Wildlife Conservation
Dan Pennington, Community Planner
Currently at 1000 Friends of Florida Dan is planner with a long background in working with environmental and community planning issues in Florida. Recently, he has been project manager for several projects including developing a Florida-based document on Wildlife Habitat Planning Strategies, Design Features and Best Management Practices for Florida Communities and also for the Florida Panhandle Initiative which worked to improve local and regional land use decisions.
Dan also works extensively on Springs and Karst areas protection issues including development of the manual entitled, Protecting Florida's Springs - Land Use Planning Strategies and Best Management Practices and recently as the project coordinator for the report entitled, "Degradation of Water Quality at Wakulla Springs.”
Dan was project manager for the Waterfronts Florida Program at 1000 Friends. This effort focused on revitalizing smaller, economically depressed waterfront communities through educating local citizens on environmental and cultural resource protection, hazard mitigation, economy and public access.
Dan received his Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida State University with specializations in growth management and environmental planning and B.S. in Biology from the University of Central Florida.
Prior to joining 1000 Friends, he worked for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reviewing local government comprehensive plans and amendments, groundwater protection planning, federal project review, developments of regional impact and regional policy plans. He also managed special projects such as local greenway development, military base closure planning and ecosystem management efforts within the Green Swamp and other environmentally sensitive areas. He also edited the Environmental Exchange Point, a newsletter addressing natural resource protection, infrastructure planning and other land and water quality and management issues.
Stephanie Rousso
Florida Wildlife Commission
Stephanie Rousso has been working as a wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for three years. Currently, she provides technical assistance reviews on development projects by evaluating wildlife impacts and mitigation measures. She actively coordinates with local governments and non-governmental organizations on conserving regionally significant wildlife corridors. She also works with private landowners by educating them on opportunities and methods to conserve wildlife habitat while maintaining their working ranch or farm. Recently, Ms. Rousso and Mr. Ted Hoehn (co-worker) were recipients of a Superior Accomplishment Award; FWC Team of the Year 2007-2008, for developing the Florida Wildlife Conservation Guide (due out: spring 2009).
Ms. Rousso has previous experience in California and Texas conducting commensal relationship research on marine turtles and benthic macro invertebrates, coastal and riparian habitat restoration projects, and various terrestrial herpetofauna and invertebrate diversity studies. She has a B.S. in Biology from California State University and graduate work in Marine Ecology from San Diego State University.
Ms. Rousso has been an active member and committee member for over four years with the Florida Chapter of the Wildlife Society and has recently accepted a board member position. In her free time, she volunteers for the Duval County sea turtle patrol conducting sea turtle nest surveys, data analysis, training programs, and outreach. She also volunteers on field research projects and fundraisers for the Guana National Estuary Research Reserve, Northeast Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and First Coast surfrider. Ms. Rousso also volunteers for outreach and educational programs to schools in St. Johns, Duval, Flagler, and Clay counties on wildlife conservation.
Nancy Anne Payton
Southwest Florida Field Representative
Florida Wildlife Federation
Nancy Payton has over thirty-five years experience in nature advocacy. She began her career in
1972 with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and was selected the
organization’s first policy advocate in 1978.
In 1994 Ms. Payton joined the Florida Wildlife Federation. As the Southwest Florida Field
Representative, she coordinates the Federation’s Western Everglades rural lands and wildlife
protection campaigns. These campaigns include growth management, listed species recovery, land
acquisition, and habitat restoration and preservation.
In 1999 in response to a Florida Wildlife Federation, Collier County Audubon Society, and Florida
Department of Community Affairs legal challenge, a building moratorium was imposed on Collier’s
rural lands and a three-year community planning effort was mandated. As a result, tens of thousands
of wildlife habitat acres on private lands will be protected through innovative and incentive-based
programs that reward landowners for managing their lands to benefit nature.
Ms. Payton is currently working with landowners and conservation organizations to further protect and
recover the endangered Florida panther through the Florida Panther Protection Program partnership
and through habitat enhancements to Collier County’s Rural Lands Stewardship Program.
Ms. Payton was a leader in the successful 2006 campaign to extend Conservation Collier, the county’s
land buying program, until 2013. Over 80% of the voters approved the extension.
In 2000 the Ft. Myers News-Press identified Ms. Payton as a “Person to Watch” because she
“helped give natural resource protection a higher profile than it’s had in recent years in Collier and Lee
counties.” In 2001 Naples Daily News dubbed her the “area's No. 1 ombudsman for the environment
and meaningful growth management” and the Editorial Page Editor named Ms. Payton his 2001
Person of the Year.
In 2003 Ms. Payton was nominated to the Naples Area Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Institute, a
prestigious group of Collier County individuals who have demonstrated leadership skills and serve as
role models for upcoming community leaders.
In 2005 the Everglades Coalition, a consortium of over fifty local, state and federal advocacy
organizations, awarded Ms. Payton the John V. Kabler Award for grassroots activism.
In 2006 Collier County commissioners unanimously named the county’s red-cockaded woodpecker
preserve in her honor to acknowledge her efforts on behalf of endangered wildlife.
The Urban Land Institute Southwest Florida District presented Payton with its 2009 Pathfinder
Award.
Ms. Payton holds a B.A. in history from the State University of New York at Albany.
Lisa B. Beever, PhD, AICP
Director
Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program
Dr. Lisa Beever is the Director of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program in Florida. She joined the NEP staff in March 2002 but participated in its programs from its beginning in 1995. She presented original research at the Charlotte Harbor NEP’s first watershed summit and implemented a restoration grant on behalf of the Charlotte Harbor chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. During her tenure with the NEP, she authored the Advocacy and Review Procedures, Lower Charlotte Harbor Reconnaissance Report, and a database and mapping system to track restoration and science needs and implementation.
From 1993-2002, Dr. Beever was the director for the Charlotte County-Punta Gorda Metropolitan (transportation) Planning Organization. Her agency won the highly competitive Environmental Excellence award from Federal Highway Administration for work that was accomplished in partnership with the NEP. Dr. Beever played an important role in creating Charlotte County’s first public transit system. She pioneered the use of simulation games for public participation programs. She designed several games still in use today including “Strings and Ribbons,” “Cost Feasible Survey,” and “Planit-Buildit.” Prior to that, she served as Lee County, Florida’s Environmental Sciences Director, in charge of environmental planning, permitting, and enforcement. She authored the Protected Species Ordinance, which became the model for local listed species ordinances in the State of Florida. She began her career in 1985 as a planner with the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department.
Dr. Beever earned her PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University in 1987, a Master of Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State University in 1983, and a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture in 1982.
Historic Preservation
Karen Nickless
Dr. Karen Nickless is the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Field Representative for the State of Florida.
Dr. Nickless has twenty-plus years of preservation and museum experience. She is a former Director of the Edisto Island (SC) Museum, Director of Education and Research and Education at Drayton Hall (a National Trust historic site), Assistant Curator of Folklife at McKissick Museum (University of South Carolina) and Curator of Education at Historic Columbia (SC) Foundation. She has also worked as a consultant in the field of historic preservation and taught Historic Preservation at The College of Charleston. She has Master of Arts degrees in History and Women’s Studies and a PhD in History.
Laura Lee Corbett
Laura Lee Corbett offers a variety of historic preservation services with an emphasis on community revitalization, not-for-profit development and cultural resource management. She provides technical assistance to Main Street programs, Community Redevelopment Agencies, not-for-profit organizations and government agencies on the local, state and federal levels. She is an approved consultant in the areas of organizational development, fund-raising, business recruitment, property development, historic preservation, promotion, public relations and advertising by both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Florida Department of State.
As a professional architectural historian and historic preservationist, Ms. Corbett meets the Secretary of the Interior’s professional qualifications standards. She assists private sector clients to comply with various cultural resource laws in development projects. She is experienced in handling Section 106 or Federal undertakings, Developments of Regional Impact and local regulations. Ms. Corbett also provides technical assistance to FEMA’s disaster programs to fulfill the agency’s legal responsibilities under various historic preservation laws, Executive Orders and regulations.