I onboarded with the Hillsborough Soil and Water Conservation District ("Conservation District") in December 2023, having transitioned in from Hillsborough County Public Utilities. I began my natural resources career in the 1980's as a marine biologist, switching to freshwater ecology in rural settings in the 1990s. I worked at the Fish and Wildlife Commission for over a decade in the early 2000s, focusing on partnerships to improve wildlife habitat values on both government and private lands (the latter primarily being cattle lands). You'll find that my mindset is very focused on enabling privately held rural lands to continue to be managed as working lands as long as farm families are interested in staying in this part of the State.