Keynote Speaker: Herschel T. Vinyard Jr.

Herschel T. Vinyard Jr., Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will deliver the keynote address for the conference. Vinyard, who holds a law degree from Louisiana State University and practiced environmental law for 10 years, was formerly the director of business operations at BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards, the world’s second largest defense contractor.

 

Additional confirmed speakers and topics to date:

“Boating and the Marine Industry”
Dustan “Dusty” McCoy
President and CEO, Brunswick Corporation
Brunswick is the world manufacturing leader in marine boats and engines, will speak about trends, growth and innovation in the marine industry. McCoy joined Brunswick in 1999 as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, and was named chairman and CEO in December 2005. He holds a law degree from Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University.

 

“Comprehensive boat ramp inventory and web applications for planning waterway management”
Bill Sargent
Research Analyst, Division of Law Enforcement, Boating and Waterways Section
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Sargent conducts research and analysis of boating access, boating safety, and waterway management issues to facilitate safe, fair and effective management of Florida waterways and waterway assets.

“The Law and Policy of Ports and Working Waterfronts in Florida”
Thomas Ankersen and Meagan Standard
Ankersen is a legal skills professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he directs the law school’s Conservation Clinic, housed in the Center for Governmental Responsibility.  The Clinic represents clients in the governmental, non-governmental and private sectors in environmental and land use matters. Ankersen also serves as a statewide legal specialist for Florida Sea Grant, providing legal and policy support to the state’s marine extension network and its constituents. Current work has focused on issues concerning public water access and the preservation of “working waterfronts.”   He holds a J.D. from the University of Florida where he was a member of the Law Review.

Standard is a third-year law student and Conservation Clinic associate at the University of Florida Levin College of Law where she will be receiving the J.D. Certificate in environmental and land-use law.  Standard grew up in the working waterfront of Crystal River, Fla.

“Port of Miami Dredging Project”
Spencer Crowley
Crowley is a land-use and environmental attorney and shareholder with the law firm of Akerman Senterfitt in Miami. His practice focuses on large-scale land use and environmental permitting matters, including zoning, growth management, urban development, transportation, sovereignty submerged lands, coastal regulation, marina permitting, wetlands and water resources. He has worked with the Governor’s Commission for a Sustainable South Florida, the South Florida Water Management District, and the Duke University Wetlands Center in the Florida Everglades. In addition to his private practice, Spencer serves on the committee charged with reviewing and recommending changes to Miami-Dade County’s Manatee Protection Plan; the Florida Inland Navigation District; and the City of Miami’s Waterfront Advisory Board.

“Good Mooring to You: Jensen Beach Managed Mooring Field”
Penny Cutt
Environmental Permitting Regional Manager
Coastal Systems International, Inc.
Cutt holds a B.S. in agricultural operations management from the University of Florida, and a M.S. in marine biology and coastal zone management from Nova Southeastern University. Prior to joining Coastal Systems in 2007, she had 13 years experience in the field of environmental monitoring, assessment, planning and regulatory permitting at the local, state and federal levels.  Cutt is the regional manager of Coastal Systems’ West Palm Beach office, where she manages workflow and product delivery in both the West Palm Beach and Coral Gables offices.  She identifies key issues and project needs to achieve environmentally sustainable ecosystem solutions on beach, marina, and other open water projects.

“The Status of Florida’s Ports”
Jennifer Krell Davis
Krell Davis serves as the vice president of public affairs for the Florida Ports Council, a nonprofit corporation and the professional association for Florida’s 15 deepwater seaports and their management. Davis brings over a decade of communications and public affairs experience to the Florida Ports Council. She comes from the Office of Attorney General Pam Bondi where she served as deputy communications director and press secretary.  She has also served  as communications director for the Florida Department of State, and spokesperson for the Secretary of State, which included overseeing media activities for Florida’s 2008 and 2010 elections. Previously, Davis was communications director for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, special projects coordinator for The Florida Bar, and an attorney for the Florida House of Representatives. Davis holds a B.A. in English from Florida State University, and a law degree from the University of Florida.

“Online GIS applications for Easy Access to Waterway Information”
Alexandra Carvalho
CMar Consulting, LLC
Carvalho’s interests are in coastal and marine spatial data management and spatial planning. He holds a Ph.D. in oceanography and coastal zone management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He has worked in coastal environmental and GIS consulting for over 10 years, and began CMar Consulting one year ago.

“Port of the Miami River Marine Group”
Andrew W. J. Dickman
Dickman began his legal practice in 2000 after a successful 10-year career as a public-sector urban planner implementing growth management plans at the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council, assessing water quality and environmental resources at the St. Johns River Water Management District in Palatka, Fla. He was an associate at the Miami law firm of Bilzin, Sumberg, Dunn, Baena, Price & Axelrod, LLC. He holds undergraduate and a masters degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Florida. He holds a law degree from Nova Southeastern University. In addition to his law practice, Andrew Dickman served four years as an elected official for the Village of El Portal, Fla., and as the policy director for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples. He is the vice-chair of the Collier County Environmental Advisory Council, and he is an adjunct professor at the Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, where he teaches land use and environmental law.

“Navigating the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Permit Process”
Angela Ryan
Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Ryan holds a B.A. in environmental studies from Florida Gulf Coast Universityand Planning. She evaluates Department of the Army Section 404 (Clean Water Act) and Section 10 (Rivers and Harbors Act) permit applications for work in waters of the US. She also prepares final National Environmental Policy Act documents for applications, conduct wetland delineations, perform functional assessments of aquatic resources, ensure adherence to federal environmental laws and make permit decision recommendations to the District Engineer.

“Florida Clean Vessel Act Program and Clean Marina Program”
Brenda Leonard
Clean Marina Program Manager, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Leonard holds a B.S. in environmental science and an M.S. in public administration
Leonard administers the Clean Marina and Clean Vessel Act programs, and provides guidance to the six district coordinators throughout the state.

“Charting a course for waterway projects statewide”
Bryan D. Flynn, PE
Project Manager, Port and Coastal Engineering Practice
Atkins North America
Flynn is responsible for the permitting, design and construction oversight of projects statewide that include coastal structures, dredging, restoration and remediation.

“Anchoring Away: Local government regulation and the rights of navigation in Florida”
Byron Flagg, Esq.
Flagg is a veteran Boatswain’s Mate of the U.S. Coast Guard, and practices law in Gainesville as The Flagg Firm, P.L. His practice now includes environmental law, land-use law, local government law and criminal defense. Prior to receiving his law degree in 2002, he worked in the Florida Legislature, was a staff assistant for U.S. Senator Bob Graham, and also served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves from 1998-2005. He was recalled to active duty in response to 9-11 and again in 2003.

“Charlotte County Marine Access Study”
Elizabeth Staugler
Florida Sea Grant Extension Agent, Charlotte County, University of Florida IFAS
Staugler holds a B.A. in environmental studies and an M.S. in environmental science from Florida Gulf Coast University. In her capacity with UF/IFAS Extension, she develops comprehensive marine and natural resource educational programs that focus on sustainable coastal communities, boating and waterways management, marine recreational fisheries, commercial fisheries and habitat/water quality issues.

“The Florida Boating and Angling Guide Series: In Print and On the Web”
Chris Anderson
Research Associate, Cartographer
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Anderson holds a B.S. in geography with a minor in biology from Florida State University. He has completed coursework in graduate studies from the University of South Florida and graphic design from St. Petersburg College. He is responsible for providing GIS support to FWC staff, as well as the creation of the printed and online Boating and Angling Guides for multiple estuaries around the state. He is also a member of the FWC Oil Response Team, which provides GIS support to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Emergency Response.

“Waterway access planning in a rural coastal community supports efforts to promote tourism”
Jack Brown
County Administrator, Taylor County
Brown holds a B.S. in business education from the University of Florida and three master’s degrees: an M.S. in business administration from the Florida Institute of Technology, a Master of National Security and Strategy from the United States Naval Staff College, and a Master of Military Arts in Theater Operations from the Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies. He retired from the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1996. He has served as an elected county commissioner in Taylor County, and as the director of administration and development at the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University. He has been county administrator since 2007.

“The National Working Waterfront and Waterways Network”
Jack Wiggin
Director, Urban Harbors Institute, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Wiggins holds an M.S. in urban studies and planning, and a B.A. in sociology. As director of the Urban Harbors Institute, he is responsible for the institute’s research, education, and public service priorities which span topics of ocean and coastal management, port and harbor planning, environmental protection and sustainable development. He has over 30 years of experience in government, the private sector, and academia developing and implementing coastal and marine policy, planning and management strategies at the national, state, and local levels of government  in the US and abroad.

“Pioneering “ADA-Friendly” Blue Trail Water Access Design”
Jenna Vogt-Phillips
Coastal Engineer/Project Manager, Coastal Technology Corp
Vogt-Phillips holds an M.S. in coastal engineering and a B.S. in ocean engineering from Florida Institute of Technology. As a coastal Engineer and project Manager, her responsibilities include project planning, client coordination/stakeholder outreach, site evaluations, analysis, numerical modeling, design, and construction supervision of various project types. Her primary emphasis is in marine and waterfront structures. She has  designed several diverse waterfront projects on Florida’s east and west coasts, specializing in shoreline stabilization, marina design and rehabilitation, artificial reef design and analysis, and beach nourishment. As a certified diver, she has also performed underwater dive investigations for seawalls, bulkheads, and artificial reefs.

“Recommendations for Mooring Field Development”
Mark Leslie
Marina Manager, City of Titusville
Leslie holds a B.A. in public administration from the University of Central Florida. He is currently the manager of the Titusville Municipal Marina where he oversees the daily operations and maintenance of the City’s marina and its recently installed mooring field. He is currently appointed to the Florida Boating Advisory Council representing the boating public. He is also a past chair of the Florida Clean Boating Partnership, and is a past president of the Marine Industries Association of Brevard County.

“How Can a Community Based Social Marketing Approach Help Us Understand Boater Behavior?”
Paul Monaghan
Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication
University of Florida
Monaghan is a statewide extension specialist promoting the use of Community Based Social Marketing among extension faculty seeking to influence behavior change among the public. His research includes collaborations with extension agents on water conservation behaviors among homeowners, approaches to improve resilience in coastal communities and changing boater behaviors in order to protect seagrass meadows. From 2002-2008, he directed the Partnership for Citrus Worker Health, a pilot project of the Florida Prevention Research Center funded by the CDC that applied social marketing to agricultural labor issues. Prior to that experience, he was a researcher with the Together for Agricultural Safety project, which also linked academic researchers in public health at UF with the farmworker community in central Florida.

“Sebastian Inlet channel dredging, resource protection and safety improvements”
Martin S. “Marty” Smithson
Executive Director, Sebastian Inlet District
Smithson holds a B.S. in biological sciences from East Tennessee State University and completed graduate coursework in fisheries science. He has over 25 years experience with restoration project management in the Indian River Lagoon system. The last seven years have been devoted to managing the connection between the Sebastian Inlet and ICW through navigation channel improvements and Inlet Management Plan development and implementation.

“Inlet specific and seasonal variation in vessel use patterns: the case of the northeast FL region”
Nancy Montes
Researcher, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida
Montes hold a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, and a master’s degree in fisheries and aquatic sciences from the University of Florida. Currently a Ph.D. student at UF.

“On-Water Access”
Peggy Mathews
President, MW Consulting
Representative, American Watercraft Association
Mathews is a native Floridian with a bachelor’s degree in marine biology. She has an extensive background working in marine resource management and the boating industry, including 25 years experience with state and federal agencies on research, resource protection, management, and regulation. For the past 17 years, Mathews has worked as a Florida government relations’ representative in the marine industry. She has represented the American Watercraft Association, the Personal Watercraft Industry Association, Citizens for Florida Waterways and the Florida Marine Contractors Association and others on access issues. In addition, she was appointed by the Governor to the Florida Boating Advisory Council, as the marine manufacturers’ representative.

“Florida’s At-Risk Vessel Program”
Phil Horning
Derelict Vessel Program Planner, Division of Law Enforcement, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Horning holds a B.S. from Florida State University. He serves as the statewide derelict vessel database trainer, the database administrator, and as a member of the state emergency response team. He served six years in the U.S. Army.

“2020 Vision – Managing Anchored Vessels on Waters of the State”
Janet Luce
Senior Technical Coordinator, Atkins North America
Luce holds a B.S. in business administration from the State University of New York at Brockport. She has 20 years experience with Atkins North America and is currently providing project management services within the Port and Coastal Engineering Practice. Since 2005, she has assisted the Boating and Waterways Section of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission with management of projects including waterway regulatory markers, vessel traffic studies, derelict and at-risk vessels, and boater education.

“Intracoastal waterway and other federal shallow draft inlets”
Shelley Trulock
Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District
Trulock holds a B.S. in architectural design and construction. She has nearly 20 years experience with the Corps of Engineers, and serves as project manager in the water resources navigation branch, where she manages both maintenance dredging projects and beach renourishment projects.

“Managed Mooring Field Permitting, Submerged Land Leases, and the board of trustees… how can I speed up the process?”
Timothy Rach
Bureau Chief, Bureau of Submerged Lands and Environmental Resources
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Rach holds a B.S. in marine biology from Troy University and an M.S. in biology from Old Dominion University. He is responsible for managing the Bureau’s permitting, compliance/enforcement, and rule-making program in Tallahassee, as well as providing oversight and guidance to the six district offices and the five water management districts. He has 17 years experience with DEP in environmental regulation and resource protection.

“Permitting issues for boating and waterway infrastructure”
Virginia C. Dailey
Hopping Green & Sams Attorneys and Counselors
Dailey has a statewide practice in administrative law and environmental law. She represents clients before local, state and federal government officials, agencies, courts and elected bodies, including county commissions, Governor and Cabinet, and the Florida Legislature, on a variety of environmental, land use, regulatory and proprietary matters. Dailey represents clients on coastal regulation matters, submerged land approvals and water resource permitting. She also represents electric utilities in power plant and power line siting and permitting. She regularly speaks throughout the state on matters relating to environmental permitting and licensing, and teaches courses periodically at the Florida State University College of Law.

“Enhancing Public Access: examples of innovative partnerships and funding by the City of Clearwater, FL”
William Morris
Director, Marine and Aviation Department, City of Clearwater
Morris holds a B.S. degree in economics and management, with a minor in fisheries management from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy; and an MBA from the University of South Florida. After graduating from the Academy in 1976, he served active duty till 1998. He has been with the City of Clearwater since his retirement from military service in 1998.

“Team O.C.E.A.N.: On-the-water Education and Outreach in Rookery Bay”
Kyle Yurewitch
Team O.C.E.A.N. Coordinator, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Team O.C.E.A.N. (Ocean Conservation Education Action Network) is a program that places boating volunteers from the local community out on the water to greet and interact with fellow boaters. The volunteers promote safe and enjoyable public use of the marine environment while protecting its natural resources. As coordinator, Yurewitch conducts outreach to recruit volunteers, and is also involved in developing specific messages to be conveyed and the materials (brochures, publications, DVDs, etc.) that will be used to convey the concept of personal stewardship. He is a senior biology and environmental sciences student at Florida Gulf Coast University.

“Completion of the Regional Waterway Management System in the four-county West Coast Inland Navigation District”
Bob Swett
Associate Professor, Program in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida
Swett is coordinator of the Boating and Waterway Planning Program and serves as the Florida Sea Grant specialist on boating and waterway management issues within Florida’s Cooperative Extension Service. Swett holds a Ph.D. from the University of Florida. His mission is to build a comprehensive extension and research program designed to foster the responsible use and management of Florida’s waterways. Strategic goals are achieved through a combination of extension activities and applied research supported by extramural funding and achieved through collaborative partnerships.

Conference Rapporteur
Tom Murray
Resource Economist, Virginia Sea Grant
Murray has practiced applied natural resource economic analysis for more than thirty years. With broad experience in economic development, marine industry economics, teaching and research, he is qualified as an expert economist in federal, and numerous state courts. His work has addressed financial feasibility analysis and forecasting; marine industry infrastructure development; product market development; economic impact analysis; and industry consensus building and conflict resolution. His career has provided wide-ranging, multi-faceted experience related to the marine industries. He has served as principal investigator on over 200 regional marine industry development projects in the Southeast, with public funding in excess of $6 million. He is a professor of marine business and coastal economic development at the College of William and Mary’s Graduate School of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and has developed an applied economics program and advised on coastal resources development issues.

“Climate Change Effects on Boating in Florida’s Coastal and Inland Waterway”
Randall Parkinson
Parkinson is president of RWParkinson Consulting, Inc., a firm specializing in geological issues associated with the management and protection of coastal resources. He holds a B.S. in environmental science from Cornell College, a M.S. in geology from the University of Iowa, and a Ph.D. in marine geology and geophysics from the University of Miami. He is a registered professional geologist with the state of Florida. Prior to forming his own company, he was an associate professor of geological oceanography at Florida Institute of Technology.

“The Legal Requirements for Establishing Boating Restricted Areas”
Shaun Davis
Planner, Waterway Unit, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Davis responsible for waterway management issues on the East Coast of Florida from Flagler County through the Florida Keys, including Lake Okeechobee and the St. John’s River from the headwaters to Putnam County. He is also responsible for the maintenance and installation of waterway markers delineating state manatee protection and boating safety zones, Florida Uniform Waterway Marker permits, evaluating boating safety zone requests and technical assistance on FWC’s Anchoring and Mooring Pilot Program.  He holds a B.S. in criminology from Florida State University, and has been with the FWC since 2006.