gina chiello
PRESIDENT
Gina graduated from the University of West Florida (Go Argos!) with a B.S. in Marine Biology and holds a Graduate Certificate in GIS from the Florida Atlantic University. Currently, she is a Senior Director at Cummins Cederberg, a coastal and marine engineering firm. Her responsibilities include business operations; directing and managing company staff; the successful implementation of coastal and marine related projects; project planning; analyzing design and construction methodology alternatives; proposal writing and business development; environmental permitting; marine resource surveying and mapping; and writing and reviewing technical reports. Formerly, she worked for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in the Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Section and the Submerged Lands and Environmental Resources Program.
Gina has been an active member of the Treasure Coast Chapter of Florida Association of Environmental Professionals (FAEP) since 2010 and on the TCC-FAEP Board since 2013, serving as a Director, Secretary, Treasurer, and most recently, President. While on the Board, she has lead board meetings, assisted with updating the Chapter bylaws, headed up the membership committee, kept meeting minute records, planned events, recruited speakers and sponsors, assisted with the planning of the 2015 and 2021 State Conferences, tracked the Chapter’s budget and served as liaison between the state and local chapters. In addition to serving as President of TCC, Gina also serves as the Vice President of FAEP.
Gina LOVES spending time with her dog Charlie, and in her free time, visits the many beautiful parks and natural areas in Florida, plays in a local adult soccer league, does CrossFit and most recently picked up underwater hockey.
don medellin
VICE PRESIDENT
Don has been an active member of the FAEP and the Treasure Coast Chapter (TCC) since 2009. During the past year, he has been serving as Vice-President on the TCC Board from 2022-2023 and serves on the Sponsorship Committee and assists in planning monthly events for our members. This year the TCC Chapter was voted “Chapter of the Year” by the FAEP. During the previous year Don served as a Director from 2021-2022. He was also heavily involved in planning for the 1-day and 2-Day Hydric Soil Workshops (October 11-14, 2022) in coordination with the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals to help bring at-cost training to our Treasure Coast Chapter members.
In 2020, Don served as a volunteer speaker at 2021 FAEP Annual Conference “Living on the Edge” and also served on the Conference Planning Committee where he assisted with the program development and the virtual platform.
Don has approximately 35 years of regulatory experience with the South Florida Water Management and FDEP in both environmental resource and water use permitting. He managed the minimum flow and level/water reservations program at SFWMD for 11 years before retiring after 29 years. He is currently employed as a Senior Project Scientist with Dewberry, located in Orlando, FL.
Don’s goal for the next year is to increase local TCC Chapter memberships, sponsorships and continue working closely with the Board of Directors to offer a variety of venues, training, and fun activities for our TCC members.
ricardo zambrano
TREASURER
Ricardo Zambrano has a Bachelor’s Degree in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution from the University of California, San Diego and a Master of Science Degree in Biology from Florida Atlantic University. Ricardo has over 30 years of experience as a wildlife biologist. He has radio-tracked coyotes in Yellowstone National Park’s backcountry, spent three years in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula researching and conserving endangered sea turtles and currently a regional biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He specializes in shorebirds, seabirds, wading birds and burrowing owl management and monitoring. He is also responsible for the management, conservation, recovery, and research of several endangered, threatened and declining species of wildlife in south Florida. He is the lead author or coauthor of 13 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Ricardo is currently the Treasurer of TCC FAEP and has served on the board for 3 years. Ricardo also serves as Vice-President of the Waterbird Society, an international association dedicated to the research and conservation of seabirds, shorebirds, wading birds, and marsh birds and is a former board member of Juno Beach’s Loggerhead Marinellife Center and former chair of the Sierra Club’s Loxahatchee Group.
Adam Regling
SECRETARY
Adam is a Professional Surveyor and Mapper, and is a project manager for SurvTech Solutions in Fort Pierce. He has 7+ years of experience practicing surveying and mapping in the Treasure Coast area and has overseen many boundary, topographic, hydrographic and miscellaneous survey projects in Florida and around the Southeast. He specializes in riparian rights, and sovereign lands, including tide studies, mean-high and ordinary high-water determination.
Adam graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geomatics from the University of Florida and has been an active member of FAEP’s Treasure Coast Chapter for the last six years and began serving the Board of Directors in 2022. Adam enjoys exploring our Florida waterways and spending time with his family on the Treasure Coast.
TORI STRANGE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Tori is a wildlife and conservation biologist highly motivated to facilitate effective management of diminishing wildlife resources and development of responsible environmental initiatives. She has served on the TCC Board of Directors for the past year, and enjoys supporting the organization which she believes fosters collaboration and growth across the environmental fields. She currently manages five preserves for Palm Beach County ERM, for which she oversees listed species monitoring, management activities, habitat restoration, invasive species removal, facilities maintenance, and public outreach. Prior to joining ERM, Tori conducted wildlife surveys for FWC at J.W. Corbett WMA. Tori received a B.S. from Elon University and an M.S. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her Master’s research examined herpetofaunal assemblages in forest fragments adjacent to both sustainable and conventional agriculture in the north-central highlands of Nicaragua.
Tori’s wildlife field jobs have included trapping and processing small mammals for a plague survivorship study in New Mexico, conducting surveys of Black-capped vireos and Golden-cheeked warblers in Texas, and backpacking the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex of Montana to ground-truth Canada lynx habitat. With non-profits in Pennsylvania, she monitored grassland responses to prescribed fire and mowing treatments, and helped implement an integrated soil management project to control exotic earthworms. With an environmental consulting company in PA/NJ, Tori coordinated on-site remediation activities, prepared impact assessment and progress reports, and conducted air, water, and soil monitoring for multiple projects. Her environmental education experience includes developing nature-based curriculum for children, leading public outreach events, organizing bioblitz events, and promoting conservation programs.
Joe penta
BOARD of Directors
I have a Bachelor's in Science Degree from Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus with a concentration in general freshwater and marine ecosystems and a Master’s in Marine Biology from Nova Southeastern University in Dania Beach, Florida. I have over 20 years of field experience spanning a variety of species and ecosystems. While at C.W. Post I spent 2 years studying Northern Diamondback Terrapins collecting morphometric data on both nesting females and hatchling in salt marshes at Oyster Bay in New York. For the next 8 years I had spent my time doing a wide range of projects using SCUBA. Some of these projects include working on the progression of coral disease in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, monitoring the growth of Acropora cervicornis and installing artificial reefs off the coast of Fort Lauderdale Florida, and volunteering to assist the Loxahatchee River district in Florida with seagrass data collection.
I also spent 3 years traveling to South Water Caye in the Bahamas working on my thesis. My research was spent studying the effects on seagrass ecology after the we installed artificial reefs in seagrass beds. The purpose of this study was to examine any changes in seagrass coverage due to the reefs and the effect on they have on fish recruitment.
For 7 years I worked with endangered sea turtle off the east coast of Florida. Five of those years were done in Broward County. Two of those years were with the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program doing morning nesting surveys. The next 3 years I worked for a beach raking company as the GIS Analyst and Conservation Biologist ensuring the safety of turtle nests while beach cleaning operations were taking place.
I am currently a field technician at Ecological Associates Inc. For 2 years my primary focus on Sea Turtle Nesting Behavior spanning Palm Beach, Martin, and St Lucie County. I also volunteered doing sea turtle rehab at Loggerhead Marine Center for a few years. My current duties include water quality sampling, environmental assessments, compliance, and pier cleanups stretching from the east coast to the west coast of Florida.
I have been a member of TCC of FAEP since early 2019. I joined so I can network with people of like minds with respect to the environment and conservation. I wasn’t sure what to expect but in a short time I found friends as well as colleagues. I currently serve on the Board of Directors. We work hard to give our members opportunities to learn and network with presentations from some of the finest people in their fields. I am proud to be a part of our current Board that has done an amazing job of putting together good presenters, promotes education, and hosts social events in which we can meet new people and mingle with friends and colleagues. It has been a pleasure to serve on your board and it would be my pleasure to continue to serve you on your Board.
REbecca Dougherty
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rebecca is a Senior Project Manager in the Everglades & Estuaries Protection Bureau at South Florida Water Management (SFWMD) where she supports treatment and storage projects in the Northern Everglades. She had a diverse background spanning private sector environmental consulting for both the coastal and marine space as well as hazardous materials remediation and Superfund / Brownfield redevelopment sector, public sector environmental compliance, organizational asset management, energy management and innovative technologies, resiliency and climate adaptation strategies, marketing and PR as well as working in the non-profit sector.
She earned a B.S from Elon University and a M.S. from Florida Atlantic University both in Environmental Science, conducted research in Belize, Costa Rica and Brazil and has been growing her skill set in Lean Sigma Six strategies. She was recently certified as an International Game Fish Tournament Observer in order to support sustainable conservation of billfish in the tournament world and hopes to participate in tight lines and sunny days in the 2024 tournament calendar.
Additionally, Rebecca is a local Palm Beach County instructor for the Florida Master Naturalist coastal and marine classes and actively works with other professional scientists and practitioners in educating people to be informed activist of conservation and environmental issues facing South Florida.
She loves planning out the FAEP networking socials and events. She keeps herself busy with the social media efforts of the organization and all the millions of details it takes to run a professional society. She loves the friendships she’s made through the group and how much it’s leveled up her professional skills! In 2024 she hopes to dedicate her time to facilitation a more strategic communication approach to better support the organization’s growth.
She tries to be an active surfer as she loves anything related to the ocean and ends up at Crossfit Bootcamp when the ocean is flat. She loves to travel and is a big time foodie. She’s obsessed with palms and tropical plans and is attempting to cultivate a mini Longwood Gardens in her SFL home. And her favorite job is still working for a yacht and sport fish marina provision center equipping world class boats and clients from around the globe.
josh mills
BOARD of directors
Josh holds a Bachelor of Science from Florida Atlantic University in Bio-Geography and a Master’s degree in Natural Resources Management and Policy from Virginia Tech, providing him with a full range of knowledge in the environmental field. Josh’s career has been a mix of environmental restoration, GIS, and Project management on various levels: community redevelopment, living shorelines, public-private partnerships, and more. Currently, Josh is a Coastal Solutions lead with Native Shorelines focusing on coastal & estuarine restoration, shoreline resiliency, and living shorelines. Along with these restoration duties, Josh serves on the TCC Board as a Director, steering committee member for the Florida Oyster Recovery Science (FORS) working group, and a board member for The District Coyote Project (a nonprofit in the DC area that studies human and wildlife interactions focusing on Canid populations).
You’ll find Josh with his best friend and first mate on the Indian River Lagoon.
danielle devine
BOARD of directors
Danielle received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Florida Atlantic University (FAU). She started her career as a Student Conservation Association Intern and as a Palm Beach County Park Ranger. She is currently working part time with D.B. Ecological Services Inc. as a sea turtle nest monitor and full time as a wildlife biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Danielle has worked at J.W. Corbett WMA for almost 5 years. She started as a Biological Scientist II managing the invasive plant projects and contracts for all 60,478 acres of the WMA and now as a Lead Area Biologist manages all the activities completed on the WMA. Danielle has experience with prescribed fire, various wildlife surveys, and invasive plant management. She is currently working toward her FWC Prescribed Burn Manager certification. Danielle’s previous leadership experience as the President of FAU’s Student Chapter of the Ecological Society of America (ESA): Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity, and Sustainability (SEEDS) and as the Secretary of FAU’s Climbing Club would be an asset as a Director with the Treasure Coast Chapter of FAEP. Outside of work, Danielle enjoys kayaking, hiking, and botanizing.
stephen CONTEAGÜERO
BOARD of directors
Stephen began work in environmental and land use law very recently – November of 2022. But he has been fascinated with this area of the law since law school. As a member of his school’s Journal of Complex Litigation, he chose the sugar leases as his journal article topic and power plant siting as his comment topic.
As a Director, Stephen would be interested in serving as a generalist and contributor to the more labor-intensive projects planned for the near future. In the meantime, he admits he has a lot to learn, and hopefully soon, will have enough experience to share with others. Stephen attended the Florida Association of Mitigation Bankers Summer School (the “Marco Island Conference”) in July and last month he attended the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings Trial Academy in Tallahassee.