“Our mission is to further the education of the environmental professional, introduce new topics of discussion among peers, and foster relationships among the many environmental disciplines, professions and students throughout southwest Florida.”
Board of Directors
Ramsey Fisher - President
Ramsey Fisher graduated from Florida International University (FIU) in 2017 with a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies and a Biology Minor. Prior to his junior and senior year at FIU he was awarded the Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) Scholarship. This included two summer internships with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) including the Maryland Headquarters and a Mississippi field laboratory. Ramsey is certified by the Society of Wetland Scientists as a Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) and is an Ecologist III at Passarella & Associates, Inc, an environmental consulting firm. He has been an ecologist for Passarella & Associates since 2017 and loves his work as he is an avid outdoorsman and is comfortable in both the office and field settings. In addition to a PWS, Ramsey is a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Authorized Gopher Tortoise Agent and Registered Agent for Burrowing Owls. Ramsey grew up on Sanibel Island where his passions for the outdoors, wildlife, and fishing began and led him to this career. A few of his typical responsibilities include wetland delineations, vegetation mapping, eagle nest monitoring, wetland and listed species permitting, mitigation site coordination and monitoring, and gopher tortoise and burrowing owl work. Ramsey has served as the SWFAEP Treasurer since May 2021 and is grateful for the SWFAEP involvement with environmental professionals as well as their local community outreach and is looking forward to the new opportunities this year.
Piper Jones - Vice President
Piper is currently the Education Coordinator for CREW Land & Water Trust, and enjoys developing environmental education programs for students and the public. She earned her bachelor of science degree in biology with a concentration in ecology and conservation at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). At BGSU, Piper served as president of the Environmental Service Club and was an active member of the President’s Advisory Committee of Sustainability. After graduating, Piper spent some time up in Michigan as a park naturalist at For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum, and enjoyed her role as a Certified Tourism Ambassador for Genesee County and a Certified Global Rivers Environmental Education Network Mentor. She then moved to Florida and worked as an ecologist for 3 years. Piper looks forward to bringing her love of outreach and education to the SWFAEP chapter.
Katharina Shoemaker - Secretary
Katharina is the current and proud owner of Tropical Environmental Consultants; an environmental consultant firm serving SWFL. After graduating from Florida Gulf Coast University with a B.S. in Biology in 2012, Katharina worked in environmental education through the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center in Punta Gorda Florida. She is a current member on the advisory board of Cypress Cove Landkeepers; a non for profit environmental education center located in Naples Florida.
Pursuing her passion in environmental policies, she started with Tropical Environmental Consultants in 2017, and has since gathered an extensive knowledge of wetland regulation, wetland permitting, the wetland delineation process for State and Federal criteria, habitat restoration, as well as listed species identification and protection.
She is also a State authorized gopher tortoise agent and works in permitting and relocation activities for the State threatened gopher tortoise.
Her goal as that of TEC is to work with the public in developing a balance between that of human use and the environment.
George Sprehn - Membership Director
George Sprehn has been involved with the Geographic Information System (GIS) discipline for over 25 years, with emphasis on spatial analysis, problem solving, cartography, and geodatabase management. Since 2014, as a GIS Analyst for EarthBalance®, Mr. Sprehn has managed a GIS department throughout all aspects of GIS project scheduling, data acquisition, data management, map production and presentation, equipment inventory, and reporting. Mr. Sprehn successfully employs GIS, GPS, and spatial analysis methodologies to analyze local and regional-scale ecosystem projects. Mr. Sprehn holds a B.A. in Geography and a Master of Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) degree.
When not helping to balance the needs of people with the health of natural environments, George may be found hunting fossils on the Peace River, wading through a slough in South Fort Myers, or visiting grandchildren in the Massachusetts region.
George is currently serving the SWFAEP chapter in an At-large Membership position and chapter representative on the FAEP board.
Laura Gibson - At Large Member
Laura is originally from Nashville, Tennessee and received a Bachelor of Science from Middle Tennessee State University with a Minor in Political Science. Laura has lived and worked in Southwest Florida since 1998 with both environmental and GIS related work experience for a local non-profit and local municipalities as an Environmental and Senior Environmental Specialist. Her experience includes assessing all types of development and land use projects for compliance with local codes and regulations in relation to listed species, native vegetation protection and preservation, landscaping, sea turtle nesting habitat compliance, pollution prevention, hazardous material storage tanks with associated spill response plans and training, and GIS data development, analysis, and mapping for environmental and National Flood Insurance Program projects. Laura is a Certified Environmental Professional with the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals and a Tree Risk Assessment Qualified Arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture.
Arielle Poulos - At Large
Arielle earned two Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Environmental Studies and Biology from Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). She spent 9 years with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, primarily with the Submerged Lands and Environmental Resource Coordination Program doing wetland and surface water permitting and compliance, wetland determinations, and handling the processing of Sovereign Submerged Lands Leases. She also spent some time as part of the Outreach and Business Development team developing and giving public education seminars, working with the school districts for environmental education, working with the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program through the schools, and environmental festivals. She brings that knowledge and experience to Turrell, Hall & Associates, Inc. to coordinate with local, state and federal agencies on projects including jurisdictional wetland determinations, vegetative mapping and classification, threatened and endangered species surveys, preserve management and monitoring, single-family dock and marina permitting, and submerged resource surveys. Arielle has served as President and Vice President of SWFAEP, and served as co-chair of the 2016 FAEP Annual Conference.
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