The Natural Areas Training Academy

Natural Areas Training Academy Instructor Profiles

Listed below are just some of the experienced and knowledgeable professionals

who instruct Natural Areas Training Academy workshops.

Nancy J. Bissett
Restoration Ecologist, Botanist, and Horticulturist
The Natives, Inc.

Nancy J. Bissett is a restoration ecologist, botanist, and horticulturist with The Natives, Inc., a firm offering services in consulting, ecological restoration, landscape architecture, and a native nursery. Nancy has developed techniques for restoring many upland communities including scrub, sandhill, and flatwoods that include site preparation, planting, direct-seeding native groundcovers, and weed control. She has developed and enacted direct seeding projects for state agencies, water management districts, mitigation banks, mined lands, developers, and corporations. As a botanist she has assisted with monitoring research projects for The Nature Conservancy, Florida Institute of Phosphate Research, and others. She has performed various rare plant and vegetation surveys, and also helped federal, state, and local authorities find and evaluate rare plant communities. As the developer of The Natives nursery, Nancy has experimented with the propagation and growth of many natives plants, including grasses, wildflowers, and rare species. Nancy has served as an instructor for the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes and the Southwest Florida Restoration courses.

Dana Bryan
Environmental Policy Coordinator
Florida Park Service

Dana serves as the Environmental Policy Coordinator in the Director’s Office of the Florida Park Service, twice voted as the nation’s “best state park system”. He started with the Florida Park Service as one of 9 district biologists in 1986, advising 21 state parks in the Tallahassee region. He promoted to the central office and served as the state-wide chief biologist from 1990 until 1996, and then expanded that role for another 9 years as Chief of the Bureau of Natural and Cultural Resources in Tallahassee. The bureau provides oversight on managing natural and cultural resources, and at that time also coordinated interpretation, exhibits and collections, and ADA in all 159 units of the state park system. In 2005 Dana moved to the Director’s Office to concentrate on scientific and environmental policy issues for the Director. He also serves on the Florida Springs Task Force, federal recovery teams for the manatee and panther, the Florida Coordinating Council on Mosquito Control, the Steering Committee of the Great Florida Birding Trail, and numerous other working groups and councils. Dana earned an MS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Florida State University, with a specialty in ornithology. He is an authority on the Limpkin and authored several scientific accounts on the snail-eating bird. Dana currently serves as an instructor for the Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems course.

Monica Folk
Mitigation Projects Coordinator
The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve

Monica Folk has been a biologist, planner and science manager with The Nature Conservancy since 1992. Dr. Folk's training is in wildlife ecology and management, with a specialty in conservation of natural systems and endangered species protection. Her experience includes several decades of work on the endangered Key deer and its habitat, conservation and management planning for TNC preserves, mitigation project development, and leadership of a long-term ecological research program at the Disney Wilderness Preserve. She has written numerous land management plans and scientific reports, as well as a watershed conservation analysis, restoration procedures manual and several other educational documents. She has been an instructor with the Natural Areas Training Academy since its inception in 1998. Her long-term research and conservation interests include restoration of ecological processes, listed species population restoration and management, wetland restoration monitoring and use of mitigation as a conservation tool. She is currently a lead instructor for the Conservation Site Assessment and Planning workshop, and an instructor for the Managing for Diversity Across Florida's Unique Landscapes workshop.

Eleanor Foerste
Natural Resources Extension Faculty
University of Florida, IFAS Extension

Eleanor Foerste, a Florida native, educates the public about woods, water and wildlife, energy efficient construction and development design with nature. She began her career in Extension 28 years ago working in horticulture and 4-H, the University of Florida’s youth program for boys and girls, ages 5 to 18. She initiated the Master Gardener volunteer program in Osceola County in 1981 and has managed hundreds of volunteers in a variety of roles. Eleanor has written more than 850 news articles for the Orlando Sentinel. She currently offers Woods Walks, interpretive tours in Osceola County natural areas and is a Certified Florida Master Naturalist instructor for the Uplands and Wetlands modules. She continues to coordinate Lakewatch volunteers, 4-H youth and adults and Master Gardeners working on environmental topics. Eleanor has served as an instructor for the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.

Doria Gordon
Associate Director of Conservation Science
The Nature Conservancy

Doria Gordon is a Senior Ecologist and Associate Director of Conservation Science for the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She has been working in conservation in Florida since 1990, and has been the organizing instructor for this NATA Workshop since its inception. Her graduate degrees were in Plant Ecology from the University of California, Davis. Doria’s current focus is on restoration of longleaf pine systems, prediction of invasiveness and assessment of status of invasive plants, vegetation monitoring, and conservation planning. Doria currently serves as the coordinator for the Vegetation Monitoring in a Management Context course.

Danny Husband
Field Botanist
University of Florida
The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve

J. Daniel (Danny) Husband has been the botanist for The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve since May 2007. Dr. Husband’s graduate research focused on plant ecology and systematics (M.S.), and plant stress physiology (Ph.D.). Danny has worked in both academia and in the private sector as a wetland/environmental consultant. His research interests include conservation and restoration of natural plant communities, wetland and aquatic plant ecology, vegetation monitoring, and rare plant population dynamics and monitoring. In addition, he continues collaborations, established during his Ph.D. research, with scientists outside TNC exploring the role of an organosulfur compound (dimethylsulfoniopropionate) in oxidative stress protection in higher plants. Dr. Husband has published peer reviewed articles in the areas of plant systematics (Castanea), and wetland plant biochemistry (Wetlands); as well as articles on wetland restoration and endangered species habitat protection/enhancement in the trade journal, Land and Water. Dan serves as co-coordinator and instructor of the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes workshop.

Eugene "Gene" M. Kelly
Conservation Planner
The Nature Conservancy

"Gene" is the Conservation Planner for the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. His primary responsibility is to facilitate conservation planning for the Conservancy’s priority conservation areas and to assist in meeting the science needs of other Florida Chapter staff. He has both BS and MS degrees in Biology. Prior to joining the Conservancy he spent 16 years working at the Southwest Florida Water Management District where he was responsible for the development of management plans for lands purchased through the Save Our Rivers, Preservation 2000 and Florida Forever Programs. He also assisted in the evaluation of lands proposed for purchase. Gene is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Native Plant Society where he serves as Co-Chair of the Conservation Committee and he is a longtime member and former Chair of the Hernando County Environmentally Sensitive Lands Committee. Gene currently serves as the coordinator for the Conservation Site Assessment and Planning and instructor for the Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems courses.

Chris Matson
Restoration Projects Coordinator
The Nature Conservancy's Disney Wilderness Preserve

Chris Matson graduated from Prescott College, Prescott Arizona in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in restoration ecology and minors in liberal arts and the humanities. Chris has worked as Restoration Projects Coordinator with The Nature Conservancy's Disney Wilderness Preserve since January 2003. He has worked in numerous technical field positions with for-profit, nonprofit and state agencies in Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois and Indiana, involved with ecosystem restoration in tallgrass prairie, oak savanna and other ecological communities in the prairie-forest transition of the Upper Midwest. Chris helps his wife, Amy raise two daughters, who both love flowers and insects (except cockroaches). He is a practicing native landscaper, permaculturist, ethnobotanist and heirloom-vegetable seed-saver. Chris currently serves as co-coordinator and instructor of the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes workshop.

Tom Matthews
Recreation Planner
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Office of Recreation Services

Tom M. Matthews has been a Recreation Planner with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Office of Recreation Services since September 2004. He works as part of a team developing and implementing outdoor recreation opportunities on FWC lands, with a focus on wildlife viewing and land management interpretation. Tom specializes in applications of GIS, GPS and other technologies to resource planning and management. Prior to joining FWC, he was Land Management Coordinator for the Crystal River State Buffer Preserve for 7.5 years following 1.5 years as a District Biologist with the Florida Park Service. Tom holds a BS in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Florida. As a 6th generation Floridian, Tom can be found kayak fishing, cooking barbecue, and trying to keep up with his 3 kids when not at work. Tom instructs the Applying Technology to Management workshop.

Debbie Miller, PhD, Associate Professor
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
University of Florida
West Florida REC

Dr. Miller has been teaching at the West Florida Research and Education Center (WFREC) at the Milton Campus for 11 years. Her specialties are Plant Community Ecology, Wetland Ecology and Restoration Ecology. Prior to working at the University of Florida, Debbie was an Ecologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. She has also served as a Visiting Professor at Texas A&M University. Dr. Miller earned her MS and Ph.D. from Texas A&M University Rangeland Ecology and Management, and her B.S. in Biology from the University of West Florida. Debbie currently serves as coordinator and instructor for the Plant Communities of the Florida Panhandle course.

Raymond Mojica
Land Manager
Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program

Raymond Mojica Jr. has been a Land Manager with the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program since April 1999. His area of responsibility is the nearly 360 acres of land that the EEL program manages within the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge including an oversight role in the development of the Barrier Island Sanctuary Management & Education Center. His focus has included the development of 4 miles of passive recreational trails, the removal of invasive exotic plants and collaboration with local educational institutions. Prior to joining the EEL program he held positions as the Science Coordinator/Assistant Dive Safety Officer at the Caribbean Marine Research Center in the Bahamas, as a salt marsh restoration coordinator within the Canaveral National Seashore, and as a fisheries researcher in the Bahamas studying the early life history of Nassau grouper and bonefish. Raymond holds a M.S. in Marine Biology from Florida Tech (1991) and a B.S. in Marine Science from Southampton College (1985). Raymond instructs the Applying Technology to Management workshop.

Robert Nelson
Conservation Projects Manager
University of Florida
The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve and Osceola Plain

Bob started his conservation career with the Department of Forestry in 1974 as a forest ranger. In 1985 he was assigned as Senior Ranger at Lake Arbuckle State Forest where he planned and conducted most management activities. Bob was first employed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 1993 at The Disney Wilderness Preserve as the assistant Stewardship Program Manager and later as Stewardship Program Manager in 1996. In 2005, he became the Conservation Projects Manager for DWP and the Osceola Plain Landscape. Most recently he has been working on various projects with TNC that require him to be regularly in touch with the ranching community on management and exotic plant issues. Bob is also active in the invasive exotic plant world. He represents Osceola Plain in TNC's Eastern Invasives Working Group, which is an information sharing group of invasive plant managers in the eastern U.S., including both TNC and partner organizations. He’s actively involved in the Central Florida Lygodium Strategy as, among other things, the liaison to the ranching community. He also active in FLEPPC. Bob’s community activities include: NRCS State Technical Committee, Florida Cattlemen's Beef Association, steering committee for the Florida Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, and president elect of Florida chapter of Society for Range Management. Bob currently serves as an instructor for the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes course.

Nels Parson
Recreation Land Manager
Division of Land Management
St. Johns River Water Management District

Nels Parson is a fourth-generation Floridian with a degree in Park Technology that emphases managing natural resources with public use. Nels spent 16 years with the Florida Park Service. During his tenure, Nels moved up from Ranger to Park Manager, managing a variety of parks with a diversity of natural and cultural resources. The last 15 years he has spent with the St. Johns River Water Management District's Division of Land Management. The first 7 years were as Regional Land Manager of an 8 county region which encompassed 18 conservation areas for a total of 150,000 acres. The last 8 years he has been the District’s Recreation Land Manager overseeing resource-based recreational development and public use for the SJRWMD’s 52 present conservation areas encompassing 700,000 acres in an 18 county area of NE Florida. Nels also represents the SJRWMD on the Florida Greenways & Trails Advisory Committee and was the 2007 recipient of "Friend of the Florida Trail" Award from the Florida Trail Association. Nels currently serves as a coordinator and instructor of the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas workshop.

Zach Prusak
Florida Fire Manager
University of Florida,
The Nature Conservancy

Zachary A. Prusak has been the Florida Fire Manager for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) since January 2005. The Florida Chapter of TNC owns and manages approximately 49,000 acres of conservation land in Florida, most of which requires some level of fire management. As the Florida Fire Manager, Zach supports members of the Florida Fire Team, which represent the on-site fire leaders and crew at places such as the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, the Disney Wilderness Preserve and the Tiger Creek Preserve by making sure they have the training necessary to safely implement prescribed fires. He also works with state, federal, local and private conservation groups in order to promote fire training opportunities and facilitate fire-on-the-ground partnerships, while serving as the Florida TNC liaison on national fire issues. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Zach was the South Region Land Manager for the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program, conducted fires and studied mosquito populations with the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and worked as a Biologist for the Florida Park Service. Zach has over 17 years' experience working with prescribed fire, and is qualified as a Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2). Zach holds both an M.S. and B.S. in Biology from the University of Central Florida. He has served as the Chair of the Central Florida Prescribed Fire Council, and is an active member of the International Association of Wildland Fire and the National Center for Science Education. Zach teaches fire related subjects for the Academy.

Amy Raub
Public Outreach Coordinator
University of Florida,
Seminole County Natural Lands Program

Amy joined Seminole County in January 2002. Amy graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, earning a B.S. in Environmental Systems and Minors in Environmental Management and Technical Communication, with a concentration in environmental health issues. She subsequently received her Juris Doctor from Mercer University School of Law in 2000, where she served on the Student Bar Association and as the President of the Environmental Law Society. Her primary responsibilities with the Natural Lands Program include working with land acquisition, managing the outreach program, including public outreach activities, managing the volunteer program and facilitating environmental education presentations and field trips. Amy is a graduate of the Natural Areas Training Academy and currently instructs the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.

Kristina Serbesoff-King
Invasive Species Program Manager
University of Florida,
The Nature Conservancy

Kristina Serbesoff-King has worked in the environmental field in Florida for more than 13 years. She worked for Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management for 4 years as a Biologist for the Wetlands program. Then Kris worked for South Florida Water Management District as a Staff Environmental Analyst in the Regulation Department for 3 years and as a Staff Environmental Scientist in the Vegetation Management Division for 3 years. She has been working with The Nature Conservancy for over three years and is responsible for driving the statewide Invasive Species Initiative for the Florida Chapter. Kris has extensive knowledge in invasive species issues in Florida including field identification, control methodology, policy and working with government agencies. Her educational background includes a BS in Biology and a BA in Foreign Language (German) from New Mexico State University and a M.S. in Environmental Studies from Florida International University. Kristina currently serves as an instructor in the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes and Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems Courses.

Jodi Slapcinsky
Monitoring Ecologist
The Nature Conservancy

Jodi L. Slapcinsky has been a Monitoring Ecologist for the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy since 1998. She earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology at George Mason University and a Masters of Science degree of Ecology at North Carolina State University. Her current research interests include plant demography and the effects of fire on rare plant species, and species and community monitoring and management in Florida natural areas. Prior to working for The Nature Conservancy, Jodi worked in the Botany Departments of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois and of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Jodi currently serves as an instructor for the Vegetation Monitoring in a Management Context course.

Mark Smith
Education and Training Specialist
Florida Park Service

Mark Smith has worked for 19 years as Education and Training Specialist with the Florida State Parks District 2 office in Gainesville. As a lead instructor for FPS Basic Interpretive Training since 1995, Mark has taught hundreds of park rangers the value of interpretation to the parks, the park visitors and to the rangers themselves. From his office at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Mark assists 39 parks in North Florida in media relations, interpretive programming and marketing, as well as all other aspects of employee training. Prior to the Florida Park Service, Mark worked as a broadcast journalist in Jacksonville, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. Mark has served as an instructor in the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.

Joseph E. Smyth
Park Manager
University of Florida,
Rainbow Springs State Park

Joe is proud to be part of The Florida Park Service. He enjoys the opportunity to preserve "The Real Florida." He is currently the Park Manager at Rainbow Springs State Park. Joe Smyth has been with the Florida Park Service since March of 1982. He has served as the Park Manager of Big Lagoon/Perdido Key/Tarkiln Bayou Preserve (Pensacola), John D. MacArthur Beach (North Palm Beach)and Oscar Scherer State Park (Osprey). He was an Assistant Park Manager at Myakka River (Sarasota) and Manatee Springs (Chiefland) and Park Ranger at Ichetucknee (Fort White) and Ft. Clinch (Fernandina Beach). Between his assignments in Pensacola and Dunnellon Joe worked in Tallahassee heading up the Operational Compliance Program where he visited state parks throughout Florida to ensure standards and practices of the agency were being followed. Joe is a graduate of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He raised his sons, Patrick and Shawn, in several parks. He and his wife CeCe enjoy the Dunnellon community where they reside in the park. Joe has served as an instructor for the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.

Taylor Stein, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Forest Resources and Conservation
University of Florida

Dr. Taylor V. Stein is an Associate Professor in Natural Resources Management – Ecotourism for the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. He teaches three courses, which focus on ecotourism planning and natural resources management and is currently the primary investigator in several nature-based recreation and tourism research projects ranging from the Florida Keys to the Apalachicola River in northern Florida. His specific research topics include developing opportunities for local residents to become involved in nature-based tourism enterprises, understanding how public agencies can efficiently partner with public and private organizations to expand nature-based tourism opportunities, and working with public land management agencies to design appropriate recreation management frameworks. Dr. Stein also has an extension appointment where he works with public and private organizations assisting in community development planning and nature-based recreation management. Taylor has been instructing the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.

Jim Stevenson
Florida Springs Stewardship

Jim Stevenson served as Chief Biologist for the Florida State Park System for 20 years during which time he developed the educational and the land management programs for the state park system. He was Chairman of the Florida Springs Task Force that developed a protection strategy for Florida’s springs and he was Director of the Governor’s Florida Springs Protection Initiative that implements springs protection projects. Jim retired in 2003, after 38 years with the Department of Environmental Protection. In recognition of his dedication to the protection of Florida’s springs, the State of Florida named a spring on the Suwannee River “Stevenson Spring” in his honor. And for his longstanding stewardship of Florida’s public lands, the Governor and Cabinet dedicated the Department of Environmental Protection’s highest award the “Jim Stevenson Resource Manager of the Year Award” that is given annually to the most deserving state lands manager. Jim continues his efforts on behalf of Florida’s springs by coordinating the Wakulla Spring Basin and the Ichetucknee Springs Basin working groups. Jim currently serves as lead instructor for the Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems course.

Robert D. Sutter
Senior Conservation Ecologist/Regional Scientist
Southern U.S. Region, The Nature Conservancy

Robert D. Sutter is currently the Senior Conservation Ecologist/Regional Scientist for the Southern U.S. Region (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN) of The Nature Conservancy. In that position he provides and facilitates the incorporation of the best available and most current ecological information into The Nature Conservancy’s conservation work, from the selection of sites to strategic planning and monitoring ecological change. His expertise is in developing ecologically-focused strategic conservation and adaptive management (sampling design, the analysis of monitoring data, and implementation of adaptive management) plans to direct and measure the success of conservation actions. He has worked extensively in adaptive management, with work at several Department of Defense installations and has done ecological research in Southern Appalachian wetlands and forests, longleaf pine forest systems, prairie remnants and isolated wetlands. With others in TNC he was one of the leaders in the development of the Conservation Action Planning process and developed the training workshop on ecological monitoring. He teaches Conservation Action Planning and ecological management within TNC and to other conservation organizations (DoD, USFS, USFWS, local land trusts). Rob received his undergraduate and Masters Degree in Botany from Duke University, with an emphasis in plant population ecology, and has taught short courses at Duke. He has worked for over 20 years in the conservation field, 13 with The Nature Conservancy, and has over 36 publications and reports in the conservation literature. Rob currently serves as an instructor for the Vegetation Monitoring in a Management Context course.

Mack Thetford, PhD, Associate Professorr
Environmental Horticulture
University of Florida
West Florida Research and Education Center
5988 Hwy 90, Bldg 4900 Milton, FL 32583

Dr. Mack Thetford is an associate professor of Environmental Horticulture at the West Florida Research and Education Center in Milton, Florida, and also serves as the director of the Milton Gardens. His personal research interests center around two major areas. The first area is the propagation and production of native plants – particularly uncommon coastal species useful for dune restoration efforts. The second area of interest is evaluation of ornamental grasses and woody species for low input landscapes or for introduction into the woody cuts floral industry. When not getting his hands dirty with plants, Dr. Thetford enjoys supporting the arts and cultural community of Santa Rosa County, and also purchases and restores turn-of-the-20th-century Gulf Coast Florida houses. Mack serves as an instructor for the Plant Communities of the Florida Panhandle course.

Nancy J. Bissett Restoration Ecologist, Botanist, and Horticulturist The Natives, Inc. Nancy J. Bissett is a restoration ecologist, botanist, and horticulturist with The Natives, Inc., a firm offering services in consulting, ecological restoration, landscape architecture, and a native nursery. Nancy has developed techniques for restoring many upland communities including scrub, sandhill, and flatwoods that include site preparation, planting, direct-seeding native groundcovers, and weed control. She has developed and enacted direct seeding projects for state agencies, water management districts, mitigation banks, mined lands, developers, and corporations. As a botanist she has assisted with monitoring research projects for The Nature Conservancy, Florida Institute of Phosphate Research, and others. She has performed various rare plant and vegetation surveys, and also helped federal, state, and local authorities find and evaluate rare plant communities. As the developer of The Natives nursery, Nancy has experimented with the propagation and growth of many natives plants, including grasses, wildflowers, and rare species. Nancy has served as an instructor for the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes and the Southwest Florida Restoration courses.
Dana Bryan Environmental Policy Coordinator Florida Park Service Dana serves as the Environmental Policy Coordinator in the Director’s Office of the Florida Park Service, twice voted as the nation’s “best state park system”. He started with the Florida Park Service as one of 9 district biologists in 1986, advising 21 state parks in the Tallahassee region. He promoted to the central office and served as the state-wide chief biologist from 1990 until 1996, and then expanded that role for another 9 years as Chief of the Bureau of Natural and Cultural Resources in Tallahassee. The bureau provides oversight on managing natural and cultural resources, and at that time also coordinated interpretation, exhibits and collections, and ADA in all 159 units of the state park system. In 2005 Dana moved to the Director’s Office to concentrate on scientific and environmental policy issues for the Director. He also serves on the Florida Springs Task Force, federal recovery teams for the manatee and panther, the Florida Coordinating Council on Mosquito Control, the Steering Committee of the Great Florida Birding Trail, and numerous other working groups and councils. Dana earned an MS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Florida State University, with a specialty in ornithology. He is an authority on the Limpkin and authored several scientific accounts on the snail-eating bird. Dana currently serves as an instructor for the Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems course.
Monica Folk Mitigation Projects Coordinator The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve Monica Folk has been a biologist, planner and science manager with The Nature Conservancy since 1992. Dr. Folk's training is in wildlife ecology and management, with a specialty in conservation of natural systems and endangered species protection. Her experience includes several decades of work on the endangered Key deer and its habitat, conservation and management planning for TNC preserves, mitigation project development, and leadership of a long-term ecological research program at the Disney Wilderness Preserve. She has written numerous land management plans and scientific reports, as well as a watershed conservation analysis, restoration procedures manual and several other educational documents. She has been an instructor with the Natural Areas Training Academy since its inception in 1998. Her long-term research and conservation interests include restoration of ecological processes, listed species population restoration and management, wetland restoration monitoring and use of mitigation as a conservation tool. She is currently a lead instructor for the Conservation Site Assessment and Planning workshop, and an instructor for the Managing for Diversity Across Florida's Unique Landscapes workshop.
Eleanor Foerste Natural Resources Extension Faculty University of Florida, IFAS Extension Eleanor Foerste, a Florida native, educates the public about woods, water and wildlife, energy efficient construction and development design with nature. She began her career in Extension 28 years ago working in horticulture and 4-H, the University of Florida’s youth program for boys and girls, ages 5 to 18. She initiated the Master Gardener volunteer program in Osceola County in 1981 and has managed hundreds of volunteers in a variety of roles. Eleanor has written more than 850 news articles for the Orlando Sentinel. She currently offers Woods Walks, interpretive tours in Osceola County natural areas and is a Certified Florida Master Naturalist instructor for the Uplands and Wetlands modules. She continues to coordinate Lakewatch volunteers, 4-H youth and adults and Master Gardeners working on environmental topics. Eleanor has served as an instructor for the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.
Doria Gordon Associate Director of Conservation Science The Nature Conservancy Doria Gordon is a Senior Ecologist and Associate Director of Conservation Science for the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She has been working in conservation in Florida since 1990, and has been the organizing instructor for this NATA Workshop since its inception. Her graduate degrees were in Plant Ecology from the University of California, Davis. Doria’s current focus is on restoration of longleaf pine systems, prediction of invasiveness and assessment of status of invasive plants, vegetation monitoring, and conservation planning. Doria currently serves as the coordinator for the Vegetation Monitoring in a Management Context course.
Danny Husband Field Botanist University of Florida The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve J. Daniel (Danny) Husband has been the botanist for The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve since May 2007. Dr. Husband’s graduate research focused on plant ecology and systematics (M.S.), and plant stress physiology (Ph.D.). Danny has worked in both academia and in the private sector as a wetland/environmental consultant. His research interests include conservation and restoration of natural plant communities, wetland and aquatic plant ecology, vegetation monitoring, and rare plant population dynamics and monitoring. In addition, he continues collaborations, established during his Ph.D. research, with scientists outside TNC exploring the role of an organosulfur compound (dimethylsulfoniopropionate) in oxidative stress protection in higher plants. Dr. Husband has published peer reviewed articles in the areas of plant systematics (Castanea), and wetland plant biochemistry (Wetlands); as well as articles on wetland restoration and endangered species habitat protection/enhancement in the trade journal, Land and Water. Dan serves as co-coordinator and instructor of the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes workshop.
Eugene "Gene" M. Kelly Conservation Planner The Nature Conservancy "Gene" is the Conservation Planner for the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. His primary responsibility is to facilitate conservation planning for the Conservancy’s priority conservation areas and to assist in meeting the science needs of other Florida Chapter staff. He has both BS and MS degrees in Biology. Prior to joining the Conservancy he spent 16 years working at the Southwest Florida Water Management District where he was responsible for the development of management plans for lands purchased through the Save Our Rivers, Preservation 2000 and Florida Forever Programs. He also assisted in the evaluation of lands proposed for purchase. Gene is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Native Plant Society where he serves as Co-Chair of the Conservation Committee and he is a longtime member and former Chair of the Hernando County Environmentally Sensitive Lands Committee. Gene currently serves as the coordinator for the Conservation Site Assessment and Planning and instructor for the Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems courses.
Chris Matson Restoration Projects Coordinator The Nature Conservancy's Disney Wilderness Preserve Chris Matson graduated from Prescott College, Prescott Arizona in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in restoration ecology and minors in liberal arts and the humanities. Chris has worked as Restoration Projects Coordinator with The Nature Conservancy's Disney Wilderness Preserve since January 2003. He has worked in numerous technical field positions with for-profit, nonprofit and state agencies in Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois and Indiana, involved with ecosystem restoration in tallgrass prairie, oak savanna and other ecological communities in the prairie-forest transition of the Upper Midwest. Chris helps his wife, Amy raise two daughters, who both love flowers and insects (except cockroaches). He is a practicing native landscaper, permaculturist, ethnobotanist and heirloom-vegetable seed-saver. Chris currently serves as co-coordinator and instructor of the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes workshop.
Tom Matthews Recreation Planner Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Office of Recreation Services Tom M. Matthews has been a Recreation Planner with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Office of Recreation Services since September 2004. He works as part of a team developing and implementing outdoor recreation opportunities on FWC lands, with a focus on wildlife viewing and land management interpretation. Tom specializes in applications of GIS, GPS and other technologies to resource planning and management. Prior to joining FWC, he was Land Management Coordinator for the Crystal River State Buffer Preserve for 7.5 years following 1.5 years as a District Biologist with the Florida Park Service. Tom holds a BS in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Florida. As a 6th generation Floridian, Tom can be found kayak fishing, cooking barbecue, and trying to keep up with his 3 kids when not at work. Tom instructs the Applying Technology to Management workshop.
Debbie Miller, PhD, Associate Professor Wildlife Ecology and Conservation University of Florida West Florida REC Dr. Miller has been teaching at the West Florida Research and Education Center (WFREC) at the Milton Campus for 11 years. Her specialties are Plant Community Ecology, Wetland Ecology and Restoration Ecology. Prior to working at the University of Florida, Debbie was an Ecologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. She has also served as a Visiting Professor at Texas A&M University. Dr. Miller earned her MS and Ph.D. from Texas A&M University Rangeland Ecology and Management, and her B.S. in Biology from the University of West Florida. Debbie currently serves as coordinator and instructor for the Plant Communities of the Florida Panhandle course.
Raymond Mojica Land Manager Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program Raymond Mojica Jr. has been a Land Manager with the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program since April 1999. His area of responsibility is the nearly 360 acres of land that the EEL program manages within the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge including an oversight role in the development of the Barrier Island Sanctuary Management & Education Center. His focus has included the development of 4 miles of passive recreational trails, the removal of invasive exotic plants and collaboration with local educational institutions. Prior to joining the EEL program he held positions as the Science Coordinator/Assistant Dive Safety Officer at the Caribbean Marine Research Center in the Bahamas, as a salt marsh restoration coordinator within the Canaveral National Seashore, and as a fisheries researcher in the Bahamas studying the early life history of Nassau grouper and bonefish. Raymond holds a M.S. in Marine Biology from Florida Tech (1991) and a B.S. in Marine Science from Southampton College (1985). Raymond instructs the Applying Technology to Management workshop.
Robert Nelson Conservation Projects Manager University of Florida The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve and Osceola Plain Bob started his conservation career with the Department of Forestry in 1974 as a forest ranger. In 1985 he was assigned as Senior Ranger at Lake Arbuckle State Forest where he planned and conducted most management activities. Bob was first employed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 1993 at The Disney Wilderness Preserve as the assistant Stewardship Program Manager and later as Stewardship Program Manager in 1996. In 2005, he became the Conservation Projects Manager for DWP and the Osceola Plain Landscape. Most recently he has been working on various projects with TNC that require him to be regularly in touch with the ranching community on management and exotic plant issues. Bob is also active in the invasive exotic plant world. He represents Osceola Plain in TNC's Eastern Invasives Working Group, which is an information sharing group of invasive plant managers in the eastern U.S., including both TNC and partner organizations. He’s actively involved in the Central Florida Lygodium Strategy as, among other things, the liaison to the ranching community. He also active in FLEPPC. Bob’s community activities include: NRCS State Technical Committee, Florida Cattlemen's Beef Association, steering committee for the Florida Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, and president elect of Florida chapter of Society for Range Management. Bob currently serves as an instructor for the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes course.
Nels Parson Recreation Land Manager Division of Land Management St. Johns River Water Management District Nels Parson is a fourth-generation Floridian with a degree in Park Technology that emphases managing natural resources with public use. Nels spent 16 years with the Florida Park Service. During his tenure, Nels moved up from Ranger to Park Manager, managing a variety of parks with a diversity of natural and cultural resources. The last 15 years he has spent with the St. Johns River Water Management District's Division of Land Management. The first 7 years were as Regional Land Manager of an 8 county region which encompassed 18 conservation areas for a total of 150,000 acres. The last 8 years he has been the District’s Recreation Land Manager overseeing resource-based recreational development and public use for the SJRWMD’s 52 present conservation areas encompassing 700,000 acres in an 18 county area of NE Florida. Nels also represents the SJRWMD on the Florida Greenways & Trails Advisory Committee and was the 2007 recipient of "Friend of the Florida Trail" Award from the Florida Trail Association. Nels currently serves as a coordinator and instructor of the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas workshop.
Zach Prusak Florida Fire Manager University of Florida, The Nature Conservancy Zachary A. Prusak has been the Florida Fire Manager for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) since January 2005. The Florida Chapter of TNC owns and manages approximately 49,000 acres of conservation land in Florida, most of which requires some level of fire management. As the Florida Fire Manager, Zach supports members of the Florida Fire Team, which represent the on-site fire leaders and crew at places such as the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, the Disney Wilderness Preserve and the Tiger Creek Preserve by making sure they have the training necessary to safely implement prescribed fires. He also works with state, federal, local and private conservation groups in order to promote fire training opportunities and facilitate fire-on-the-ground partnerships, while serving as the Florida TNC liaison on national fire issues. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Zach was the South Region Land Manager for the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program, conducted fires and studied mosquito populations with the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and worked as a Biologist for the Florida Park Service. Zach has over 17 years' experience working with prescribed fire, and is qualified as a Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2). Zach holds both an M.S. and B.S. in Biology from the University of Central Florida. He has served as the Chair of the Central Florida Prescribed Fire Council, and is an active member of the International Association of Wildland Fire and the National Center for Science Education. Zach teaches fire related subjects for the Academy.
Amy Raub Public Outreach Coordinator University of Florida, Seminole County Natural Lands Program Amy joined Seminole County in January 2002. Amy graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, earning a B.S. in Environmental Systems and Minors in Environmental Management and Technical Communication, with a concentration in environmental health issues. She subsequently received her Juris Doctor from Mercer University School of Law in 2000, where she served on the Student Bar Association and as the President of the Environmental Law Society. Her primary responsibilities with the Natural Lands Program include working with land acquisition, managing the outreach program, including public outreach activities, managing the volunteer program and facilitating environmental education presentations and field trips. Amy is a graduate of the Natural Areas Training Academy and currently instructs the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.
Kristina Serbesoff-King Invasive Species Program Manager University of Florida, The Nature Conservancy Kristina Serbesoff-King has worked in the environmental field in Florida for more than 13 years. She worked for Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management for 4 years as a Biologist for the Wetlands program. Then Kris worked for South Florida Water Management District as a Staff Environmental Analyst in the Regulation Department for 3 years and as a Staff Environmental Scientist in the Vegetation Management Division for 3 years. She has been working with The Nature Conservancy for over three years and is responsible for driving the statewide Invasive Species Initiative for the Florida Chapter. Kris has extensive knowledge in invasive species issues in Florida including field identification, control methodology, policy and working with government agencies. Her educational background includes a BS in Biology and a BA in Foreign Language (German) from New Mexico State University and a M.S. in Environmental Studies from Florida International University. Kristina currently serves as an instructor in the Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes and Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems Courses.
Jodi Slapcinsky Monitoring Ecologist The Nature Conservancy Jodi L. Slapcinsky has been a Monitoring Ecologist for the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy since 1998. She earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology at George Mason University and a Masters of Science degree of Ecology at North Carolina State University. Her current research interests include plant demography and the effects of fire on rare plant species, and species and community monitoring and management in Florida natural areas. Prior to working for The Nature Conservancy, Jodi worked in the Botany Departments of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois and of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Jodi currently serves as an instructor for the Vegetation Monitoring in a Management Context course.
Mark Smith Education and Training Specialist Florida Park Service Mark Smith has worked for 19 years as Education and Training Specialist with the Florida State Parks District 2 office in Gainesville. As a lead instructor for FPS Basic Interpretive Training since 1995, Mark has taught hundreds of park rangers the value of interpretation to the parks, the park visitors and to the rangers themselves. From his office at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Mark assists 39 parks in North Florida in media relations, interpretive programming and marketing, as well as all other aspects of employee training. Prior to the Florida Park Service, Mark worked as a broadcast journalist in Jacksonville, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. Mark has served as an instructor in the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.
Joseph E. Smyth Park Manager University of Florida, Rainbow Springs State Park Joe is proud to be part of The Florida Park Service. He enjoys the opportunity to preserve "The Real Florida." He is currently the Park Manager at Rainbow Springs State Park. Joe Smyth has been with the Florida Park Service since March of 1982. He has served as the Park Manager of Big Lagoon/Perdido Key/Tarkiln Bayou Preserve (Pensacola), John D. MacArthur Beach (North Palm Beach)and Oscar Scherer State Park (Osprey). He was an Assistant Park Manager at Myakka River (Sarasota) and Manatee Springs (Chiefland) and Park Ranger at Ichetucknee (Fort White) and Ft. Clinch (Fernandina Beach). Between his assignments in Pensacola and Dunnellon Joe worked in Tallahassee heading up the Operational Compliance Program where he visited state parks throughout Florida to ensure standards and practices of the agency were being followed. Joe is a graduate of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He raised his sons, Patrick and Shawn, in several parks. He and his wife CeCe enjoy the Dunnellon community where they reside in the park. Joe has served as an instructor for the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.
Taylor Stein, Ph.D. Associate Professor School of Forest Resources and Conservation University of Florida Dr. Taylor V. Stein is an Associate Professor in Natural Resources Management – Ecotourism for the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. He teaches three courses, which focus on ecotourism planning and natural resources management and is currently the primary investigator in several nature-based recreation and tourism research projects ranging from the Florida Keys to the Apalachicola River in northern Florida. His specific research topics include developing opportunities for local residents to become involved in nature-based tourism enterprises, understanding how public agencies can efficiently partner with public and private organizations to expand nature-based tourism opportunities, and working with public land management agencies to design appropriate recreation management frameworks. Dr. Stein also has an extension appointment where he works with public and private organizations assisting in community development planning and nature-based recreation management. Taylor has been instructing the Managing for Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas course.
Jim Stevenson Florida Springs Stewardship Jim Stevenson served as Chief Biologist for the Florida State Park System for 20 years during which time he developed the educational and the land management programs for the state park system. He was Chairman of the Florida Springs Task Force that developed a protection strategy for Florida’s springs and he was Director of the Governor’s Florida Springs Protection Initiative that implements springs protection projects. Jim retired in 2003, after 38 years with the Department of Environmental Protection. In recognition of his dedication to the protection of Florida’s springs, the State of Florida named a spring on the Suwannee River “Stevenson Spring” in his honor. And for his longstanding stewardship of Florida’s public lands, the Governor and Cabinet dedicated the Department of Environmental Protection’s highest award the “Jim Stevenson Resource Manager of the Year Award” that is given annually to the most deserving state lands manager. Jim continues his efforts on behalf of Florida’s springs by coordinating the Wakulla Spring Basin and the Ichetucknee Springs Basin working groups. Jim currently serves as lead instructor for the Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems course.
Robert D. Sutter Senior Conservation Ecologist/Regional Scientist Southern U.S. Region, The Nature Conservancy Robert D. Sutter is currently the Senior Conservation Ecologist/Regional Scientist for the Southern U.S. Region (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN) of The Nature Conservancy. In that position he provides and facilitates the incorporation of the best available and most current ecological information into The Nature Conservancy’s conservation work, from the selection of sites to strategic planning and monitoring ecological change. His expertise is in developing ecologically-focused strategic conservation and adaptive management (sampling design, the analysis of monitoring data, and implementation of adaptive management) plans to direct and measure the success of conservation actions. He has worked extensively in adaptive management, with work at several Department of Defense installations and has done ecological research in Southern Appalachian wetlands and forests, longleaf pine forest systems, prairie remnants and isolated wetlands. With others in TNC he was one of the leaders in the development of the Conservation Action Planning process and developed the training workshop on ecological monitoring. He teaches Conservation Action Planning and ecological management within TNC and to other conservation organizations (DoD, USFS, USFWS, local land trusts). Rob received his undergraduate and Masters Degree in Botany from Duke University, with an emphasis in plant population ecology, and has taught short courses at Duke. He has worked for over 20 years in the conservation field, 13 with The Nature Conservancy, and has over 36 publications and reports in the conservation literature. Rob currently serves as an instructor for the Vegetation Monitoring in a Management Context course.
Mack Thetford, PhD, Associate Professorr Environmental Horticulture University of Florida West Florida Research and Education Center 5988 Hwy 90, Bldg 4900 Milton, FL 32583 Dr. Mack Thetford is an associate professor of Environmental Horticulture at the West Florida Research and Education Center in Milton, Florida, and also serves as the director of the Milton Gardens. His personal research interests center around two major areas. The first area is the propagation and production of native plants – particularly uncommon coastal species useful for dune restoration efforts. The second area of interest is evaluation of ornamental grasses and woody species for low input landscapes or for introduction into the woody cuts floral industry. When not getting his hands dirty with plants, Dr. Thetford enjoys supporting the arts and cultural community of Santa Rosa County, and also purchases and restores turn-of-the-20th-century Gulf Coast Florida houses. Mack serves as an instructor for the Plant Communities of the Florida Panhandle course.