as a biologist for the USFWS at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge where she was involved with the Florida Apple Snail, water chemistry, and prescribed burning. Tiffany earned her BS in marine biology at the University of West Florida in 2005, and her MS in coastal zone management at Nova Southeastern University in 2010. Tiffany’s hobbies include social activism, backpacking, and eating good food!
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St. Johns River Water Management District
Rolland Fulton Ph.D
St. Johns River Water Management District
Environmental Scientist VI, with St. Johns River Water Management District since 1989. B.A. from Miami University (Ohio), Ph.D. from Duke University, post-docs at Victoria University of Wellington, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, George Mason University.
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St. Johns River Water Management District
Chris Shea
Tampa Bay Water
Christopher Shea is a Professional Wetland Science with a Master’s degree in botany. He has over thirty year’s experience working on the conservation and restoration of Florida’s wetlands and aquatic systems.
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Tampa Bay Water
Tim Egan
City of Winter Park
Mr. Egan graduated from the University of Central Florida in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in limnology. In positions with the City of Daytona Beach, Volusia County and DRMP, Inc., he obtained a wide range of experience in water quality management, wetland assessment and habitat restoration. Serving as the City of Winter Park’s Lakes Manager from 1997 to 2016, Mr. Egan developed and implemented the city’s programs related to water quality improvement, aquatic plant management, NPDES compliance and public outreach. In his current position as the city’s Natural Resources Manager Mr. Egan’s responsibilities include developing habitat management plans for Winter Park’s wetland and upland natural lands
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City of Winter Park
Alyssa Jordan
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Alyssa Jordan received her B.S. in Marine Biology at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida and received her Master’s in Biology at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. She began her career with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 2005 working with marine fish in Melbourne, FL. In 2008, she began working on Lake Okeechobee with FWC in the Aquatic Habitat Restoration and Enhancement subsection. Initially working with freshwater fish management in Lake Okeechobee from 2008 to 2014 then transitioning to habitat enhancement and restoration projects within the south region of Florida. Her projects have ranged from purely freshwater habitats to freshwater habitats that are closely associated and interconnected with coastal and estuarine environments.
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Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Michelle Atkinson
University of Florida
Michelle Atkinson is an Environmental Horticulture Agent with the University of Florida IFAS Extension in Manatee County. She works with landscape professionals and homeowner associations teaching sustainable landscape practices to help protect water quality and conserve the vital resource. Michelle is a native Floridian where she and her family enjoy boating, scuba diving and snorkeling which provides the passion she demonstrates when developing programs and teaching about protecting water resources.
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University of Florida
Devon Moore
City of Winter Haven
Devon Moore is an environmental scientist with the City of Winter Haven who supports natural resources management through a data-driven approach. With a belief that knowledge should be at the heart of decision making, he strives to make education and community involvement a core part of his career. Devon holds a B.S. degree in Marine Biology from the University of Tampa and has a background in aquaculture, aquaponics, and water chemistry.
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City of Winter Haven
Basil Iannone Ph.D
St. Johns River Water Management District
Dr. Iannone is an assistant professor in forest resources and conservation and specializes in geospatial analysis of sustainable and resilient land development. He is also a member of the Sustainability Human and Ecological Development group. Dr. Iannone’s research and extension programs broadly focus on the ecology of human-dominated residential landscapes. His research projects are interdisciplinary and employ a wide range of geospatial and statistical tools, and observational, experimental, and modeling approaches. Dr. Iannone received his PhD from the Ecology and Evolution Program, Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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St. Johns River Water Management District
Casey Harris
St. Johns River Water Management District
Environmental Scientist III at St. Johns River Water Management District since 2015, B.S. in Botany from University of Wisconsin, M.S. in Ecology from University of Georgia.
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St. Johns River Water Management District
Ernesto Lasso de la Vega
Lee County Hyacinth Control District
He has been working at the Lee County Hyacinth Control District in Fort Myers, Florida since 1991 as a biologist controlling aquatic weeds. He is also the coordinator of the Pond Watch Program, a volunteer monitoring program that educate homeowners about ways to minimize aquatic weed problems. He earned a Master degree from Auburn University (1988) and a Doctorate degree from University of Central Florida (2004). He also has been teaching environmental science, biology and microbiology at local universities in South West Florida for the last 25 years to the present.
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Lee County Hyacinth Control District
Ron Hart
Lake County Water Authority
Ron currently serve as the Water Resources Director for the Lake County Water Authority. He has professionally managed lakes in Central Florida for the past 25 years. Ron received his degree in Limnology from the University of Central Florida and is a past president for the Florida Lake Management Society.
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Lake County Water Authority
Patrick Goodwin
Aquatic Systems/Vertex Water Features
Patrick is a research scientist for Aquatic Systems Inc., a Florida based lake management company with 11 offices throughout the state. There he conducts research projects that investigate urban lake ecology and provides comprehensive lake management plans to lake owners looking for short and long-term solutions to address their lake needs. He also works for Vertex Water Features Inc., an international aeration company that designs and manufactures aeration systems for various sized waterbodies. Working through Vertex’s international dealer network, Patrick designs research projects to improve our understanding of aeration throughout different ecoregions.
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Aquatic Systems/Vertex Water Features
Brian Gischer
SOX Erosion Solutions
Brian Fischer, along with his brother Stuart, formed the Florida Corporation Lake & Wetland Management, Inc. in 1992. Brian currently oversees over 3,000 waterways in diverse areas throughout the State of Florida. His firm, SOX, LLC. Erosion Solutions™, provides its Shoresox®, Dredgesox® and Soxfence™ systems. SOX Erosion Solutions™ has mastered erosion control and restoration of Living shorelines and hillsides, with its suite of patented, bioengineered erosion control solutions that are stable, long-lasting and compliant with all BMP’s. Throughout Brian Fischer’s 26 years in the industry of lake management and erosion control, he has presented to groups from individual HOA’s to large organizations, such as the American Public Works Association. Brian is a certified CEU presenter for the state of Florida and has provided several classes for Property Managers throughout the state.
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SOX Erosion Solutions
Shailesh K Patel, M.Sc. CPSSc.
Dredging & Marine Consultants
Shailesh Patel has 20 years of experience in the program planning, engineering and environmental consulting business and in particular developing viable projects for private, municipal, and county entities. He has focused much of his 20 plus years on work related to the Coastal systems in the State of Florida. He has worked on numerous watershed water quality and land development projects that have included the planning, design, engineering, inspection, permitting, environmental, sediment and materials assessments, including full construction administration and inspection services. His vast experience spans the fields of costal systems, dredging, waterfront facilities and related structures, including buildings, parks, mining wastes, drainage and stormwater management, erosions related to walkways and roadways, wetlands and associated mitigation. He is active in many technical and civic service organizations and has twice served as the President of the Florida Lake Management Society and is currently the Chair of the Volusia County Association for Responsible Development. He has managed or assisted with numerous controversial public coastal projects from initial feasibility studies, involving the public, to bidding, implementation and Inspection to post-construction project close-out. His key attributes are to include public education and engagement to facilitate a better focus on projects and to deliver the desired out-come. He passionately promotes responsible development and resource protection along our waterways, waterfront and coastal communities.
About Shailesh K Patel, M.Sc. CPSSc.
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Dredging & Marine Consultants
