Speaker Biographies
St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Borad
Chairman David Graham
Mr. Graham is chairman and chief executive officer of InTuition Development Holding, LLC. He was appointed to a four-year term on the District’s Governing Board March 1, 2001, to an at-large seat. He was reappointed in 2005. He was elected as the Board’s treasurer Nov. 13, 2001, serving until Nov. 11, 2003, when he was elected vice chairman. He was elected Board chairman Nov. 8, 2005. A Jacksonville native and graduate of Jacksonville University, Mr. Graham has been involved in banking and financial services since 1979, holding senior positions with Barnett Bank and Barnett Banks Trust Co. He is active in the Jacksonville civic, business and higher education communities. Mr. Graham has held director or trustee positions in various organizations, including Mandarin Presbyterian Church, the University of North Florida Business Advisory Council, InRoads Inc., and Jacksonville University. He currently is on the board of SunTrust Banks of North Florida and on the Foundation Board of Episcopal High School. As an avid outdoorsman, Mr. Graham’s goal is to help coordinate local and regional governmental and private sector entities to maximize the availability and access of publicly owned land for recreational purposes, providing greater opportunity to a greater number of people.
Shorty Robbins, CPRP
Division Chief of Recreation and Community Programming
for the City of Jacksonville
Shorty is incoming Advocacy Chair for the Florida Recreation and Park Association, she has been involved in public park and recreation programs in Northeast Florida for almost 30 years. For the past 12 years, Shorty has been involved in all levels of park planning, funding, design and construction. Current projects include the organization of the First Coast Regional Trails Coalition, a group dedicated to planning, developing and linking trails throughout our area. She is an active park user in her off hours, enjoying historic sites, bike and kayak trails, and beachfront camping.
Greenprinting the St. Johns River
Susan Grandin, Trust for Public Land
Susan Grandin is Director of the Northeast Florida Office of The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national non-profit conservation organization whose mission is to conserve land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, historic sites and natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. As well as being the Director of the office, Susan also negotiates the acquisition of land from private landowners that will ultimately be conveyed by TPL to local, state or federal government agencies. Since opening the office here in Jacksonville in 2000, Susan has helped conserve over 30 properties of environmental and/or historical value throughout northeast and central Florida. In addition, Susan serves on the Jacksonville Waterways Commission. Prior to working at TPL, she served as an attorney and previous to that, a landscape architect.
Vanguard Partnership
Sue Mullins
Sue Mullins is a public policy and campaign professional based in Tallahassee, Florida where she has served for 14 years as a government affairs and political campaign director for natural resources and related issues. Sue completed her bachelor's work in Biology and Sociology at St. Leo College and her master's work in Sociology and Anthropology at Florida State University. Sue has guided or contributed to several legislative initiatives, including writing major portions of Florida's 3 -year, $3 billion Florida Forever land conservation program, the Rural and Family Lands Protection Act, and improvements to water resource and wildlife protection, energy, land management and government finance policies, and incentives for land conservation. Sue has also led 15 successful local ballot measures to create $1.2 billion in funds for land preservation, and led the statewide grassroots effort to pass Florida Constitutional Amendment #5 for land conservation.
Luncheon Keynote Speaker
President John Delaney, UNF
John A. Delaney became UNF’s fifth president in 2003. Delaney’s presidency continues a distinguished career as a public servant. He served two terms as mayor of Jacksonville, the country’s 13th largest city, spearheading major initiatives including The Better Jacksonville Plan, a $2.2 billion improvement plan that gave the city new public facilities and other amenities. He also created the Preservation Project, a massive land conservation program giving Jacksonville the distinction of having the largest urban park system in the United States. Prior to that, he served as the chief assistant state attorney, the number two prosecutor for Northeast Florida and as the general counsel for the City of Jacksonville. He has served on numerous non-profit and corporate boards.
Critical Land and Water Identification Project (CLIP)
Tom Hoctor
Tom Hoctor is a research associate in the GeoPlan Center at the University of Florida. He completed a B.A. in History and Science from Harvard University, a Masters in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida in 2003. He has served as a co-principal investigator on a variety of regional-scale conservation analysis and planning projects including the Florida Ecological Greenways Network with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Southeastern Ecological Framework, The Nature Conservancy's Florida eco-regional planning process, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's South Florida Multi-Species and Ecosystem Recovery Plan, and the Department of Defense's Sustainable Ranges initiative. He also recently completed updated potential habitat maps for the Florida black bear for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. His current projects include working with the Century Commission, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Florida Natural Areas Inventory on the Critical Lands and Waters Identification Project and the Cooperative Conservation Blueprint.
Florida Natural Areas Inventory
Gary Knight
Gary Knight is Director of the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, a state-based research program that collects, interprets, and disseminates ecological information critical to the conservation of Florida’s biodiversity. The Florida Natural Areas Inventory is affiliated with Florida State University and has a staff of 36. Gary serves on the Board of Directors of NatureServe, an international non-profit organization providing the scientific basis for effective conservation action. He also is a member of the Center for Plant Conservation’s Science Advisory Board. Gary has been professionally involved with conservation in Florida since 1985. He has a graduate degree in Botany from Florida State University.
County Presentations
Baker County
Carolyn B. Bissonnette, MSM, JD
Assistant Director of Planning
Clay County
Ann Stodola, CFM
Senior Planner
Clay County Planning and Zoning Division
Duval County
Mark Middlebrook
The Middlebrook Company
Flagler County
Milissa Holland
County Commissioner, District 2
Nassau County
Walter Fufidio,
Planning Director
Putnam County
Brad Purcell
County Commissioner, District 5
St. Johns County
Tony Cubbedge
Land Management Manager