Featured Presenters
Plenary Speakers
Alex Reed was appointed Director of the FDEP’s Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection (RCP) in November 2019. She oversees that office’s many programs to address resilience, which include the conservation and management of 43 aquatic preserves, three national estuarine research reserves, Florida’s Coral Reef, and 825 miles of sandy beaches. The office also overseas Florida’s Coastal Zone Management Program and the Resilient Florida Program. Alex earned a B.S. in geology from Florida State University.
Ken Nedimeyer, Founder and Director of Reef Renewal Foundation, is known throughout the world of coral restoration for spearheading new techniques. More than 20 years ago, he was one of the first to develop propagation techniques for growing and planting corals in the wild. He brings his incomparable expertise to Reef Renewal USA and continues on a quest of revision to improve existing methods of rearing and outplanting coral.
Dr. Analisa Duran is the Knight Senior Director of Science Education at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, where she advances best practices in informal science education pedagogy. She specializes in designing and leading programs that engage learners of all ages through inquiry, play, and exploration, positioning museums as vital spaces for meaningful and joyful science learning.
Panelists
Meet the panelists for Building the Business Case for Florida's Coral Reef
Christine Barney is CEO of rbb Communications and Chair of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council. rbb serves clients across a wide range of industries and is ranked the 4th largest energy and renewables PR firm in the U.S., providing strategic public relations, creative, and marketing services to leading brands.
Irela Bagué is Director of Governments & Water Resilience for Florida & the Caribbean at Black & Veatch, driving infrastructure solutions that protect water resources and strengthen communities.
She previously served as Miami-Dade County’s first Chief Bay Officer, shaping water quality policy, securing $70M in funding, and advancing Biscayne Bay restoration through science-based strategies and stakeholder collaboration.
A former Vice-Chair of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board, she guided flood control, water quality, and ecosystem protection across 16 counties and chaired the Miami River Commission’s revitalization efforts.
For two decades, Irela led Bagué Group, advising public and private clients on water policy, climate mitigation, and resilience planning. She has served on the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Board, chaired its Resilience Committee, and led the City of Coral Gables Sustainability Committee.
She is a proud Presidential Leadership Scholar alumni and is host of Resilient Forward, a podcast spotlighting resilience and environmental solutions in Florida.
Mollie Cordo is the Southeast Regional Administrator for the FDEP’s Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection (RCP). She is based in Miami, FL and oversees the southeast managed areas and programs, including the Kristin Jacobs Coral Aquatic Preserve, Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, Cape Florida Aquatic Preserve, Coupon Bight Aquatic Preserve, and Lignumvitae Key Aquatic Preserve, co-management of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, as well as the Coral Protection and Restoration Program. Mollie holds a B.S. in biology from Wake Forest University and an M.P.S. in environmental science from Nova Southeastern University
Miami Waterkeeper and Chief Executive Officer Rachel Silverstein, Ph.D., is a renowned marine biologist and environmental advocate dedicated to safeguarding clean water and marine ecosystems in South Florida.
Jenny Staletovich is an award-winning journalist and the environmental editor for WLRN Public
Radio.
At WLRN, she’s covered Florida’s deepening environmental problems, from increasing impacts
caused by climate change and ongoing efforts to restore the Everglades to invasive species and
overdevelopment on shrinking natural lands. From 2014 to 2019, she covered the environment,
climate change and hurricanes for the Miami Herald.
From 1989 to 2000, she worked at the Palm Beach Post as a cops reporter and also covered
the death penalty, local government and Florida’s Sunshine Law.
She has earned state and national awards, including a national Edward R. Murrow award for
excellence in writing, the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Distinguished Service
to the First Amendment, the Green Eyeshades and the Sunshine State Awards. In 2019, she
received the Hoeveler Award from the University of Miami School of Law and Tropical
Audubon’s Polly Redford Award for her environmental reporting. She was also named one of
Audubon magazine’s national “women greening journalism,” and Miami New Times “Best
Herald’ reporter in 2016.
Staletovich graduated from Smith College and lives in Miami with her husband and their three
children.
