We are thrilled to share this video from our friends at Florida Sea Grant (FSG) that highlights the partnership between FSG & NRLI.

This is the perfect link to share with anyone you know who is interested in becoming a NRLI Fellow and/or anyone who curious about NRLI and what we do.

We need your ideas!

As you know, our alumni are key to making each of our sessions a success. We will start planning the schedule for Class 24 later this month and would LOVE to hear your ideas for possible future NRLI sessions. Please fill out the survey below with all of your fabulous ideas by Wed, September 27. Thank you!!

"Where are they now?"

Alumni Spotlight Series

As part of a new alumni series, we are featuring graduates who left our state and who continue to tap into the NRLI network and toolbox.

Wendy-Lin sat down for a virtual coffee with Leslie Corcelli last week and this is what she learned.

Class 10 alumni may recall Leslie's passion for the Master Gardner program that got her into NRLI (Thanks Theresa Watkins! NRLI Class 7). They’d probably also remember her first career in real estate and property management. But would they know where she is now? Would they know the many ways she is spreading NRLI approaches beyond Florida? Would they know that she now oversees federal expenditures from EPA on state drinking water projects? And that she is keeping American manufacturers in business while protecting human health and the environment?

Since 2013, Leslie has lived in northern Virginia about 20 miles from Washington DC. She has a unique position with the EPA overseeing compliance for a revolving funds program that provides grants for state drinking and wastewater projects. With the 2021 signing of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure law, domestic preference is required for iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials (everything but sand and dirt). Essentially all federally funded infrastructure projects must comply with the (Build America, Buy America Act), or BABA. Leslie spends the bulk of her time on outreach to get the word out and bring folks up to speed on the new requirements. She meets with grant and assistance recipients, works with agencies, manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors. 

Tell me about your job

“People are afraid of change … so there was (is still) a lot of uncertainty. So many unknowns about how the law would be implemented, whether or not there would be a grace period, and questions around what is covered.” said Leslie.

She notes that navigating these confusions and tensions required strong relationships and a willingness to be frank, honest, and open.  

“I love being able to thread the needle between the environment, government, and industry – entities that have sometimes been at odds … When I started, I knew nothing about valves and pipes and reverse osmosis … But I learned it all. I put myself out there with stakeholders and let manufacturers know we are not a bunch of tree huggers who hate industry. We want to create American jobs too. We want our projects to use American-made products.”

What NRLI Skills are you using?

“I use everything, every day, all day!”

Leslie relies on diverse spaces to connect with stakeholders from webinars, conferences, trainings, and most often “just picking up the phone and calling people directly.” She highlighted the importance of cultivating trust and maintaining relationships because “building confidence with folks eases stress.”

What advice do you have for new fellows?

“Take it all in! You may not think something is appropriate for what you do right now, but it is going to come into play at some point in the future. NRLI will serve you well. I did not know where I was heading professionally when I was a Fellow. Being in real estate you learn about building relationships, but I learned so much more in NRLI. To be able to meet people where they are. Not to make assumptions about where they are coming from, or what they stand for. Make a point to get to know people. It has benefited me. I have a large stakeholder sphere.”

What do you miss about Florida?

“I miss the parts of Florida that used to hold my heart. Like the springs, longleaf pine and sawgrass habitats. Those precious resources. And my NRLI family!"

The Beginning of NRLI Class 23: Remember Why You Started

By Greg Garis & Erica Hall, NRLI Class 23 Fellows

Crystal River, the self-professed “home of manatees” along Florida’s Sun Coast, opened its doors to 21 enthusiastic natural resource professionals and 4 instructors from 22 federal, state, and local governmental, and non-governmental agencies on August 23, 2023, to initiate the first session of the 2023 NRLI Class.



The topic for session 1 was focused on the Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve (NCAP), an 800 square mile stretch of coastal waters of Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco Counties, established in 2020 by the Florida Legislature, and known for its expansive and healthy seagrass, mangrove, and saltmarsh habitats, which are seemingly in jeopardy due to human-caused damage, impacts from sea level rise, and other environmental conditions. The area is also home to over 1300 archeological and cultural sites. We learned about priority issues in the natural resources field, the need for stakeholder engagement, and most importantly, what good leadership skills are all about.

Throughout the session, Fellows learned about the circumstances which made the establishment of NCAP unique. It was encouraging to learn how a community-based initiative recognized the need to protect the resources of the area, unlike many other preserves or protected areas that are established through governmental initiatives. We spent time analyzing what led to this overwhelming, but not unanimous, community support to ensure protection of its resources for generations and learned that although the area was proposed for designation as an aquatic preserve many years before, the proposal died early in a legislative session due to lack of political will and community engagement.

It was interesting to learn about the involvement of Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew), a non-profit, non-governmental origination. Pew was fundamental in the support behind NCAP due to their research, analysis of the data and needs of the area, and participatory methods of exploring the mechanisms that would best address those needs.

Another interesting observation was the development of the management plan, which is commonly overseen and lead by state organizations. In this case, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection chose to contract the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) services for developing the plan in collaboration with Pew, other relevant agencies, and the community. The combined team effort included bringing in experts to design and draft the plan and to acquire input from interested parties that would be involved in the Management Advisory Committee when developing and refining the plan. The involvement of UF/IFAS and Pew appeared to be critical to solicit community involvement in development of the plan. The plan, approved in December 2022, was very much a community developed and supported plan after all input was heard, evaluated, and workshopped.

The Fellows take-away of the case study was that generating community support through soliciting their involvement early and often in the processes made the establishment of NCAP and its Management Plan an overwhelmingly positive experience.

On Day 2, the fellows went for a snorkeling trip to observe and experience the seagrass beds in person. The hands-on lessons learned during the entire session produced some great memories and helped enhance our knowledge base that could be readily applied at work.

One week after the session, Crystal River was struck by Category 3 Hurricane Idalia! Our sincere thoughts for the community, and its resources that generated some invaluable experiences for the 2023 NRLI class.

Farm Credit of Florida Agricultural & Natural Resources Scholarship

Ben Butler

Butler Oaks Farm

Ben Butler of Lorida, is a fourth-generation dairy farmer/cattle rancher and eighth generation Floridian. He is partner and manager of Butler Oaks Farm, a family owned dairy farm. Butler Oaks Farm has operated for more than 80 years and has received the Agricultural-Environmental Leadership Award from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Butler is a director of the Okeechobee County Farm Bureau since 2007, currently serving as Vice-President, and is the past President and Director of the Okeechobee Youth Livestock Show since 2008. He earned his Bachelor's Degree (2002) and Master's Degree (2019) in Animal Science from the University of Florida.

Butler has taken an active role on his family’s farm since 2005. He is responsible for the dairy herd and its employees, and the care, feeding and day-to-day operations of the dairy, including the environmental and water aspects for the farm. He has been actively involved in his family’s water use for agricultural purposes and water quality projects for environmental preservation. Butler understands the importance of water to not only agriculture, but to the entire central and south Florida growing population and industries. He uses his real-world experience to provide a background of understanding, while acknowledging the complexities and challenges with water quality, availability and flood protection to the region. Butler was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in November 2019 and reappointed in May 2021 to serve as an At-large Governing Board Member for the South Florida Water Management District.

Butler is a 4-H and FFA volunteer, provides leadership to the Florida Dairy Youth committee and serves on the advisory committee for the University of Florida, Department of Animal Sciences. He is married to Tallahassee native April Butler, and together they have one daughter, Hannah. Much of their free time is spent helping their daughter and other students raise and exhibit their dairy cattle at 4-H and FFA shows and events. However, they also find time to enjoy Florida’s natural resources, scuba diving in the Florida Keys for lobster, water skiing on the area lakes and camping throughout Florida. Butler and his family are members of Oakview Baptist Church in Okeechobee, FL.!

General Joe Joyce Scholarship for Natural Resources Leadership

Allegra Buyer

Program Manager, Seminole County Natural Lands Program

Allegra Buyer is the Program Manager for the Seminole County Natural Lands Program in Geneva, and recently moved into this role after serving as the Natural Resources Program Coordinator for the last three and a half years for Seminole County. She manages 9 properties, totaling over 6,600 acres of county lands, and is responsible for conducting resource management activities including invasive plant removal, restoration, and prescribed fire. After graduating from New College of Florida with a degree in biology, she started her career working with invasive plants at Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka. From there she worked seasonal jobs in Alaska and Texas, and then came back to Florida to be a biologist for the Florida Park Service in Apopka. She completed her MS in Ecological Restoration through the University of Florida.

Rosezetta Bobo Equity & Inclusion Scholarship

Erica Hall

Vice Chair, Suncoast Sierra Club

Board Chair, Florida Food Policy Council

Erica Hall, M.S. CED, MBA, ARM, has a multi-disciplinary background as a community economic development practitioner; community organizer; environmental justice advocate; board member; justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) facilitator/trainer/consultant; and senior legal professional with interests in intersectional environmentalism exploring the connection between sustainability, resiliency, food waste, climate change, food insecurity, the built form and placemaking, economic resilience, racial/social justice and equity, housing diversity, and affordability. Erica is currently the Board Chair/Executive Director of the Florida Food Policy Council, a statewide food policy council working to explore and address gaps in the food system in Florida. Erica is also an Executive Committee Member of the Suncoast Sierra Club and Florida Chapter Sierra Club Executive Committee Vice Chair. Erica is active in the US Green Building Council (USGBC), American Planning Association, and other environmental and neighborhood revitalization groups working in urban agriculture, food advocacy, and policy, community engagement, nonprofit management, board development, environmental justice, neighborhood revitalization, historic preservation, and community economic development at the federal, state, and local levels in NYC, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Atlanta, and now throughout the state of Florida.

General Joe Joyce Scholarship for Natural Resources Leadership

Daniel Lamson

Indian River Neighborhood Association

Dan Lamson currently spearheads efforts at the Indian River Neighborhood Association (IRNA) as Executive Director, where since 2013 he has made political connections and guided the IRNA to its position as a force for positive change in Indian River County. Originally managing the IRNA as a successful political committee, his notable achievements include steering the association’s conversion to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2019. Dan has been serving as a board member of the Clean Water Coalition of Indian River County since its inception 2018.

In 2022, Dan worked with others to establish the Earth Care Ministry at the Community Church of Vero Beach, nurturing environmental consciousness through education and sustainable initiatives. A graduate with a rich educational background from Ursinus College, his expertise in American Government and Politics, paired with creative writing, has fostered a career centered on community service and environmental advocacy and education.

An avid reader and gamer, Dan enjoys escaping to worlds crafted in science fiction and fantasy where the problems may be big, but often easier to fix than our own world’s issues.

Andrea Albertin Regional Specialized Agent in Water Resources, UF/IFAS Extension

Stephanie Armstrong Environmental Scientist IV, Suwannee River Water Mgmt District 

Steven Beck Biologist IV, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission 

Ben Butler Partner & Vice President, Butler Oaks Farm, Inc.

Allegra Buyer Natural Resources Program Coordinator, Seminole County Lands Program 

Robby Creech Captain, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

Michele Curts Leadership Programs Coordinator, Florida Farm Bureau Federation

Chris Denmark Environmental Administrator, Florida Dept of Ag & Consumer Services 

Rianna Elliott Director of Land Stewardship, North Florida Land Trust, Inc. 

Samuel Erikson Natural Resources Specialist, Highlands County 

Jessica Ferris Government Consultant; Carr, Riggs, and Ingram, LLC

Gregory Garis Program Administrator, Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Erica Hall Volunteer Executive Committee Vice Chair, Sierra Club Chapter

Daniel Lamson Executive Director, Indian River Neighborhood Association 

Lindsey Pavao Senior Environmental Specialist, Alachua County Env Protection Dept

Callie Register Senior Hydrologist, St Johns River Water Management District

Laura Reynolds Assistant Professor, University of Florida

Rachel Rhode Manager, Climate Resilient Coasts & Watersheds, Environmental Defense Fund 

Jeffrey Smith Senior Environmental Specialist, Florida Power & Light Company

Tarana Solaiman Lead Project Manager, South Florida Water Management District

Stephanie Verhulst Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers