Board of Directors
Krystal Pree Hepburn Dr. Krystal Pree Hepburn is an Environmental Scientist and Policy Analyst who serves as the CEO/Founder of EnviroStewards Consulting, LLC, a Christian-based environmental consulting and advocacy firm that seeks to improve global human and environmental health and serve stakeholder needs through the advancement of environmental justice and the promotion of economic development for future generations. EnviroStewards Consulting, LLC provides grant-writing assistance, natural resources management via Qualitative/Quantitative Research; human health risk assessments; environmental outreach, awareness, and education; environmental policy framework design, and more. Dr. Hepburn also currently serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Training Program at OAI, Inc., where she also holds a position as Senior Director. One of her primary roles is to oversee and manage 2 major programs: 1) the Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP); and 2) the Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP). She formerly held a similar role as PI at the Sustainable Workplace Alliance. Dr. Hepburn also currently serves as Program Director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfields Job Training Grant for the Pioneer Bay Community Development Corporation in Port St. Joe, FL. Dr. Hepburn’s academic background consists of a Ph.D. in Environmental Science with a concentration in Environmental Policy and Risk Management from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL., where she investigated possible factors involved in recreational fishers’ exposure to red tides (Karenia brevis) in Lee County, FL. While at Baylor University, she acquired a M.S. degree in Environmental Science at Baylor University in Waco, TX, where she conducted a study using extrapolation methods to develop toxicity metrics for a human health risk assessment of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Dr. Hepburn also obtained her B.S. degree in Fisheries Biology from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Daniel Nedvidek Mr. Nedvidek has spent the last decade assisting public and private sector clients with navigating the Brownfield remediation process throughout the Southeast. He is a licensed professional geologist in Florida and Tennessee with a background focused on land reuse in highly developed urban areas. His work in Florida includes time as the Brownfield Program Manager for Pinellas County, and he is currently the Florida Division Brownfield Manager for Terracon.
Melissa Schick
Jorge Caspary Jorge Caspary, P.G. is a Principal with Cameron-Cole, LLC, an environmental consulting firm. Mr. Caspary has 30 years of technical and managerial experience in the areas of environmental assessment and site cleanup, Brownfields redevelopment, and contaminated property reuse strategies. He is involved in the redevelopment of several Brownfields sites across Florida. As a former Director of the Division of Waste Management within the FDEP, he was involved in the development and implementation of new environmental policy, rules, and guidance in the State of Florida that have benefited Florida’s Brownfields redevelopment. He is a former Board member and President of the Florida Brownfields Association and during his tenure as President, he was instrumental in the development of a Strategic Plan for the Association and re-engagement with the Association’s Foundation. Mr. Caspary holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Florida State University and a B.S. in Geology from the University of Florida.
Lisa Duchene Lisa M. Duchene, Esq., Of Counsel to The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A., practices environmental law exclusively and assists a broad range of private-sector and public-sector clients with issues relating to Brownfields redevelopment, regulatory compliance, due diligence in real estate transactions, contaminated site cleanup with expertise in conditional closures, and the associated financial incentives under a variety of local, state and federal programs. Prior to joining the firm in June 2018, Ms. Duchene served as a Senior Attorney for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for 25 years, along with a year of service as the Staff Attorney to the Florida House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources. Over her many years as an FDEP Program Attorney, Ms. Duchene specialized in rulemaking and legislative activities, and she advised and assisted the following programs: Brownfields, Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credits, Petroleum Restoration, Storage Tanks, Waste Cleanup, Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup, Superfund Cleanup and CERCLA Site Screening, and Department of Defense Cleanup Programs. Ms. Duchene graduated with honors from the Florida State University College of Law and still lives and works in Tallahassee, Florida.
Amy Guilfoyle Amy Guilfoyle is a Project Director for SCS Engineers in Orlando, Florida. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from the University of Central Florida. She has 21 years’ experience performing and managing phase I/II environmental site assessments; contamination assessments; remedial planning and implementation; tank closures; permit applications; SPCC plans; compliance audits; and Brownfields grant implementations. Amy was formerly on the Florida Brownfield Association Board from 2015 to 2016 and has assisted with conference planning over the years. She is the former President of the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals, the former President of the Central Florida Association of Environmental Professionals, and the former Chair of the Metropolitan Environmental Training Alliance. She also volunteers time to the Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge and Seminole County Port Authority Board. Amy was honored in 2021 with the National Association of Environmental Professionals President’s Service Award and the Orlando Business Journals, Women Who Mean Business, Women to Watch Award in 2015.
Frank L. Hearne Frank L. Hearne is a shareholder in the firm of Mechanik Nuccio Hearne & Wester, P.A., in Tampa, Florida where he practices exclusively environmental law. In addition to his legal credentials, Mr. Hearne holds an undergraduate degree in engineering focused on water resources and a master’s degree in zoology focused on aquatic and estuarine ecology. Mr. Hearne’s engineering and scientific training enables him to better comprehend the many technical aspects of his work such as geohydrology, complex organic chemistry and other topics. A substantial portion of his legal practice over more than 35 years has been to advise public and private clients in transactions involving contaminated sites including cleanup programs in a number of states, federal Superfund sites, Brownfield designation and financial benefits, Brownfield Site Rehabilitation Agreements, site assessment, remedial action, risk assessment and monitoring, Site Rehabilitation Completion Orders, restrictive covenants implementing institutional and engineering controls, negotiation of environmental insurance coverage and assertion and collection of environmental insurance claims.
Shakenya Jackson Dr. Shakenya Harris-Jackson is the Grant Administrator for the City of Apopka and manages the Brownfield program, Apopka Youth Works, and the Apopka Youth Council. She has over 18 years of grant writing and management experience. Her work with youth programming has received awards from The United States Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals. She has a doctorate degree in Education and taught Health, Biology and Physical Science for over a decade. She is also a licensed real estate agent with Watson Realty Corp. She has been a member of the Florida Brownfields Association since 2015. Belinda Williams-Collins Belinda Williams-Collins has served as a Senior Planner with the City of DeLand since 2009 where she also serves as the Brownfields Project Manager and Historic Preservation Coordinator. Prior to serving in DeLand she was employed as Principal Planner for the City of Daytona Beach for nearly 15 years. She has been involved with FBA since 2013 and has served on the EJ Committee as Chair and Co-Chair. Ms. Williams-Collins has a background in landscape architecture which enhances her work with brownfield remediation and working as an urban planner provides a means of bringing the focus of brownfield cleanup full circle to help make optimal use of remediated land. She is the recipient of an Urban Design Award from the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, FPZA (Florida Planning & Zoning Association) Outstanding Planning Study Award and FPZA Outstanding Service Award.
Christian Wells Dr. Christian Wells is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Brownfields Research and Redevelopment at the University of South Florida, where he has served as the Founding Director of the Office of Sustainability and as Deputy Director of the Patel School of Global Sustainability. Over the past 20 years, he has conducted applied and participatory research on issues pertaining to brownfields assessment and redevelopment, environmental justice, land use legacies, community health, and science-policy interactions. A recipient of the Black Bear Award by the Sierra Club of Tampa Bay, Dr. Wells has served as a member of various advisory committees for the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners.
Patrick A. Barnes, P.G. is a professional geologist and environmental justice advocate. He began his career in 1985 working for the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University as a Research Assistant in seismology and borehole geophysics. In 1986 he joined TAMS where he worked on several Superfund sites in the New York/New Jersey area, including “The Love Canal”. He relocated to Orlando Florida in 1988 to work with DRMP, where he served as Project Manager/Hydrogeology Department Head. At DRMP he managed the site assessment, environmental permitting and water supply needs for numerous Florida municipalities and in 1994 he established BFA Environmental), an environmental, utility engineering, surveying and hydrogeologic firm. At its peak BFA had over 150 employees in the southeast US, executing 25 million dollars in contracts. Mr. Barnes has conducted numerous large-scale natural resource evaluations and managed contamination site assessment/cleanup projects in brownfield communities of Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando, New Orleans and Birmingham. He has served as a Science/Technical advisor to the EPA for Superfund cleanups such as the Warren County (North Carolina) PCB Landfill (the birthplace of the EJ movement), the Wingate Road Landfill in Fort Lauderdale, and the Coronet Site in Plant City. Although currently retired from BFA as its Founder/CEO, he still advises BFA on issues related to management, finances, operations, planning, marketing and community engagement. In 2006 after completing a USACE/FEMA debris removal management contract for the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, he provided $300,000 seed capital to establish Limitless Vistas, Inc (LVI), a non-profit dedicated to training at-risk young adults as environmental technicians. In 2013 he was recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change – Climate Resiliency Leader for his work in vulnerable communities. Mr. Barnes has served on many boards/councils including the Corps Network, Central Florida NSBE Alumni Extension, Florida Association of Professional Geologists. He served 4 years (2014-2018) on the National Academy of Sciences Gulf Research Program (GRP) advisory board and subsequently the GRPs Offshore Situation Room (OSR) Committee and most recently the GRP’s Enhancing Community Resiliency (EnCoRe) Working Group. He has been very involved with the FBA since its founding and is very engaged in its environmental justice initiatives.
Serena Echols is currently a senior at Spelman College pursuing her B.S in Environmental Science. During her time at Spelman College, Serena serves as the Class Representative for the Corella & Bertram Bonner Scholars Program and as an intern at the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance. Most of Serena’s work focuses on Environmental Justice concentrating on urban planning and public health. Through her research, she intends on preserving native populations of people and plants by capturing the stories of these communities and place keeping their stories in history using a multimedia approach. Ken Pinnix In addition, Ken is President and CEO of PTW Associates, LLC which provides an array of professional services to its clients including project and grant management, community outreach, community engagement and empowerment, as well as client relations support. Ken worked in various leadership roles for over ten (10) years in the Planning and Development and Housing and Neighborhoods Departments where he served as Chief of the Community Development Division, Community Planning, Historic Preservation and Brownfields Program Coordinator. An accomplished scientist and researcher, Ken has more than 20 years of experience with medical device manufacturing, research and consulting with Emory University, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Johnson and Johnson, Inc. and is a published author of several scientific papers. He holds a BS in Zoology from North Carolina A&T State University and a Master of Science in Biology/Immunology from North Carolina Central University and has completed collaborative graduate research at Duke University in Durham, NC. Ken is Past President and Board Chair of the Florida Community Development Association; Board member of the Florida Brownfields Association; Board Chair of the Florida Brownfields Association Foundation; Current Vice President and Past President of 100 Black Men of Jacksonville, Inc., and member of the National Community Development Association. He is a former board member of The Florida Theatre Inc., Community Connections, Inc., and Dean’s Leadership Circle of The Thomas G. Carpenter Library, University of North Florida; Otis Smith Youth Foundation and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Northeast Florida. |
