I am an ecologist with over 37 years of field experience in habitats ranging from the open ocean to xeric uplands.  I am a Certified Senior Ecologist with Ecological Society of America, a Senior Certified Military Natural Resource Professional, and a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner.  In the early 80’s I started my career getting paid to chase fish while still in college – both as an environmental consultant studying impacts to fish populations by power plant cooling systems in southeast Lake Ontario and also as a stream guide specializing in fly fishing for salmonids. While continuing my quest to collect university degrees in the natural resources, starting inland and working towards saltwater, I decided the open ocean looked like a great place to chase fish.  After spending one too many hurricanes out to sea and the epiphany that all great mutiny stories must have started with a storm, a ship Captain wanting to stay out to sea, and a seasick crew wanting to in the opposite direction, I decided coastal marine biology was pretty cool.

For the next 15 or so years my interest transitioned coastal habitat restoration and management.  While surveying mangroves at MacDill Air Force Base back in the 80’s, I realized that natural resources management on military installations was impressive.  While still in the private sector, I focused on coastal habitat management in military installations in Florida and Caribbean – surveying marsh rabbits and enhancing existing habitat to boost their numbers, restoring sea grass meadows, surveying juvenile fish use of recently created saltmarshes.  Soon my geographic area spread inland where I continue to manage and restore habitats in freshwater wetlands, riparian areas, and upland communities, with my home base being in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Over the past 30-some years, I have worked in all 50 states, and 6 territories – from northern Maine to American Samoa, up through Guam and Okinawa, over to Attu Island, and down to the US Virgin Islands.  I have supported natural resources work and the military mission at most Air National Guard Bases, and well over 100 Air Force bases, Army Posts, Marine Corps Stations, and Navy Bases throughout North America.  My passion for landscape-level natural resources management is fueled by supporting the origin or revision to over 40 INRMPs at 35 installations.  I continue to be a staunch supporter of NMFWA, both as an organization to bring natural resources practitioners together to discuss different scientific methods and techniques, but also as a consolidated group working together to manage natural resources on military lands.  As we continue to experience re-interpretation of regulations and policy, this level of communication, coordination, and cooperation among the military natural resources practitioners is increasingly important.  I feel role of the NMFWA Regional Directors is to help bring people and ideas together; mesh science, policy, and mission support together; disseminate information; and help each other manage natural resources on military lands, and I would be honored to fill that role on your behalf.