2021 LID Conference Speaker Biographies
Center for Collaboration, Rockledge Florida
October 21–22, 2021
Mr. Albrecht is a water resources engineer with over 14 years of experience managing regional watershed systems and design of stormwater infrastructure. His expertise is focused on management of water resource and environmental systems, infrastructure development including flood protection, hydrologic restoration, and surface water treatment. He has conducted planning, design and permitting of a variety of stormwater management systems for both public and private sector clients throughout Florida, including over 20 Watershed/Lake Management Plans. He is well versed in all aspects of hydrologic, hydraulic, and water quality modeling and monitoring, surface water improvements, permitting, and Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping and analysis.
Dr. Eban Z. Bean is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist of Urban Water Resources Engineering at UF in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department. He is also a faculty member in the Program for Resource Efficient Communities and the Center for Land Use Efficiency. Dr. Bean’s applied research and extension programs focus on urban water resource sustainability primarily through collaboration with the development industry on irrigation conservation via soil amendments, partnering with state and local agencies to develop low-impact development and green stormwater infrastructure guidance for state and local planners, managers, and engineers, and developing low-cost water resource monitoring technologies. Dr. Bean has been working in urban hydrology and water quality for the past 18 years and is a licensed professional engineer.
Chris Bogdan is the Business Development Manager for Ferguson Waterworks Urban Green Stormwater division. Born and raised in Florida, Chris is passionate about protecting water. Chris has worked on green stormwater infrastructure projects throughout the Southeastern United States to manage stormwater runoff and improve water quality. Today, Chris is focused on helping design engineers and municipalities implement green infrastructure practices. He also works with developers and contractors to show them how green infrastructure design can improve their profitability while improving water quality.
Donald D. Carpenter, PhD, PE, LEED AP is an accredited green design professional and practicing professional engineer whose expertise includes low impact development (LID), stormwater management, hydrologic modeling, sustainability master planning and community engagement. As a nationally recognized stormwater expert, he advises states, municipalities, public authorities and non-profit organizations on stormwater treatment and LID retrofits. Finally, Dr. Carpenter is an active leader and board member for several committees and non-profit organizations dedicated to improving water quality and citizen quality of life.
Ms. Dewey is the Environmental Resource Program Manager for the permit review engineers in the District’s Regulatory Program. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida with both a BS and MS in Environmental Engineering. She holds a Professional Engineers license in the state of Florida. Ms. Dewey has worked for the St. Johns River Water Management District for 34.5 years, primarily in the Regulatory Program, but was also the senior engineer for about 4.5 years for the Lake Apopka Restoration Project.
Dr. Jason Evans is the Executive Director of Stetson University’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience. Trained as a landscape and systems ecologist, Jason is one of the nation’s leading researchers, practitioners, and teachers in the fields of coastal resilience and climate adaptation planning. He regularly conducts climate vulnerability assessments in collaboration with local, state, and federal authorities and specializes in identifying opportunities for integrating restoration of natural ecosystems in support of flood risk mitigation and water quality improvement. Over recent years Jason has worked extensively on climate resilience issues along the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia, including multiple projects implemented in the Florida Keys and the greater Indian River Lagoon watershed. Jason also serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Environmental Management, a top-ranked international publication within the fields of environmental science, engineering, planning, and governance. A native Floridian born and raised in Orlando, Jason received his B.A. (Philosophy) from New College of Florida and both his M.S. and Ph.D. (Interdisciplinary Ecology, with a concentration in Environmental Engineering Sciences) from University of Florida.
Kelli Hammer Levy received her B.S. in Marine Science from Eckerd College, her M.S. in Marine Science from the University of South Florida and her Master’s in Public Administration from Florida International University. Kelli is the Public Works Director for Pinellas County where she oversees seven Divisions including Capital Improvements, Construction Management, Customer Service, Environmental Management, Stormwater, Survey and Mapping, and Transportation. Kelli is the Past President of the Florida Stormwater Association, Vice Chair of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program Management Board and represents Pinellas County on the Tampa Bay Climate Science Advisory Panel. Kelli has been working on water quality, environmental, and stormwater issues in the Tampa Bay area for over 20 years.
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 one of the primary authors 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.
Mayor Wyatt Hoover has served on the Melbourne Beach Town Commission since 2016, including several years as Vice Mayor, and took office as Mayor in 2020. He is committed to the safety and well-being of Melbourne Beach’s residents and is always focused on how the growth throughout Brevard and East Central Florida will impact the Town’s ability to maintain its residential character and small-town feel. A Florida native, Wyatt has lived most of his life along the shores of the Indian River Lagoon and is committed to a full restoration, and the protection, of the Lagoon ecosystem.
Wyatt earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Florida State University and completed two years of graduate studies in Marine Biology and Ecology at Florida Tech. He later earned a Master’s in Public Administration from Florida Tech. He has a diverse professional background, including experience as an entrepreneur, in healthcare, in education, in cryptocurrency and blockchain, and in producing executive-level education events nationally and internationally.
Jeffrey Huber, FAIA, ASLA, NCARB, LEED AP is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the Florida Atlantic University. Huber is also a Principal and Director of Landscape Architecture, Urban Design and Planning at the internationally renowned firm of Brooks + Scarpa Architects, as well as manages the firm’s south Florida studio. As an agent for change, Huber utilizes supply-side design thinking to develop place-building solutions that address core challenges in our built environment to reshape architectural design and planning policy towards a more resilient and equitable future. Huber’s work combines ecological, landscape, urban, and architectural design with a focus on resiliency and adaptation. His design and research have garnered 75+ national and international design awards and have been published in numerous books and periodicals including Architect Magazine, Residential Architect, Metropolis, The Plan Journal, and Architectural Record. A recent project, Salty Urbanism, provides a design framework to address future sea-level rise adaptation in south Florida and received a National American Institute of Architects (AIA) Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design in 2018, this is the highest award that a project can receive in architecture and was the 18th Huber has received in the span of his career. Huber was elevated to AIA Fellow in 2021 and bestowed the Citizen Architect Award from AIA Florida in 2020 for his resiliency and adaptation design and planning work. Huber is a licensed architect and landscape architect and earned a Master of Architecture from the University of Florida and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Florida International University.
Dr. Pierce Jones graduated from UF in 1980 with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Professor at the University of Florida where he directs the Program for Resource Efficient Communities, an interdisciplinary group that promotes the adoption of “best design, construction and management practices” in master planned developments. The Program’s most recent workshops target Low Impact Development, GHG reduction in land development and evaluation of utility water conservation programs. Finally, his program directly participates in land development and building projects that adopt and demonstrate “green” practices.
Eric H. Livingston is a public servant who dedicated his life to the protection, management, and enhancement of our planet’s water resources. Why? Because when he was growing up in Eau Gallie during the 1960’s he saw and experienced the impacts on the Indian River from development associated with the space boom. For over 35 years, Eric worked at the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation /Protection in Tallahassee where he was involved in the development, administration, and evolution of several statewide water resource management programs. These included Florida’s Nonpoint Source Management Program, the Impaired Waters/TMDL/BMAP program, and the NPDES Stormwater program. However, Eric’s passion was his stewardship of Florida’s stormwater treatment program and ensuring it was the Nation’s best.Eric retired from DEP in April 2013 and created Watershed Management Services, LLC as a vehicle for him to continue to seek creative solutions for water quality management problems. He is working with local governments and environmental groups to help them reduce stormwater pollutant loadings to protect healthy waters and restore polluted water bodies.
Tara McCue is the Director of Planning and Community Development at the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council and has been at the council for over 18 years. Tara is an APA certified planner and works throughout the region on various projects and programs in the realms of community planning and policy development, health in the built environment, resilience and others. She has been instrumental in furthering resilience in the east central Florida region, as she has been working with regional, state and federal agencies, universities and jurisdictions to plan for sea level rise and other climate vulnerabilities. She co-authored two white papers examining land use impacts to rising sea level. Tara has a Bachelors in Marine Biology from UNC-Wilmington and a Masters in Environmental Resource Management from Florida Institute of Technology.
Kelli McGee is Executive Director of the Riverside Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that promotes living shoreline restoration and other nature-based solutions to improve water quality and aquatic habitat. As an environmental attorney and water quality advocate, Kelli has written and implemented federal and local laws, coordinated national clean-water campaigns, and drafted congressional testimony. As executive director of the Riverside Conservancy, located in Volusia County, Kelli works with the public and policy makers to promote the planting and conservation of “green infrastructure.” Having served in many capacities with Volusia County (including Director of Growth and Resource Management, Director of Planning and Development Services and Natural Resources Director), Kelli has extensive experience at the intersection of development and the environment.Prior to moving to Volusia County in 2002, Kelli enjoyed a notable career in the fields of ocean advocacy, public policy development and marine mammal research and rescue. She has been quoted in the New York Times, USA Today, and numerous other national and local outlets on water quality issues. Kelli previously served as California Director of Oceana in Los Angeles; Coastal Program Council with American Oceans Campaign in Washington, D.C.; and Research Associate with the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys. Her professional memberships include United States Supreme Court Bar, Florida Bar, District of Columbia Bar and the Indian River Lagoon Council Management Board and Finance Subcommittee.
Kelli holds a Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. where she served as a member editor of the George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics. Kelli earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, where she double majored in Biology and Psychology.
As a water resource professional and Division Manager for West Florida, Daniel Parsons focuses on improving our State’s water resources through the design of sustainable infrastructure. He brings 16 years of experience in watershed management planning, water resource design, and green infrastructure design. Mr. Parsons has supported the Greater Tampa Bay region in providing numerous watershed management plans, preliminary design reports, and final construction documents for cost feasible flood relief and quality improvement projects throughout his career.
Joanie managed Cocoa Beach’s Stormwater Utility, putting stormwater projects in the ground for over 25 years. Promoting green infrastructure and LID into urban redevelopment, these techniques address water quality, flooding and beautification throughout the City. Joanie was involved in the Florida Stormwater Association leadership since its inception and is active in community environmental organizations along the Indian River Lagoon. Joanie, a Marine Resources Council board member, envisions a sustainable IRL with lush tree canopy, rain gardens, elevated structures and porous pavements for a healthier lagoon!
Caity is a Florida native from Tampa where her love for the ocean was inspired by a childhood spent fishing and scuba diving. She has a diverse educational background with a B.S. in psychology from the University of Florida and a master of professional science from the University of Miami in marine conservation and geographic information systems (GIS). Her work experience includes many facets of environmental science including scientific diving, mangrove surveys, laboratory processing, and GIS analytics. She loves to learn and explore outdoors. Her current area of interest is living shorelines although she also desires to expand other important programs at MRC such as Muck Finders and Groundwater Monitoring.
Dr. Leesa Souto is the Executive Director for the MRC and adjunct faculty at FIT. She grew up in South Florida and after completing her bachelor’s degree in Biology at Florida State, she moved to Brevard County to help protect and preserve the beauty of this area. She received a Doctorate from UCF with expertise in urban ecology that links human geography, structures and behaviors to water quality impacts. Her research focuses on groundwater impacts to the lagoon, muck management strategies, fertilizer, 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 UCF’s Stormwater Management Academy. She loves the water and exploring new ecosystems in Florida and around the world.
Dr. Marty Wanielista is professor emeritus at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. Marty has been part of teams that have completed over 200 stormwater management plans that have been built and conducted over 100 research projects. He has graduated with advanced degrees over 100 students, has over 300 publications and has been conducting stormwater management work for 55 years. He has for the last 20 years worked with green infrastructure or low impact development and as a designer of systems.He has a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Detroit, Masters from Manhattan College, and PhD in Environmental Systems from Cornell.
His present research is in the removal of nutrients and in water reuse from stormwater management systems. Many of his publications and computer models are used by professionals and can be downloaded from the Stormwater Academy web site, www.stormwater.ucf.edu, or from https://stars.library.ucf.edu/bmptrains/.
Shane has been the stormwater and water resource engineer for the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department since January of 2018. He is responsible for implementing the stormwater treatment standards in the County’s water quality code and the design and construction of stormwater retrofit projects that emphasize Low Impact Design (LID). Prior to working in Alachua County, he worked for Marion County for 14 years overseeing various stormwater retrofit projects, watershed management plans, and floodplain revisions. Retrofit projects he has overseen include stormwater wetlands, bioretention, pervious pavement installation, placement of Biosorption Activated Media (BAM) in retention ponds, and other LID techniques. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Florida and is also a graduate of Villanova University.
As a Senior Project Manager, Chris Zambito supports Atkins’ growth efforts in coastal resiliency and climate adaptation planning. He brings 20+ years of experience in related fields of floodplain management, hazard mitigation, and emergency management. Mr. Zambito supports communities with holistic planning programs such as the Local Mitigation Strategy and FEMA’s Community Rating System. Chris has served as the Chair of the Florida Floodplain Managers Association and currently leads their regulatory subcommittee.